Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Glass bedding, do you include the first inch or so of the barrel?

I have done dozens with the first 2 inches of BBL bedded and every one has shot very well? maybe just lucky?

I usually bed the length of the chamber,then float the rest.

For ultra accuracy (benchrest, 1000 yard, etc) you will see only full free float to the action. Reason: more shooting, more barrel heat-up. Metal expands at a different rate than epoxy. As barrel expands greater than epoxy, subsequent shots may shoot higher. Read this in a scholarly tome, but cannot remember when or where. My gunsmith, Steve Baldwin-Mechanical Accuracy-Jones, OK, is mucho smart/experienced with this and full free floats all barrels, as do I now. The "shank pad" is more cosmetic than anything, and probably doesn't hurt for general hunting.

This is my first post, but for whatever it's worth, I've bedded in dozens of barrels as much as 3"-4" from the recoil lug. If that method has an adverse affect on accuracy, I can't notice it. Personally, I'd be pretty leery about totally free-floating any barrel, but particularly one over 24".

Along with that, standard pre-64 M70's have that barrel screw 6" or so out on the barrel, and they shoot pretty darn good bedded right up to the lug, with the screw turned snug.

Jeff

I'm not surprised by these responses. It seems the majority of us bed rifles like we were taught. I don't think it's going to make a difference in hunting rifles, but I find it interesting.

DF

I've been glass bedding rifles for many years. I had read that one needs to include the first inch or two of the barrel shank as part of the process. I'm building another rifle and my smith, who has a lot of experience with bench and target rifles, said the latest trend is to free float the barrel all the way back to the action, nothing touching the barrel.

I was wanting to see what you guys are doing?

DF

For ultra accuracy (benchrest, 1000 yard, etc) you will see only full free float to the action. Reason: more shooting, more barrel heat-up. Metal expands at a different rate than epoxy. As barrel expands greater than epoxy, subsequent shots may shoot higher. Read this in a scholarly tome, but cannot remember when or where. My gunsmith, Steve Baldwin-Mechanical Accuracy-Jones, OK, is mucho smart/experienced with this and full free floats all barrels, as do I now. The "shank pad" is more cosmetic than anything, and probably doesn't hurt for general hunting.

My smith is Ray Bowman, Precision Rifle and Tool, Mebane, NC. Ray is a retired Surgery RN. Before that he was a machinist and has always been a shooter. He has a number of patents on surgical instruments. During his career as a Surgery RN, he worked with the doctors and when they needed a special instrument, he went home and made it. Very interesting guy to talk to. He's really high tech into target and tactical rifles and I learn from him every time we talk. When he retired from the hospital, he went back to his shop and is very busy, building rifles. Check him out on line.

I'm going to bed this least build like he said and see how it does. He's not led me wrong, yet.

He has the PT&G .22-204 reamer, chambering two rifles for me. Very interesting round that I think you'll be hearing more and more about.

DF