After a total of 12 shots from my new Mod. 70 in 416 Rem, I noticed the stock has cracked. The area between the rear recoil lug and the mag well pushed back about .040".

Is there anything special I need to know about bedding this gun?

I plan on putting in pillars (9/16" dia.) then bedding the lugs in SteelBed. I'm thinking that there should be a little more clearance on the sides and front of the lugs than what I would leave on a single lug action.

The pillars will need to be relieved to clear the front stock bolt and the trigger.

The piece of wood that was displaced has been glued back in place with Accra-Glass.

Anything I'm missing?

If it were my rifle and the stock went that quickly I would demand a replacement from Winchester. Once I had the replacement in hand I would do the glass and pillar job. I really see no need to fix your broken stock, I think you should do the work to the new stock. No stock should go after 12 rounds, Winchester should take care of this.

Jason

JMac,

I do not know if they will replace it after your attempted repair, but it is worth a try. The factory "bedding" is useless. Mine was some rubbery goop.

You should probably put one or two of the Brownells brass screws (from the stock repair kit) across the stock to help pin the shifted wood.

Whether you get a new one or repair the old stock you should bed both of the crossbolts in steelbed as the first bedding step. Wax the stock before you begin, but still try to keep the stock clean of bedding compound.

All else is pretty normal. I would not put clearance on the sides of the rear lug, only the front and bottom. I would put only one-layer-of-tape clearance on the sides, front and bottom of the front lug.

Was the impact on paper or was it shooting VERY low or VERY low and left?

Don

I'd just glass bed it, and cross bolt it as opposed to pillars since it is a big bore..I wouldn't bother with stock replacement as its not hurt...Glass it full lenth or 3 point glass it..leave a .020 gap in the rear of the tang, and carefully fill it with modeling clay or rubber cement..

All factory big bores should be cross-bolted and glassed before a shot is fired, even with proper bedding they are going to split sooner or later, Factory wood is still green and most of it is the consistency of cork...

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Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com