using a Remington 700 short action. SHould the barrel be free floating? It is a Douglas # 4 contour or should the first 1" of the barrel be bedded?

Different guys have different theories. I free float from the recoil lug foward. Some guys bed the first inch or two...and other guys bed the entire length and then trim out as necessary till they get the pressure their particular barrel likes best. Take your pick.

Rick, since it has an aluminum bedding block not sure if the first 1" of barrel should be bedded. I will have to inlet the first 2 inches of barrel and a little on the sides to get a proper fit and clearance for current barrelled action . Just don't know if I should or shouldn't bed the first inch or leave it free floating. I am thinking without the 1st inch bedded that there may be too much flex between the reciever and the barrel.

I use #7 contours and free float them from the recoil lug foward...and have never had a problem. I also pillar bed all my actions and am fastidious about torquing the actions screws.

As you have probably read in my past posts on this subject I am not a big fan of bedding blocks. The best of them need to be skim-bedded to give you a perfect fit to your receiver and to me that sort of cancels out their intended purpose and all the advertising hype that sells them. One-size-fits-all has no place in the game if you are seeking the best possible fit, and the best possible accuracy for your rifle. Just my opinion.

I have had better luck with a pressure point bedding in synthetic stocks, since I don't have to worry about the stock warping or expanding.

I have an HS Precision pro series 2000 rifle in the shop. I believe these are guaranteed to produce .5" groups using their loading data. I pulled the barreled action from the stock to access the trigger and they come without bedding. Go figure.

FWIW, that's one of the smoothest actions I have ever cycled.

Some rifles like a bit of contact with the barrel/stock and some don’t.

I know that McMillan free floats the barrels when they instal their stocks.

quote:

Originally posted by malm:
I have an HS Precision pro series 2000 rifle in the shop. I believe these are guaranteed to produce .5" groups using their loading data. I pulled the barreled action from the stock to access the trigger and they come without bedding. Go figure.

FWIW, that's one of the smoothest actions I have ever cycled.

With all due respect, that is the most ridiculous hype I have heard in awhile.

How can a rifle stock be “guaranteed†to produce a certain group size when the stock manufacturer has absolutely no idea of what the rifle itself (let alone the shooter) is capable of?

if the barrel contour is large enough to necessitate it, then the bedding "pad" for 1-2" can be used, but these are usually done to #8's and larger or to my 30" tubes by my gunsmith.

I have yet to see an HS Precision stock not do extremely well, even without bedding. I have mine skin bedded just to keep it out of my mind, but prior to the bedding, they were all very solid and very accurate shooters. And the 1/2" garantee is that it will do that with a good shooter behind it,..that is a garantee of the rifle you purchased, not whether or not you can shoot. I have seen groups from out of the box HS rifles that were in the area of the .2"s with proper loads. They make a mighty fine barrel too.

Well guarantees on completed rifles are real nice, but this thread was started on the topic of installing a stock on an existing barreled action...so all the hype doesn’t mean too much.

quote:

Originally posted by Rick 0311:
With all due respect, that is the most ridiculous hype I have heard in awhile.

How can a rifle stock be “guaranteed†to produce a certain group size when the stock manufacturer has absolutely no idea of what the rifle itself (let alone the shooter) is capable of?

They aren't guaranteeing the stock, they are guaranteeing the accuracy of the complete rifle based on the load they worked up for it. I just thought it odd that no bedding had been done to the rifle.

As for me, I bed and float most everything. Including HS Precision stocks.

it means you bought a 1/2" gun,..if it doesn't shoot 1/2" or better, then the answer is in the mirror Of course anything that wears a match barrel in my safe had BETTER do 1/2" on a bad day.