I bought a new haven 375 H&H. I upgraded the stock to an HS-Precision with an aluminum bedding block. HS precision seams good, but they aren't use to dealing with this caliber in this rifle. I decided to bed the action to create a precise fit.

I bedded the rear screw area and the front screw area. I also bedded the center screw area. This is how I went about it. I put thick consistency bedding compound in the rear front and middle. I tightened down the front and rear screws with slight tension, but did not tension the center screw at all.
My thinking is that the front and rear screw decided the angle of the action. I just bedded the middle area so that I can tighten the center screw without creating tension on the action. I figure that If I don't tighten the center screw while the bedding is hardening, It will create a bedding system that fully supports every screw while creating zero tension on the center while it is curing.
I'm looking for advice or any impute on my bedding thoughts.

I am not into physics or geometry very much, but I have bedded my share of Win 70's and a few in 375 H&H.

I think your result is going to be the exact opposite of what you tried to achieve. By not bearing down on the center, it is going to actually end up being higher than the front and rear. I don't even bed the center screw area. I think the way to have gone if you bed the center is to tighten it tighter during the bedding process and then not torque it when when installing the barreled action. Another option would have been a layer of bedding tape or two on the receiver at the center screw area and free float it much like a barrel.

I want to be clear that when I bed a model 70 I fully bed the flat bottom to include the side rails (bottom of them). I just to not even install the middle screw during bedding.

I will rais the BS flag on that last comment.

The correct way to bed any action is to have zero tension on any screw during the bedding process. What is done regarding screw tension after the bedding is done, is up to the individual but will ultimately depend upon the amount of bedding surface. The bed will deflect a certain amount when the screws are tightened and the trick is to equalize this deflection. The front screw (lots of surface) can tolerate the greatest amount of torque, the rear screw, somewhat less, and the center screw, less yet. There really isn't much bearing surface at that point.
There is, of course, less deflection when pillars are used; enough less that it may be unnoticable. Regards, Bill.

quote:

they aren't use to dealing with this caliber in this rifle

I'm curious as to what this means. Whats so special about your M70 rifle that the folks at HS Precision couldn't understand it or deal with it?

Given the solid aluminum bedding platform of the HS Precision stock, what additional support are you expecting "epoxy" to provide? Also, if you are looking for "stress free" bedding, you need to take the weight off the barrel while the epoxy cures.

With a free floating system like the HS Precision, you do this by placing something under the barrel, preferably as far forward as possible to take the excess weight off the front screw.

Jim, When I glass bed a model 70. I do not use the bottom metal or the middle screw. I use inletting guide screws in the front and rear holes and clamp the stripped, barreled receiver down with a "C" clamp with wood blocks going across the scope bases and magazine well. Right or wrong that is how I was taught 30 years ago and mine all seem to shoot just fine.

I never bedded a model 70 that had an aluminum bedding block in it; actually I have only glass bedded pre 64's to tell the truth. Most of them do not have anything to bed to in the middle screw area, I beleive the magazine box is the only thing the middle screw tightens to. I stand by my assesment that the OP is actually going to end up with the bvedding high centered by not tightening the middle screw with bedding in that area.

Westpac +1
Airgun1 +1

For one it's an HS precision stock with a "Bedding block" The real question is not weather or not HS precision knows how "deal with this action" It's do YOU think you know more then they do about building a rifle stock and machining a bedding block for it?

Two it's a BEDDING BLOCK hence forth no BEDDING required unless your action has been throughly bubba'ed

Those stocks are designed to be a near perfect fit from the get go. And bedding the bedding block just adds a joint between the epoxy and the aluminum that is weaker then if it was just left alone.
Now do they fit perfectly? No Do you need to dump acraglass in there to fix it? NO!

As for the screw tension in bedding. THERE IS NONE. On just about every bolt action rifle made you don't want to put any stress on the action while it's being bedded. You can tweak an action that is not properly supported so much so that the bolt won't close. I fixed a Bubba'ed 1917 Enfield that was fouled up with a bad bedding job all because the guy over torqued the guard screws before the epoxy cured and pulled the tang down hard enough the bolt would not close.

This is also why you should leave some ribs in the wood or the original stock material supporting the action in key areas as to not pull the action down past where it was before the bedding job and not to twist it out of shape

Airgun1 C clamps and wood blocks all the time every time here too. It's the easiest way to do the job


Now this is my rifle and Yes I clamped right on the rings with no protection from the C clamps but this action is in sad shape finish wise so I was not concerned with what the C clamps would do as I am going to refinish it anyway.


BTW
There is a way to get a perfect fit between bedding block and action but it requires a lot of work and if the fit is good it doesn't have to be perfect.

When I say I tightened the rear and front screw, that was only to form the putty and seat the action. I didn't tighten them tight. once the bedding was formed, I loosened the screws, and then turned them just until they touched, but not applying applying any pressure.

After the bedding dryed, all screws tightened instantly when the heads made contact with the bottom metal without any medium in between. Just loose to instantly tight on all three screws. The bolt slid like glass with a few hesitant spots before bedding. now with the bedding, it feels like I'm pushing the bolt through pure air and the cartridges are feeding a little smoother. Since I already spot bedded the center, I might as well see how it shoots. I can always remove the center bedding with ease because it is such a small area.

The comment about HS-Precision was because they told me their stock is free floated and it should be a drop in fit, but they include bedding compound for this model encase I needed it. Well the barrel channel was pressed hard against the barrel creating a huge upward force on the barrel. I took it into HS-Precision and asked them about it. they verified the barrel channel should be wider because it is supposed to be free floated. the guy also said that they are use to doing normal contour barrels on hunting rifles. When I ordered the stock I told them the caliber and that it had a wider barrel than Winchesters in smaller calibers.
I I also started torquing the rear screw down and it crushed the painted out side stock where the tang goes over. I didn't use much force at all, but the bedding block was too low, in the rear, for the body of the stock and it crushed the body. The rear of the bedding block was about 2 mm too low.
So that is why i sanded out the barrel channel and bedded it like the HS_precision guy told me to. He didn't say how to bed it, just that I should and that I should sand out the barrel channel.

Well for one they are not going to change the mold for one rifle. So telling them what barrel contour you have is useless. You have to fit the barreled action to the stock. But you still should not have had to bed the rifle when there is a bedding block in place That tells me there is something severely out of alignment and maybe that barrel of yours is creating the problem. 2mm is a long way to be off.

They asked me for what type of barrel. The barrel channel was not touching on the bottom, only on the sides. I hope my barrel isn't bent.

Thanks for all the responses guys. I took it to the range today an the bedding shrunk groups from 2" to 3/4" at 100 yards. I think I will leave things as they are right now.