Is there any reason to bed a rifle that is shooting well enough?

[FIGJAM]

I recommend you take the rifle to a decent Smith and have them bed it. You've already put a bunch of money to the rifle and a pro bedding job doesnt cost that much. Do it yourself is a hit and miss and there are some techniques with Savage rifles that will save you a lot of pain in the future. I also noted in a later comment that you swapped the barrel out. Did you set the headspace with go/no go gages? Not using them can cause some serious headspace issues.

What does bedding the rifle accomplish at this point? Nothing in my opinion other than to be able to tell people it is bedded. There will be no value added.

 

[mohsey]

I would leave well enough alone unless you encounter issues with it in the future that could be satisfied by bedding.

 

[Toydy]

Man has it been a crazy time with my wife's Savage Lady hunter rifle. This rifle started life out as a 7mm08 true 3 MOA rifle lol (not to be confused with .3 MOA). It was so bad I sent it in to savage. They were able to get one 1.75inch 3 shot group which they deemed was acceptable and would not rebarrel the rifle. I never got a 1.75MOA group myself but that would not have been acceptable to me any way. Of course I would not sell this rifle to anyone else just to pass on the pain so I decided to go semi-custom build route. First i replaced the budget scope rings with better ones and checked with multiple scopes. Same bad groupings. Next I replaced all plastic parts (bottom metal and such) with real metal parts as some people claimed this could help with accuracy on the savage forums. This cost me 120$. There was no improvement, accept the magazine and bottom metal now looks and feels better but the rifle is also slightly heavier now. Next I inletted the barrel channel just a touch more as I thought maybe the barrel was getting pinched a little and not a true free float. This did not help. I tried numerous re-loads. This did not help. So finally all that remained was bedding and/or barrel swap. Ive never bedded a rifle and savage seems a bit complicated for bedding but barrel swaps are easy and ive actually done that twice with other savage rifles. it does have pillars though which is good. So I ultimately decided on putting an aftermarket barrel on first. Ordered the barrel. I got a magnum sporter profile 23inch 6.5cm barrel for about 400$ shipped. First day out after installing it, I purchased 2 types of factory loads. Did the barrel break in procedure which was single shots for 5 shots with cleaning in between each shot. Then the procedure called for two to five 3 shot groups (until the barrel was not fouling as bad) with cleaning in between. The barrel was already not fouling hardly at all so I don't think it really needed this but I still followed the directions. On the first 3 shot group I got a clover leaf with all 3 shots touching. The second 3 shot group was very close with only one hole just barely not touching the other 2. The 3rd 3 shot group was a bug hole (my first bug hole ever). The first 5 shot group I did was an honest .4 inch group. Needless to say, me and my wife are both ecstatic with the new barrel. The question is, do we even bother with bedding this rifle? This rifle is a deer rifle which will only go out to 400 yards max so im thinking it is not worth it, especially since the only gunsmith near me who sounds like they would do a good job and knows what they are doing is wanting 250$ for devcon bedding job. thoughts? thanks!

If it's not broke, don't fix it

 

[cynicrit]

Short answer: NO. Unless you must have a tack driver, leave well enough alone.

 

[reloaderlen]

IMO
It comes down to the climate that I hunt in vs the climate I sighted it in.
I purchased the same very rifle for my wife when they first came out with the lady hunter. Loaded a few different loads and she shot clover leafs with the loads.
She had several months to practice and get familiar with the rifle . We have our own range here at the house and she could hit a 6" plate all day at
400 yards. She killed a couple deer early in the season then we had a hard freeze. Long story short she missed a real nice one . I took the Rifle and shot it myself and it was terribly off. Two days later it warmed up and it was back dead on.
I bedded it with devcon and no problems since.
I would take it and have it bedded
If I didn't feel comfortable doing it myself. It's really not that hard. If it doesn't turn out like you would like
Then just grind out the bedding and do over. As long as you apply plenty of release agent . Memories are made and the ones that hurt are the ones that you can't relive or those you ask yourself would it have turned out differently if I had only spent a few more dollars?

 

[foul bore]

I bedded my m77 Ruger 22-250 the recoil lug required a lot of thinking for me, I did not want to lock it in the stock. It came out nice and cut groups in 1/2. floated barrel as well. If it had been shooting as good as the one mentioned I would have left it alone.

 

[Litehiker]

If it has a wood stock YES, bed it with a good "filled" epoxy like Marine Tex. Wood will absorb moisture or dry out, changing pressure on the rifle either way.
Otherwise if a synthetic stock leave well enough alone.

Eric B.

 

[Tommo64]

Man has it been a crazy time with my wife's Savage Lady hunter rifle. This rifle started life out as a 7mm08 true 3 MOA rifle lol (not to be confused with .3 MOA). It was so bad I sent it in to savage. They were able to get one 1.75inch 3 shot group which they deemed was acceptable and would not rebarrel the rifle. I never got a 1.75MOA group myself but that would not have been acceptable to me any way. Of course I would not sell this rifle to anyone else just to pass on the pain so I decided to go semi-custom build route. First i replaced the budget scope rings with better ones and checked with multiple scopes. Same bad groupings. Next I replaced all plastic parts (bottom metal and such) with real metal parts as some people claimed this could help with accuracy on the savage forums. This cost me 120$. There was no improvement, accept the magazine and bottom metal now looks and feels better but the rifle is also slightly heavier now. Next I inletted the barrel channel just a touch more as I thought maybe the barrel was getting pinched a little and not a true free float. This did not help. I tried numerous re-loads. This did not help. So finally all that remained was bedding and/or barrel swap. Ive never bedded a rifle and savage seems a bit complicated for bedding but barrel swaps are easy and ive actually done that twice with other savage rifles. it does have pillars though which is good. So I ultimately decided on putting an aftermarket barrel on first. Ordered the barrel. I got a magnum sporter profile 23inch 6.5cm barrel for about 400$ shipped. First day out after installing it, I purchased 2 types of factory loads. Did the barrel break in procedure which was single shots for 5 shots with cleaning in between each shot. Then the procedure called for two to five 3 shot groups (until the barrel was not fouling as bad) with cleaning in between. The barrel was already not fouling hardly at all so I don't think it really needed this but I still followed the directions. On the first 3 shot group I got a clover leaf with all 3 shots touching. The second 3 shot group was very close with only one hole just barely not touching the other 2. The 3rd 3 shot group was a bug hole (my first bug hole ever). The first 5 shot group I did was an honest .4 inch group. Needless to say, me and my wife are both ecstatic with the new barrel. The question is, do we even bother with bedding this rifle? This rifle is a deer rifle which will only go out to 400 yards max so im thinking it is not worth it, especially since the only gunsmith near me who sounds like they would do a good job and knows what they are doing is wanting 250$ for devcon bedding job. thoughts? thanks!

You now have a tack driver. If it ain't broke, don't mess with it, especially as its intended use is for hunting. If you were intending to use it for extreme long range hunting or serious comping, well that's a different story. Just my 2c's.

 

[chirodr1]

I have to go with the "If it ain't broke don't fix it crowd". My son built me a 6.5 Creedmoor barreled action for Father's Day 3 years ago. It is based on a Remington short action and I did not have a good stock for it. I was going to put a McMillan on it but delivery was 4 or 5 months out and I could not wait to shoot it. I put it in a synthetic varmint stock I had laying around. No bedding, and no pillars. The rifle shot in the .4's and .5's. with Hornady 140 Eld-m's and 143 Eld-x's. Then the 147's became available and it shot even better, and now regularly shoots in the .2's and occassionally in the .1's. Best group so far was a 200 yard 3 shot group of .094". I have the McMillan stock but I doubt I will ever use it for this rifle.

 

[J E Custom]

Man has it been a crazy time with my wife's Savage Lady hunter rifle. This rifle started life out as a 7mm08 true 3 MOA rifle lol (not to be confused with .3 MOA). It was so bad I sent it in to savage. They were able to get one 1.75inch 3 shot group which they deemed was acceptable and would not rebarrel the rifle. I never got a 1.75MOA group myself but that would not have been acceptable to me any way. Of course I would not sell this rifle to anyone else just to pass on the pain so I decided to go semi-custom build route. First i replaced the budget scope rings with better ones and checked with multiple scopes. Same bad groupings. Next I replaced all plastic parts (bottom metal and such) with real metal parts as some people claimed this could help with accuracy on the savage forums. This cost me 120$. There was no improvement, accept the magazine and bottom metal now looks and feels better but the rifle is also slightly heavier now. Next I inletted the barrel channel just a touch more as I thought maybe the barrel was getting pinched a little and not a true free float. This did not help. I tried numerous re-loads. This did not help. So finally all that remained was bedding and/or barrel swap. Ive never bedded a rifle and savage seems a bit complicated for bedding but barrel swaps are easy and ive actually done that twice with other savage rifles. it does have pillars though which is good. So I ultimately decided on putting an aftermarket barrel on first. Ordered the barrel. I got a magnum sporter profile 23inch 6.5cm barrel for about 400$ shipped. First day out after installing it, I purchased 2 types of factory loads. Did the barrel break in procedure which was single shots for 5 shots with cleaning in between each shot. Then the procedure called for two to five 3 shot groups (until the barrel was not fouling as bad) with cleaning in between. The barrel was already not fouling hardly at all so I don't think it really needed this but I still followed the directions. On the first 3 shot group I got a clover leaf with all 3 shots touching. The second 3 shot group was very close with only one hole just barely not touching the other 2. The 3rd 3 shot group was a bug hole (my first bug hole ever). The first 5 shot group I did was an honest .4 inch group. Needless to say, me and my wife are both ecstatic with the new barrel. The question is, do we even bother with bedding this rifle? This rifle is a deer rifle which will only go out to 400 yards max so im thinking it is not worth it, especially since the only gunsmith near me who sounds like they would do a good job and knows what they are doing is wanting 250$ for devcon bedding job. thoughts? thanks!

Bedding is always a good idea, But when a rifle shoots that well the old saying That "If it an't broke don't fix it" is good to follow.

You can always bed later if accuracy falls off (It normally does after a certain time and shots).

J E CUSTOM

 

[Greyfox]

Over the years, quite a few bedding issues with initially nice shooting rifles showed up later, and, during a hunt or match in different conditions. At the very least, I will make sure the barrel is fully floated, and the face of the recoil lug and tang contact area skim coated with epoxy. I find the Savages(particularly the Accu-Stock), the most difficult to tune and adjust bedding screw torque, and it's effect on accuracy. Most, out of them right out of the box, have had loose bedding screws.

 

[RevJim]

My first rifle I ever had bedded was a Mod 700 BDL 7mm Mag, back in 83. In '82 I had an opportunity to hunt elk in November, Colorado. My rifle shot well in East Tx, 70ft above sea level, no colder than 35 degs sometimes, mostly still high 60's, but rained a lot. My rifle was not bedded, and I go up to close to 9000ft, snow and below freezing. No elk that trip, legs really got sore! ha When I got home, the rifle didn't shoot as well. It seemed the dryer Colorado air had messed with my stock. I had it bedded (no pillars, which I now prefer) and the barrel floated. It even shot better. So changes in weather/humidity, etc can have an affect on the wood stock. Here in Utah, in the early 90's I had a MKII ruger 338WM and a Mod 700 280 Mountain Rifle, unbedded, that shot great. I didn't mess with them at all.

 

[silverhair]

You're sub-MOA now. If the groups start to open to MOA or worse, then consider other action. But if that happens, there are several things to do before bedding including checking the torque on the action bolts and rings, and whether the scope is jumping our of zero. Maybe consider testing with a different kind of ammo.