Want to bed the action of my Ruger 77-22 VHZ, .22 Hornet. Question: Should I bed or float the barrel? Why?

I find that I end up free floating my barrels they seem to shoot beeter that way . All my varmint barrels are I shoot off a bi pod mostly I found that non floated barrels seem to change impact when useing bipod with veritcal stringing being the most common. The more touching the barrel the more that can go wrong.

Try floating first. If it doesn't work try a pressure point near the muzzle end of the forestock. If that doesn't work, bed the whole damn thing. If that doesn't work, sell it.

Here we go again, stating one way is better than the other, when the determining factor is the barrelled action an its phonics or vibratory reactions to firing....

I start by bedding my custom guns tight and shooting for 1" or less...If that does not work I will 3 point bed with pressure points at the tang, recoil lug rear surface and 1" behind the forend..If that doesn't work then I free float the barrel from 2" in front of the action to the end of the stock...By doing it in this manner I don't ruin the stock if the two other methods don't work...
Wherever it works I stop at that point.

I keep in mind that on a hunting rifle I would rather have a gun shoot a 1.5" clover shaped group than a 1" string group, so to speak.

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Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com