I’ll be pillar bedding a M70 416 Rem soon. I do not have a recoil lug on the barrel, and I’m not planning to install one. I see a few options for bedding this rifle:

(1) free float the entire barrel;
(2) bed the first 2.5 inches of barrel; or
(3) bed the entire barrel

I’m leaning towards bedding the first 2.5 inches of barrel past the recoil lug. What do the experts say?

Bed the action and the straight barrel shank ahead of the action.

Leave the part of the barrel that is tapered free floating.

I do that to all our rifles, regardless of caliber.

Important part is to make sure you make sure the bedding is tight.

I use steel or titanium bed, from different sources.

They all work.

The pillars have to fit too.

I make my own for each rifle.

From brass.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Bed the action and the straight barrel shank ahead of the action.

Leave the part of the barrel that is tapered free floating.

I do that to all our rifles, regardless of caliber.

Important part is to make sure you make sure the bedding is tight.

I use steel or titanium bed, from different sources.

They all work.

The pillars have to fit too.

I make my own for each rifle.

From brass.

This ^^^^

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
Bed the action and the straight barrel shank ahead of the action.

Leave the part of the barrel that is tapered free floating.

I do that to all our rifles, regardless of caliber.

Important part is to make sure you make sure the bedding is tight.

I use steel or titanium bed, from different sources.

They all work.

The pillars have to fit too.

I make my own for each rifle.

From brass.

Yep, this^^^^^

I agree, FWIW.

Zeke

I bed most rifles tight all the way, test it, if its a no go, I remove wood to the 3 point method, test it, then I will free float it, regardless of caliber..This way I will find its sweet spot, YOU CANT PUT WOOD BACK!!

I know, you can glass it, but a glassed custom rifle, is devalued to some degree, depending...Many claim free floating is the only way to go, all I can say its the easiest to the non skilled from what I see in the field and pawn shops..a 10 YEAR OLD CAN LEARN TO INLET IN TWO WEEKS..

quote:

I know, you can glass it, but a glassed custom rifle, is devalued to some degree,

From the prices I have seen here.

Custom rifle lose a good percentage of their value when they leave the shop.

Yes I suppose used custom rifles do devalue depending on the maker for the most part but just like everything else out yander!

That is correct they are not a great investiment, but they can be a good buy..and it makes a difference who built them..

That is a mistake not to have a barrel lug. I would never do a 416 without one in a wood stock. Unless it is a laminated one.
As for custom rifles losing value; all art loses value unless it is from a famous artist.

i'd be more worried about an axial wrist pin and cross bolts than floating the barrel.

that being said, if you can take the lick, 416s tend to be very accurate.. most bigbores do

Yes, 416s are very accurate; last one I built on a P14 shoots .5 MOA all day. Douglas barrel; and laminated stock.
But yes, you do need cross bolts. Floating the barrel or not; immaterial for keeping the stock in one piece. But yes, do it as you say; bed the reinforce.
I take cues from factory Model 70s; barrel lug, two cross bolts, and glass bedded lug contact areas.
I would not build a 416 without glass bedding the recoil lug and the barrel lug. It doesn't show.

My 416 Taylor is sub MOA shoots 3 different bullet weights into same POA.

It is built on a Ruger MKII stainless with a 25 inch Douglas barrel.

Glass bedded in a Ruger sty stock no barrel lug.

No problems so far.

Walnut stock?

QUOTE]Walnut stock?[/QUOTE]

No a Ruger factory synesthetic

Ok, synthetic; I wondered what a sty stock was. Of course, you don't need any lugs or cross bolts with those.

Accuracy boils down to quality components and careful gunsmithing.

It is not dependent on the caliber.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
That is a mistake not to have a barrel lug. I would never do a 416 without one in a wood stock. Unless it is a laminated one.
As for custom rifles losing value; all art loses value unless it is from a famous artist.

I know there is some risk that my stock might crack. But I don’t have much money invested in the stock, so I’m not too worried about it. I have two cross bolts and a wrist pin installed and I'm going to fully glass the action. I’m pretty sure Dakota didn’t install barrel mounted recoil lugs on 416s, so hopefully I’ll be okay.

If your going to the four corners of the earth to hunt and "use" a custom rifle, I suggest and extra lug in the barrel, glass bedding, two cross bolts, on any big bore..just good insurance on a hunt that can run into the thousands, and no gunsmith handy to fix..Ive seen them all come apart, Ive listened to smith who say if its bedded properly you don't need any extra, and thats pure ignorant BS by a person who has hunted little..