Thanks, are they as good as or better than HS? Is there any way of telling them apart? The rifle hasn't seen much use at all, has no bolt key lock mech and has a serial number prefixed with an E if this helps.

For all intents and purposes the stocks are the same and despite what HS or BC has to say, A little glass bedding will go a long way on the finished product. Can't help on the barrel fit issue but I would think the barrel channel could easily be opened up with some sand paper wrapped around a deepwell socket or wooden dowl rod.

I believe you can tell the difference between BC and HS by the markings inside the stock.The markings for BC have an ovel and the HS has a circle.

Thankyou to all who have replied so far. Assuming that the stock is either H S or Bell and Carlson and the aluminium block extends into the forend. If I glue an aluminium insert into the cavity in the forend and then bed that under the chamber area, will there be sufficient strength in the original stock material to suport this or will I be effectivly placing additional stress on the stock? Particually in the areas which are only filled with fibreglass / filling material.

Yes the stock is strong enough.

I think you would be fine with epoxy compound by itself. The extra aluminum would serve no practical purpose unless it were integral to the main block and even then I don't think it would act differently than neutral bedding with compound. Lots of work for zero gain.

Thanks, I was thinking of the aluminium filler plate to save on unecessary use of Devcon. Ali is cheaper!!

Aluminum and epoxy have different thermal expansion ratios and unless you have a perfect bond you can get separation. A loose block could start throwing shots around. I may get yelled at for this but glass and resin might be a better way to fill the big void.

Fiberglass cloth is cheap enough at the auto body supply store.
JCN