Gunsmithing New A5... To bed or not to bed...

[oneshot onekill]

I just finally ordered a new A5 stock from John at JW Precision. He's a great guy and I highly reccommend him if you want a McMillan Stock and you want it now. He's got some. Anyway, after speaking to him I've been made aware that bedding isn't always necessary. I didn't know that and always assumed bedding was absolutely necessary. The rifle that's going into the stock is a 40X Repeater in 7.62 Nato. It has an extremely stout barrel that's 26" and has a straight taper. I've never bedded a rifle myself before and I'd like some opinions. First: Is it highly reccommended to bed it? Second: I know there are some great "how-to's" about bedding here on the hide. I'm pretty handy and mechanically inclined. Should I attempt it myself? Or is it something best left to the experts? This is the most I've ever spent on a stock and I don't want to screw this up! Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks in advance!

John

 

[THUNDERBOLT68]

Re: New A5... To bed or not to bed...

IMHO. Bed is a must Why spend money on the stock to skimp on bedding

 

[oneshot onekill]

Re: New A5... To bed or not to bed...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: THUNDERBOLT68</div><div class="ubbcode-body">IMHO. Bed is a must Why spend money on the stock to skimp on bedding </div></div>
Apparently the material the channel of the stock is made of is solid enough to support not bedding if the rifle shoots well without it. I was under the impression that stock channels were soft and would not take the abuse of firing for long. Is that at least one of the reasons for bedding?

 

[treebasher]

Re: New A5... To bed or not to bed...

My first post on the Hide was this same question.

I ended up pillar bedding after I received the stock and tested the action fit.

If you are chomping at the bit to go shooting just screwing the action in will work but plan on bedding it in my opinion.

Here is the link to my old post, it has a ton of great information from some members.

http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthre...186#Post1233186

 

[Brain]

Re: New A5... To bed or not to bed...

How will you maintain consistent action screw torque if it isn't bedded? The stock isn't as solid as you might think it is and will give under pressure.

+1 Bedding is a must.

 

[7mmRM]

Re: New A5... To bed or not to bed...

Bed it.

 

[pj68]

Re: New A5... To bed or not to bed...

One,
May i suggest checking out Randy's website? He has a diy on bedding. His name here is hateca, company name RD precision. Randy is a good guy to talk/deal with. He built my Rem 700 .223 . turned out great.

SOTA

 

[jml403]

Re: New A5... To bed or not to bed...

I'm running mine unbedding at the moment. However, I second all these guys, Brain's comment is right on. I check the torque on mine frequently and no matter if 10 rounds were fired or 40, there is no consistency.

On the side of accuracy though, I'm not complaining, yet.

 

[cruizer]

Re: New A5... To bed or not to bed...

bed it

 

[McCrazy]

Re: New A5... To bed or not to bed...

Bed it. You might be lucky and it may shoot well without it. However I doubt it will shoot better without bedding compared to having a QUALITY bedding job done to it. Nothing to lose but a little money...

 

[AXEMAN]

Re: New A5... To bed or not to bed...

there are three bedding threads on here at the moment, scimitar, wn roscoe and 7mm all have threads going on how to bed with pictures. good info there

 

[oneshot onekill]

Re: New A5... To bed or not to bed...

I think what I'll do is see how it fits initially and plan on bedding it ASAP unless it's really perfect. I think I'll do it myself and just be as careful as possible... And no Tequila that day!

I'm gonna give it a chance as it sits first because there's no bedding in the "McMillan Modified 40X" Stock it's in now and I shot a "dime-sized" 4 shot group at 300yds with it last weekend. (shot 4 because I couldn't believe the 3 shot group so I had to send another downrange just for shits and giggles!) Thanks to all who responded!

John

 

[Killswitch Engage]

Re: New A5... To bed or not to bed...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 7mmRM</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Bed it. </div></div>

for sure....it's pretty easy just pay attention to detail.

 

[GunjunkieM24]

Re: New A5... To bed or not to bed...

Definitely bed it....you will be forever happy when your done.

 

[cruizer]

Re: New A5... To bed or not to bed...

I would say the price of a beddig job would be cheap insurance.

 

[scotharr]

Re: New A5... To bed or not to bed...

As a new alternative, you can put an aluminum bedding block in it. This allows the stock to be swapped with different actions without needing to rebed. Nor will the aluminum block require rebedding when it breaks down because it doesn't
http://www.whiddengunworks.net/beddingblock.html

 

[Marriedman1]

Re: New A5... To bed or not to bed...

Yes Bed it. You will be way ahead in the end and can only blame yourself when it dont shoot.

 

[n8lusk]

Re: New A5... To bed or not to bed...

Definately bed it! Here is a link to wnroscoe's tip for bedding.

LA Precisions tips on bedding

I tried it and it worked perfectly the first time. If you would rather not do it yourself, just package it up and ship it to him. William will take care of you.

Lousiana Precision Rifles