Barrel not straight in barrel channel: big deal?

[Kevin1]

Barrel not straight in barrel channel: big deal?
My Savage 10FP was slightly leaning toward the right side of the barrel channel on the factory stock. I upgraded the stock to a B&C, and it’s still leaning toward the same side. It’s very little, and it’s entirely free floated. But I’m wondering what is causing this and if there is an acceptable level of tolerance.
Today I went to a very large gun shop and examined many different guns (including some relatively high end rifles with HS stocks). I noticed that most of them had the same issue (the barrel is free floated, but it’s slightly leaning either to the right or to the left).

Questions:
What’s causing this?
Does this affect accuracy and how?
Is there an acceptable tolerance?

Thanks,
Kevin

 

[*greenhorn*]

Re: Barrel not straight in barrel channel: big deal?

im sure its putting undue stress in the action if the action is not bedded right or the barrel threads/action threads not good, i would get fixed that's not good

i belive it would cause neg results to all your questions

 

[coldboremiracle]

Re: Barrel not straight in barrel channel: big deal?

I had the <span style="font-weight: bold">exact</span> same problem with a brother's gun, his was a savage 12 in the B&C medalist. What I did to fix it was glue a tiny smashed piece of lead shot into place under the action that would hold it in the perfect position, then I bedded the rifle as you would any other. The rifle is now straight as an arrow and shoots great too. FWIW, it never did shoot bad.

 

[turbo54]

Re: Barrel not straight in barrel channel: big deal?

I wouldn't sweat it too much. My Savage was offset in its plastic stock, and also offset in the B&C stock I bought for it.

I wrapped 60 grit sandpaper around a hunk of 1" dowel and sanded the barrel channel so that everything looked right. Mind you, the "sidewalls" of the forearm that form the barrel channel looked the same thickness when I was finished, so obviously, my offset wasn't a LOT!

Then I skim bedded the action into the stock. I ended up with very, very little bedding compound between action and bedding block - indicating my action was a pretty darned good fit to the bedding block before ever bedding it.

This rifle straight up shoots lights out.

 

[DMann]

Re: Barrel not straight in barrel channel: big deal?

Often when cinching things down tight, the recoil lug will kick a few thousandths off dead center straight up-and-down, so that it is off a hair to the left or right. When dropped into the stock, the result is the barrel doesn't ride the middle of the barrel channel, but leans to one side. You might want to have a reputable smith pull the barreled action and check it for plumb. Sometimes, a whack with a rubber mallet is all that is needed to get the recoil lug back in line.

In any event, it is something to be checked. Better to bed a squared barreled action than one with a kink.

 

[Kevin1]

Re: Barrel not straight in barrel channel: big deal?

Thanks for these explanations. At least now I know why. My rifle is a solid 0.59 MOA gun and I think, that for now, I can live with the barrel not being straight in the stock.
Posting a pic of my rifle where you can see the barrel slightly leaning to the left.

 

[AvsFan]

Re: Barrel not straight in barrel channel: big deal?

That would drive me fucking nuts...but, then again I have OCD

 

[jerseymike]

Re: Barrel not straight in barrel channel: big deal?

I have a 700 in a manners t4 with chassis that's slightly canted and it shoots just fine.

 

[Belisarius]

Re: Barrel not straight in barrel channel: big deal?

I had a Rem700 VLS with the same issue. Shot perfectly. I tried all my rem stocks, still the same, one day when I rebarreled it, the gunsmith told me that the barrel was screwed on crooked. Like I said, it shot super.

 

[hypno02]

Re: Barrel not straight in barrel channel: big deal?

It's a dad issue, DEAD ISSUE!

 

[308Shooter1911]

Re: Barrel not straight in barrel channel: big deal?

I had the same problem when my Rem 700 was in a B&C stock. It shot fine, but stuff like that bothers me. I fixed the problem when I bedded the action.

 

[*greenhorn*]

Re: Barrel not straight in barrel channel: big deal?

yea if it shoots that good and its that far off i would say its ok but if it was me i would freaking loose sleep over it. drive me nuts Kill had a good idea or fix i should say but i don't know id end up re pillering the action / stock and re bead the whole thing, i couldn't live whit it that far off as is shows in the pic.

 

[Deadshot2]

Re: Barrel not straight in barrel channel: big deal?

The only way I see that as an issue is if the barrel is close enough to hit the stock when fired due to barrel vibration or stock movement caused by rest/bipod.

The trend towards aluminium action blocks beddded into the stock instead of pillar bedding with epoxy could well be the reason for so many rifles being observed with this same issue. Unless the action block is true in the stock the barrel it can be just about anywhere in relation to the forend. It's just cosmetic if the rifle shoots well.

 

[Kevin1]

Re: Barrel not straight in barrel channel: big deal?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Cowboy1978</div><div class="ubbcode-body">yea if it shoots that good and its that far off i would say its ok but if it was me i would freaking loose sleep over it. drive me nuts Kill had a good idea or fix i should say but i don't know id end up re pillering the action / stock and re bead the whole thing, i couldn't live whit it that far off as is shows in the pic. </div></div>

It's not that off. A few more pics so you see how it really is.

 

[Goin'Hot]

Re: Barrel not straight in barrel channel: big deal?

If you bed the rifle you can correct it. I've seen custom guns that are off after bedding so, you need to make sure the barrel is centered while the epoxy is curing.

 

[turbo54]

Re: Barrel not straight in barrel channel: big deal?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Goin'Hot</div><div class="ubbcode-body">If you bed the rifle you can correct it. I've seen custom guns that are off after bedding so, you need to make sure the barrel is centered while the epoxy is curing. </div></div>

I kinda disagree. If he corrects this by bedding, that will mean there is a thick pad of epoxy, somewhere, supporting the action. While that would probably work "ok", it defeats the purpose of bedding blocks/pillars, which are in place to handle the compressive load of the "clamp" holding the action to the stock.

Glass/epoxy bedding is meant to provide a stress free bed for the action to nestle into, not withstand the "squeeze" of action screw torque.

In my opinion, a better fix would be to sand/inlet the forearm of the stock to look even - that is, after ensuring the action is already nesting into the bedding block nicely.