Bedding a barrel the entire length of the forestock?

wahoowad

wahoowad

Member
I was telling my neighbor about how I have a stock rubbing my barrel and how my goal is to get a new stock that will free-float my barrel and stiffen the forearm to reduce movement.

He builds muskets and says he glass-beds all his barrels the full length of the forestock. He volunteered to glass-bed my existing stock as that would stabilize and support my barrel and prevent movement. He was skeptical of the fully floated barrel concept and said he'd never heard of such a thing.

I read so much about floated barrels and accuracy that I argued back that perhaps he was working of antiquated advice that only pertained to muskets. Do some folks fully bed the barrel the full length of the forestock?
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I've never done it but I did buy a rifle once that had been done that way. Savage 110 in 22-250 sport weight and it shot excellent like that. I eventually re-stocked the gun and bedded the action only because I prefer free floated.
 
Full length bedding is a last ditch effort to save a gun from a sale. I will usually send them down the road before I will full length bed due to problems I have had in the past.

Pencil barrels are a tough when they have stress relief issues.
 
Normally I feel a fully bedded barrel or one with pressure on the tip is to compensate for poor action bedding on factory rifles. Most rifles will shoot better with a fully floating barrel, but of course there are exceptions to every rule.
 
fully bedding the barrel in a regular wooden stock would subject it to all the swelling and shrinking of that wood from humidity, shifting your POI.
don
 
I have had the best luck fully bedding rifle barrels with Blue RTV which also dampens vibrations...if you have to do a job like this.
 
Quote:He was skeptical of the fully floated barrel concept and said he'd never heard of such a thing.
I wouldn't let this guy touch my rifle. There are probably 10,000 free floated barrels for every fully bedded one. If he has never heard of free floating? Well...just saying ya know?

Fully bedding is not common but it is sometimes done. More common would be a "glue in" where the barrel is actually glassed into the stock. That technique was often used by military armorers to accurize Garands for competition for instance.
 
I believe some if not many rifles come with "fully bedded" barrels from the factory.

Originally Posted By: JTBNormally I feel a fully bedded barrel or one with pressure on the tip is to compensate for poor action bedding on factory rifles.
It wouldn't surprise me at all if that were true.

Originally Posted By: donlynchfully bedding the barrel in a regular wooden stock would subject it to all the swelling and shrinking of that wood from humidity, shifting your POI.
don

He also makes a very good point.

If your stock is synthetic I might give it a try cause it is probably cheaper than a new stock, and if your neighbor would do it that's even more of a reason to give it a try. I would say if it works great it saved you the cost of a new stock, and if not your not out much if it doesn't work.
 
Also, you could just bead and free float your own stock. Brownells and Midway USA both sell do it yourself kits if you want to go that route.
 
Originally Posted By: NM LeonQuote:He was skeptical of the fully floated barrel concept and said he'd never heard of such a thing.
I wouldn't let this guy touch my rifle. There are probably 10,000 free floated barrels for every fully bedded one. If he has never heard of free floating? Well...just saying ya know?

Fully bedding is not common but it is sometimes done. More common would be a "glue in" where the barrel is actually glassed into the stock. That technique was often used by military armorers to accurize Garands for competition for instance.


What he said...

... in SPADES!!!

Meow
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I know ZIP about muskets, but have a few years experience with Target and Hunting Rifles. Since ultimate accuracy is my thing and I no longer hunt, there is no way in heck that I'd be bedding a barrel. Anytime you bed a barrel, you are messing with and altering the harmonics of that barrel. Over the years I've found bedding the action and free floating the barrel gives you best accuracy. But Ackleyman is also correct that bedding a barrel is an attempt to make it shoot better so you send that baby down the road and out of your stable because it's a junk barrel. Thats part of the reason I won't buy used barrels because if they were good, the seller wouldn't be trying to unload it no matter what the advertized reason.
 
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I have full length bedded a rifle once. And only once. It needed to be done to straighten the stock (squirrel gun full length stock).

The only other time I glassed a stock barrel full length it was to 1. seal barrel area, 2. somewhat stiffen the forearm, and glass the back end of the barrel. All I had to do to get this done was put 2 layers of masking tape on the barrel before applying the release agent. That is forward of the part of the barrel that got bedded. This left most of the barrel free floated.
 
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