To bed or Not to Bed

[tt35]

So, I finally got around to shooting my .243 AI after putting it in the new McMillan A5. I just dropped it in the stock and tightened her down.

Here's my baby...

The specs are: Smithed by Dan Dowling. REM M700, Krieger 1:8 27 1/2", Berger 105's... Conditions 35 to 40 degress. Light wind at 5 o'clock. Harris bipod. Portable bench at 200 and prone off a hay stack at 600yards.

Here's the result...

After getting on paper at 100, I shot it at 200 yards. The first two groups at 200 yards were .730" and .568". The next group went out to 1.86". Not sure why. The next day I loaded some more ammo and shot a 1.25" and 1.36". All three shot groups. Average is 1.16" at 200.

I chronographed the loads on the first three groups and JBM'd the trajectory before shooting today. Velocity is 3162 fps at 12' from the muzzle.

I went out to 600 yards and set up prone off my bipod and rear bag on our hay stack. I dialed 8.5 MOA but only got two on the bottom of the box. I dialed up another 1.5 MOA and started finishing dialing in on the target. The groups (all three shots still) were 2.55", 4.86", 1.10" and 2.58". Average of 2.78".

So, should I bed it or not? Can I expect much more from her accuracy-wise? I'd rather not start over on load developement. Will that be necessary in your experience? Will bedding make it more repeatable when taking it in and out of the stock? Am I risking messing up my load if I bed the stock? What is y'alls experience? Thanks.


tt

 

[foreign]

hmm shite thats a hard one. with those groups i would be inclined to leave it. but i guess the question will be what will happen next time you take it out of the stock. maybe try taking it out and replace it and see if POI and group size is the same. if not then bed it...
im assuming you feel comfortable bedding it yourself..
im not sure if you will have to do huge changes in load development if you bed it. might just have to do some tweeking since the harmonics might change a little.
but what ever you do thats one sweet rig and good shooting.. im jealous

 

[tt35]

foreign: That's ome good advice. No one I've talked to suggested taking it in and out of the stock. You're exactly right--I'm nervous about changing things and I'm trying to avoid starting over in load developement. (Although it wouldn't hurt my feelings if it decided it liked something cheaper than Bergers for varmint hunting! ) Thanks for the input.

 

[RDM416]

tt35, Nice looking rig! Always bed. A properly done bedding job will never hurt anything and most of the time will help. I am not going to say you will see measurable improvements in groups..... you might or might not. In shooting long range all of those "little" things are cumulative.

Bedding the stock should not have any significant change on anything. At the most, you might have to adjust your "zero" by a small amount, there would be no change that would require "starting over in load development".

 

[eyeballjr]

tt35, Nice looking rig! Always bed. A properly done bedding job will never hurt anything and most of the time will help. I am not going to say you will see measurable improvements in groups..... you might or might not. In shooting long range all of those "little" things are cumulative.

Bedding the stock should not have any significant change on anything. At the most, you might have to adjust your "zero" by a small amount, there would be no change that would require "starting over in load development".

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^this has been my experience, not much change in poi and loads that shot well before, shot well after.

 

[J E Custom]

tt35, Nice looking rig! Always bed. A properly done bedding job will never hurt anything and most of the time will help. I am not going to say you will see measurable improvements in groups..... you might or might not. In shooting long range all of those "little" things are cumulative.

Bedding the stock should not have any significant change on anything. At the most, you might have to adjust your "zero" by a small amount, there would be no change that would require "starting over in load development".

+1

Bedding can only improve an already good shooter.

If only in consistancy.

J E CUSTOM

 

[tt35]

Ok. Thanks for all the input, guys. Intuitively, I didn't think that the bedding job would change the load preference of the rifle but it's nice to hear from some people who've done it.

So, next question....just skim bed it or remove some material for deeper (thicker) bedding material?