How To - Check Your Stock Bedding!

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Stock bedding is a critical item for getting the absolute best precision out of a rifle. Being able to check that bedding, so you know if it is good or not is a skill you should have.
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[@MMBRM]

My first bedding job was on a savage .223 target. I didn't have any proper release agent but had gone online and found that some people recommended using petroleum jelly. So I jellied up my action and went to work. Decided to crank up the heat in the room I was letting it cure in to speed up the epoxy reaction. What didn't occur to me at the time was that the heat would cause the PJ to liquify and run. So it turned out I was doing my first glue in rather than my first bedding job. I eventually got them apart with very little stock damage a few years later.

[@-the1b4u-]

Interesting method Keith. Thanks for the insight

[@sonnyburnett2417]

Many of the top PRS folks just mate their round-bottom actions directly to aluminum (bedding blocks or chassis). Maybe epoxy bedding is necessary for F-Class (I don't doubt it), but I'm not sure it's necessary for other disciplines anymore. Thanks for all of the thought and hard work you put into your videos, btw.

[@strengthcourage9149]

A lot of the top PRS shooters that are sponsored by chassis manufacturers do a full bedding job on the aluminum chassis & just don’t advertise it. An example is Chad Heckler. I would say the majority at a minimum bed the front lug area. Most of the casual shooters just bolt on & go. I have been bedding my own stocks for 40+ years. I thought it would be difficult bedding a chassis, but it’s the same. I rough up the AL with a dremel & make random divots with it. It does make a difference. Even if your chassis shoots good the bed job will keep your POI unchanged if you pull your barreled action & put it back in. My 1st chassis was on a Manners TCS that has the mini chassis built in. It did seem to tighten my groups up and eliminated the need to re-zero after pulling barreled action. I wouldn’t recommend starting with chassis systems as a beginner. Since I only do my own I buy the Devcon or marine-Tex kits made for one application……eliminates trying to measure.

[@userJohnSmith]

I work in a mechanical environment where +/- 0.0005inch is medium precision. Under no circumstances would I consider bedding an effective way to create a properly repeating mechanism of a CTE matched chassis is available. If it's aluminum though...

[@StuninRub]

​@strengthcourage9149 Bedding aluminum is just a dumb thing to do. Aluminum to metal interfaces will always be a better interface than Epoxy to metal. The only exception is if you have really bad tolerances.

[@marelambrechts7712]

Hi Keith, Thank you very much for this episode! Excellent as usual.

[@jd2757]

I certainly appreciate that you may not add to existing bedding instructions on the internet. But I would surely bet a whole lot of money that you could discern between good ideas, and bad ideas, all through the filter of your experience. I never realized the issue could arise... thanks for always giving us something to evaluate and resolve.

[@jaybigboy34]

Thank you for the info!

[@misterlewgee8874]

Always seems there is something new to learn with shooting.. Doing bedding jobs is a bit next level to do on your own....praying that the release agent works... Maybe even thickness of epoxy might make for even shrinkage ...maybe... Interesting contraption to hold gauge on stock...

[@prone_wolf8871]

Very interesting. I didnt even think of bedding shrinking more over time..... Would you do a follow up video on what bedding compounds you have experience with.. and or show how to freshen up your bedding

[@winninginthewind]

The sad truth is that KZbin community guidelines are written in such a way that I probably can't post a video like that here.

[@whiskeykilmer1866]

@@winninginthewind Sure

[@anthonykhalil70]

Great information thx.

[@jcjustice3786]

Good info

[@roddecker1900]

I was wondering if I would learn anything new today thnx this video.> I used dial indicator on an old fashioned lathe for to long and I never thought of that.^> gee wiz.

[@donbenson5292]

Amen

[@thunderandrain09]

Keith; honest question: I’ve watched the video 3 times now to make sure I am understanding what you are saying here. The front area (screw) was out ~.010” (a lot)- The rear portion was out iirc ~.002” Summary: rear area needs more material? I would assume it’s the FRONT that needed more as it was further out. What am I missing here?

[@winninginthewind]

Barrel moved away from stock when the front screw was loosened.

[@millsfamily4562]

Thanks, Keith. I didn't think about the bedding changing over time, but it makes sense. If your rifle has already been bedded, as yours was, how do you "touch up" the bedding? Do you have to grind out all the old bedding and start over, or do you have a method for just adding a "skin" of bedding to what's already in the rifle?

[@annahonorata990]

This shirt suits you Keith.

[@reeleone]

So which is better, classic bedding or alu block bedding?

[@gaetanvallee]

Thank's a lot for this info, appreciated

[@CplSkiUSMC]

Okay, something I didn't realize. Of course, I don't have any precision actions but I have bedded my rifles so this is applicable. I'm curious though, is it better to leave the action screws alone or to re-torque them periodically?

[@winninginthewind]

That is a great question! The answer is in the pillars. Do you have pillars? What are they made from? The truth is that dissimilar metals will expand and contract at varying rates. That will affect the screw tension as the temperature changes. A wood stock without pillars will also change with humidity. I check the screw torque every time I travel with the rifle...

[@CplSkiUSMC]

@@winninginthewind Thank you for answering that question Keith. I have a couple of wood stocks that I do not have pillars in, perhaps I need to go back and install some even though I live in Wyoming and it stays pretty dry here. The others have aluminum pillars (I don't think any are steel) and I see what you're getting at with expansion contraction rates. I will be sure to start checking them.

[@treece1]

Daum! I guess that bondo job shank!!;

[@stevecraig1203]

If accuracy is your goal. Bedding is part of the process.

[@quarterminutemagnums]

Factual information the "chassis" guys don't want to hear.

[@sjohnson1776]

First in with a 'dumb' question. I live ~300 feet above sea level in eastern MD. When I go out west hunting in Wyoming or Utah at 5K ft elevation up to 10K ft elevation, does the bedding change? I can say with certainty that there is a definite point of impact shift going from 300 ft to 5000+. Just curious what your thoughts might be. Thanks!

[@winninginthewind]

I don't know what altitude might do to bedding. Haven't run any experiments.

[@williamsweet7511]

who do you use to chamber your barrels, I have a 32inch Bartlein 284 blank and a Borden Rimrock brxd that need to be chambered etc... I'm in California and can't find anyone I really trust, thanks. Any ideas are welcome. I've been shooting FTR for about a year and building a F-class rifle. I want a 284 win.

[@winninginthewind]

KW Precision

[@JacobTerherst]

How much of the bedding degrading is the result of the stock being made of wood? If a stock in made of Micarta vs wood, should a proper bedding last longer because wood is more sensitive to moisture and temperature changes?

[@winninginthewind]

That is a great question. I don't know. In comparison, my composite stocks need attention at the same frequency, so I think it is primarily the bedding compound and pillar design. I'm not a fan of the pillars in this stock. I'm thinking about making new ones and doing a complete rebed.

[@ericrumpel3105]

.....why round-bottom actions SUCK for longevity, YET, even the custom makers have not caught on yet, (SMH - so slow....), I will NOT own round-bottom actions.....that leaves more for the rest.....lol

[@simperous4308]

V blocks