My first time free-floating a barrel and doing a bedding job

[SAWgunner]

I am seriously considering free-floating and bedding my Ruger M77 MkII 7mm Rem. Mag.  If someone could point in me in the right direction on what materials are best and what precautions I should take, that would be great.  If I do everything right, what are some serious consequences and what is the worst that could happen (besides some accuracy degredation).  I know more aobut guns than the average joe, and I have worked on them before, I just have never attempted (nor really had the reason to) a free-floating and bedding job.  If someone could point me in the right direction, that would be much appreciated.

SAWgunner

[gunnut69]

You picked a difficult action to start with.  The angled front lug makes things more difficult for certain.  As for materials thats almost like asking the best kind of truck, only there are more kinds of bedding material.  I prefer AcraGlassJel from Brownells although I sometimes buy it thru D&R Sports depending on the price.  It is important the action be bedded without any stress, so relieve the barrel before bedding.  I use a paste floor wax as a release agent as its easier to remove and gives me a bit easier release of the metal from the bedding.  You'l also need a bit of childrens modeling clay, the oil based non-drying kind.  It is very easy to mould when warmed by kneading with your hands but gets pretty firm when cooled.  A headless guide screw for the rear hole and a set of stockmakers handscrews.  These last 2 are not mandatory but sure can save a bunch of stress.  Usually a bedding job really only includes the rear tang and the front receiver ring and anout 2-3 inches of the barrel reinforce.  But the 3rd screw usually inspires me to bed to the front of the triggerguard.  This helps if someone gets a little heavy handed with the screw driver on that middle screw.  You will also need a way to remove some wood where the bedding will go.  This adds strength and should be left rough to add to the bond of the bedding compound.  Extra should be removed from behind the recoil lug to provide greatly improved strength to redirect the recoil forces.  I usually use a Dremel but that 30,000 rpm tool head can get you in trouble quick.  A 1/8 inch 'U' shaped gouge will work just fine.  I would add aluminum powder(available from Brownells) and an old toothbrush to our list.  The aluminum powder will add a bit to the shock resistance of the bedding and the toothbrush will be ground into a plastic chisel to aid in removing the bedding material that overflows the inletting.  It is hard enough to remove partially set bedding but will not damage the blue on the metalwork.  Tomorrow I'll see if I can find the instructions I've given before, if not I'll key new ones. Have any questions so far?

[SAWgunner]

Always, heh heh.  My 7mm Mag has a thin sporter barrel.  I have heard that free floating and bedding will do nothing but degrade accuracy because the barrel is so thin, the manufacturers put some sort of item in the forearm to put pressure against the barrel.  Should I buy an aftermarket stock to try this out on just in case the accuracy is degraded that bad I can bring it back to factory spec's.

[gunnut69]

What you are refering to is a pressure point.  Nothing more than an elevated area in the barrel channel to apply uniform upward pressure to the barrel.  This in effects shortens the barrel and can indeed make a barrel, especially a thin one, shoot better.  It also almost guarantees that the rifle will be more affected by weather or pressure applied to the forearm..such as by a sling or other shooting aid.  If this pressure point is removed it can also be easily reapplied.  A thin card shim in the barrel channel will reapply the pressure and a bit of bedding material in the barrel channel will make it permanent (usually even a bit more even than the factory original).  Your 7mm Mag won't have a really thin barrel.  Most have the 'magnum sporter' weight barrel.  I prefer the consistancy thru time and weather afforded by a floated barrel over a tiny bit of accuracy increase, if even that is found..  Also when floating a barrel remember we just need to remove enough wood that a dollar bill(standardized test media) wrapped under the barrel, will slide between the barrel and the stock, to withing about 3-4" of the receiver ring.  We are not trying to create housing for homeless mice..  just clearance no more.  Too much clearance is unsightly and of little advantage.  You may also want to search for other strings on this board under 'bedding'.  That string will elaborate quite a bit on the intracasies involved with a glass bedding job.  I'll try and answer your questions as promptly as possible..

[Iowegan]

Before you spend time and money on bedding and free floating, take a look at your groups. If your groups drift when the barrel heats up or if there is a notable change in groups when the humidity or temperature changes, then you may profit from bedding or free floating.  Most wood stocks aren't sealed perfect and tend to expand / contract with environmental changes, humidity having the most impact. Composite stocks aren't effected much by humidity or temperature but free floating may help your groups.

A cheap experiment will tell you if your rifle will shoot better groups when the barrel is free floated.  Remove the stock. Find a washer with a hole sized for the front stock screw. Place the washer in a vise and squeeze it until it fits the round contour of your barrel. Insert the front stock screw and place the washer on the screw inside the barrel channel. Intall the barreled action and tighten the screws. A dollar bill should now slide freely between the stock and barrel.  Now go out and shoot it and see if your groups improve.  You can leave the washer in place, it won't hurt a thing. I would take some True Oil or some other sealer and apply a liberal coat to the stock's barrel channel. I've used this technique many times with outstanding results. It's reversable if improvement isn't noted. Cost: about 10 minutes and 3 cents.  It also works well for a permanent fix.

[gunnut69]

The washer is an excellant option as a test but must be done on both front and rear action screws.  It is much less effective on the 77 with it's angled fron screw.  The screw cannot be placed between the action  and around the screw.  it must be placed between the action(behind the recoil lug) and there needs to be one of the same thickness between the rear tang and it's inletting in the stock.  This should not be too thick as you will be reducing the amount of wood supporting the rifles recoil to a degree.  If the rear spacer is left out the action will be excessively sprung as the screws are tightened.  The result will usually result in very poor accuracy..  Glass bedding is not a universal cure all.  It can be done to fix an action that's improperly bedded or that has had it's bedding altered by time and the pounding of recoil.  Also glass bedding can stabilize a rifles bedding, so that it will almost never change due to moisture or collapse due to recoil, etc.  A well bedded rifle with a floated barrel is esentially a rifle where the contact between the metal work and the wood stock is synthetic and thus not effected by moisture.  It is close to having a synthetic stocked rifle..  The forearm can still warp and cause problems and there are other possiblities but the difference is small..  If you wish to space the action up in the inletting be certain to raise it evenly... It won't take much to remove the pressure from the barrel, or at least it shouldn't.

[SAWgunner]

Thanks gun nut and everyone.  I will take my time and do it right,  Wish me luck when I get around to it.

[gunnut69]

keep us apprised of your progress and if any problems are encountered just holler..