Gunsmithing Stock bedding necessary?

[samson7x]

I was looking at a McMillan "ready to ship" drop in and it mentions no need for bedding. Would it be a total sin for a fella not to glass bed this thing? I've never done it and would need to send it off for that. I will not be taking the barreled action in/out after installing. It will be primarily used for hunting so intend to install and leave it be.

If any of you have shot these without bedding, what were your results?

If it's a "must do," who do you recommend for this service? What should I expect to pay?

 

[roggom]

I didn't. I got the McMillan compact with pillars and mine shoots fine as any other. I guess the biggest tell would be to shoot it after it's properly torqued and see how your groups fair.


If you have a Remington and it's a little squirrelly, you can do a quick skim bed of the recoil lug area. It really isn't that difficult as long as you use good release agent.

https://youtu.be/5eBhnRms3PM

 

[spife7980]

A fair amount of people shoot them without it. If you find that it meets your goals save the time and effort. If you know that your goals demand the most out of something then go ahead and bed it. It sure wont hurt anything.

Any gunsmith should be capable of doing it for you so you have a pick of the litter if you want to ship or your local smith will probably be perfectly capable.

 

[samson7x]

Thanks for the input guys. I do plan on just shooting it to see what I get without. Don't have many local smiths here so if it needs it, I may just give it a go.

 

[WeiserBucks]

I bedded mine , just because I had never done it and like a good DIY project. I got a lot of great advice here and went for it . I'll be bedding everything from now on , the results were great and I hate paying for something I can do myself.

 

[JB02]

Compared to the total cost of the rifle, bedding isn't that much. It will almost certainly improve performance. The metal parts and the inlet will have some variability between them - fact of life. The only way to get the stress free glove fit is with a bedding job. It is worth it and you will be glad you paid for it when it's all said and done.

 

[LRI]

Here. More ways than one to skin a cat.

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1235301249897964&id=405264722901625

 

[moosemeat]

Bedding is easy. So easy a Moose could (and has) done it. Use plenty of release agent. The spray on stuff works really really well.

 

[bikerman9967]

the mcmillian i just received for my build is a nice fit, but has plenty of room to move. i will be bedding it

 

[Blowby]

Manners received a tang bed two days ago.

 

[parshal]

Manners received a tang bed two days ago.

I'm building a gun for a friend and he sent me the exact same stock. I don't like how the recoil lug allows the action to rotate in the stock so I was planning on bedding the lug area to stop rotation. Anyone else do that with these mini-chassis?

 

[Blowby]

I'm building a gun for a friend and he sent me the exact same stock. I don't like how the recoil lug allows the action to rotate in the stock so I was planning on bedding the lug area to stop rotation. Anyone else do that with these mini-chassis?

It corrected your problem described. Now I can use a wide range of torque combinations to find the sweet spot without putting undue stress on the action / chassis. Still have contact in the critical locations with a pad to pull the tang onto.

 

[spaniel]

I've had rifles shoot good without bedding. I've had them not. I've had them shoot good, then had to take them out and put back into the stock and they lost accuracy. Bedding is so easy I just go ahead and do it now. I don't understand why you would have to send it out, it's a very simple chore -- especially on a quality stock like a McMillan.

 

[parshal]

It corrected your problem described.

That's exactly what I was thinking. Thanks for the pics. Did you bed the tang, too?

 

[Blowby]

That's all I bed was the tang. Before the bedding - Rifle was zeroed Friday and shot consistent, went back out on Sunday and shot with repeatable results. When bedding I changed the OEM trigger with a Timney, nothing else was altered or adjusted. After bedding and trigger change I went and shot at 200 yards on paper with a shift .9 mils to the right. That's a lot. Adjusted and shot steel out to 1000 yards without any changes in elevation or windage. I'll be heading back out tomorrow to verify if the rifle is still on target. I'm wondering if the stress on the action was that influential?

 

[parshal]

You bed the tang or the recoil lug? I was going to bed the recoil lug and leave the tang alone.

 

[Blowby]

The recoil lug was addressed by the GS by machining the chassis to match. It was a little off so I fit it with jewelers files to have even contact and eliminate contact on the bottom by about .003".

 

[idahoorion]

Parshal, my mini chassis never lived up to billing until I bedded the lug and tang area, it tightened up the groups by taking out the inconsistent shot. I should have don't it first thing.

Idahoorion

 

[Blowby]

Just finished shooting some seating depth groups with the bedded tang. Very happy with the results and I now have my load data. Groups at 100 yards.