Originally Posted By: VarminterrorChemdawg - the Boyd's stocks are incredibly cheap, at least in the world of rifle stocks. Technically, the B-mag's are supposed to be pillar blocked from factory due their specialized mounting design. It's not really pillar blocked, since the pillars are 2 piece, but it's pretty close. Counter sinking the holes a little deeper in the stock will let it make solid contact, as will bedding under the built in action pillar.
Or you can do like I did on my first B-mag, switch it back to a conventional blocking method by boring out the mag retainer and bedding it directly into the stock, then running a pillar clear through it, and using a conventional action screw.
I also skim bedded the entire length of the action on both of mine.
Due to their odd design the Bmag isn't really the easiest thing to bed. Savage didn't do us any favors when they designed the Bmag that's for sure.
There isn't any real recoil lug to bed and the void around the front action screw and in front of the magazine retainer clip is pretty significant but that is where mine was bed. I don't have anything touching the barrel.
The vast majority of Bmags that I've seen bed were done the same way as CoyoteMatt did his.
Matt, have you checked the headspace with a set of go/no gauges? Excessive headspace has been a problem for some Bmag owners. Have you experienced any neck splits? One thing good about the Bmag design is they are very easy to adjust headspace, but you'll need a go/no go gauge set. PM me and I may be able to help you out with those.
Varminterror, is there any chance you could post a picture or two of how you bed your Bmag? I'm always interested to see how others did theirs. I've never learned how to post pics on this site or I'd post some of how mine was done but if anyone is curious and would like to take a look pm me and I can text or email them to you.
My Bmag started life as a 22in. 1-9tw HB SS with the POS plastic stock but it had a Boyd's Pro Varmint bed to it shortly after I bought it new. I also had two inches lopped off when it was threaded and I've chronographed it since, avg. 2984fps with AE 20 grainers.
Have you ever checked the twist rate on yours? Mine had a build date of late October early November 2015 it's a 1-9tw and per Savage, one of the last 1-9's. Again, per Savage, sometime around November 2015 they switched to a 1-8tw barrel and I've heard some of the early Bmags that wouldn't hit the ground if it fell out of your hands were sent back and refitted with 1-8tw barrels.
Couple other things to check if accuracy isn't what you think it should be is the muzzle crown and torque on the action bolts. Sometimes they do a really pizz poor job of crowning these things. I have a new Sav. A17 that is so bad I don't believe it was ever actually touched with a crowning tool. The other is torque on the action screws. I use a in.lb torque wrench and use between 35-40 in.lbs.