Home Gunsmithing Help? (Stock and Bedding Repair)

[Misfire]

First of all, I hope I'm in the right forum....

A long story short, I did some horse trading with a guy at work and ended up with a nice little Winchester 70 Featherweight in .22-250 for my 12yr old son. The problem is that it shoots like crap. I have mounted a new scope, rings and bases but I'm still having problems.

One second the rifle is shooting sub-moa groups and the next it is slinging 9+ inch groups. I know it isn't a cleaning problem and it's not overheating.

I came to the conclusion that it has to be a bedding problem. So.... I did some reading and figured I could do the bedding job myself. I have basic wood working skills and tools so the job looked straight forward and within my capabilities. I bought an "Acraglas Gel" kit from Brownelles and pulled the rifle apart.

what a mess! Someone else has done a bedding butchering job on this rifle. It has some problems and I'm wondering if someone can offer advice to straighten it out. I'm not out a lot of money so far and I'd really like to fix it myself. I think it would be a low cost way to get my feet "wet" at some home gunsmithing.

A pic is worth a thousand words...


Here is the top. you can see that there is a gap on the left and the action is cramed against the right side of the inlet.

Here is the forend. It is the opposite of the action. The left side is touching and the gap is on the right side. Basically the barreled action is in crooked.

There is about a 2" section of barrel touching the stock on the left side. Beyond that it is free and clear to the action.

I belive the action is too deep in the stock because half the "trademark" is covered with the stock. Also on the otherside, the vent hole is slightly below the stock. How do I raise it back up?

Ok, so as far as I can tell, I need to grind, straighten, raise and rebed. Sounds easy /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif...can anyone offer a starting point? Like I said, I have shot some 3rd sub moa groups, so I think the little rifle will shoot; it just needs some TLC to become consistant.

Thanks for any help that anyone can offer!

Chad

 

[EddieHarren]

I would start by relieving the forend to get rid of the contact with the barrel. It would have been nice to see some pics of the bedding.

 

[Misfire]

Sorry about that, I uploaded pics of the bedding but in my haste last night, I forgot to post them.

There has already been some sanding on the stock but not enough on the left side. I'm guessing I need to sand out another 1/16th to 1/8th inch.

.

 

[Shawn Carlock]

Misfire,

Some things to do:

Before you start carve out as much of the old bedding as possible.

1. be sure the barrel is relieved from the channel, it appears from the pics that the stud nut in the channel is making contact with the barrel (this is bad)
2. after you bed the action both front and back (the back has not yet been done) be sure to drill out the action screw holes so that there is no chance of any bearing against them.
3. if you feel you need to raise the action some mostly in the front it appears, shim under the action just behind the front action screw before you bed and use a shim that you can leave in place. You can also use a washer that is the right height around the action screw just be sure it is not to tall.
4. First I would bed only the action to just the recoil lug and float the barrel then see how it shoots.
5. good luck

 

[Misfire]

Here is where I'm at so far..

I have ground all the old material out and made some shims. The shims raised the stock up enough that I can "tweak" the barreled action and float the entire barrel without anymore channel grinding. I put a laser on the stock and it appears to be a bit warped towards the end causing the contact on the left side of the barrel.

Is there anything else to do before bedding? Should I grind some more recesses anywhere?
Should I only bed the recoil lug and rear tang area or the enire action? I've seen some mag boxes that were bedded and some that weren't. What would you recommend?

Thanks!

Chad


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[Shawn Carlock]

I would recommend the rear tang, the recoil lug area to include the entire flat around the action screw. When it is set and you remove the barreled action open the action screw holes up for plenty of clearance, make sure that the box mag doesn't touch the bedding anywhere. Remember to put clearance tape on the front, sides, and bottom of the recoil lug before bedding. Good luck.

 

[Misfire]

Thank you for the help! At the risk of being an annoyance I have one more question and then I'm going to stick this thing.

Should I bolt the action to the stock or should I go the surgical tubing route? (I should have asked this earlier.)

Thanks!

 

[Shawn Carlock]

I use alignment pins and a single clamp lightly just behind the front action screw. Then stick the barrel through a hole in a piece of wood as not to disturb the stock.

 

[EddieHarren]

Remember to apply some sealer to the forend area after the whole job is done. If you don't, the forend will move when the temp/humidity changes.