i have a savage 340 and the action is just held in place by one screw and the blr. band with screw. I am going to bed the action as the bedding is to say the least bad. any ideas on the best way to do this?? would it be better to not have a floating blr? or maybe just bed the recoil lug and action? that darn blr. band and one screw makes for a problem. i bet someone has bedded one with good results and can give me some advice. thanks in advance. argie1891
old thread but worth reviving
I have a milsurp sporter SMLE No.4 Mk.1 that the stock was cutoff just ahead of the front barrel band, and had the typical milsurp SMLE wandering zero because those guns were sloppy loose in the military stock. So the first 3 shots would group about 1.75" at 100 yards with careful handloads shooting from the bench, but then the barrel would heat up and the group would string up high to the left with each successive shot. Eventually that irked me enough, that I removed the action from the fore end/stock, and 'glas bedded the entire action to the stock front to back. I painted the action with release agent first. The kit was the standard usual home gunsmith "Accraglas" that's been around for decades, not the newer gel type. When bolted together the bedding liquid oozed from every possible gap and crevice, and I spent some time wiping it out of the cracks as it came out- eventually it stopped oozing, then I set the gun level on a stand until it dried overnight- when done it was rock hard and accuracy improved 1000% Now it groups as well or better initially, and when the barrel warms up the group opens up some, but not an objectionable amount. Any gun will shoot bigger groups as it gets hot, even my Browning A-Bolt w/Leupold 7mm Mag does that, and it's a $1000 rig w/scope- it will shoot 3 shots in one hole, then next 3 shots start to climb. So expect that from a cheaper gun as well.
The Model 340 was a popular gun for its time, because it was cheap and reliable. Use the new Accraglas "gel" and it won't ooze out as much or at all. Yes, you could also use JB weld which is basically the same thing, but the Accraglas gives you some fibers to mix in with the gel to make it stronger- also mixing sticks, cup, in the kit.
My experience with a barrel band type gun is, they need solid bedding, they can't be "floated" because the barrel expands when hot, hits the band, and then goes right or left and high with each successive shot. If it's already contacting the bedding, it can't go as far as it warms up with follow up shots- it's already being held upward by some slight pressure so the change is not as dramatic as the barrel heats up.
I would not take the barrel band off a gun like that, it is needed to hold the gun together. There are a few guns where you CAN remove the barrel band, such as the early pre-81 Browning BLR, and then make it free floating. You have to find what the gun likes. The only gun I had that shot better with less forearm contact, was a single shot break open rifle, when the forearm screw was loosened up, it shot tighter groups. But it didn't have a barrel band.
What first led me to do the SMLE bedding job, was trying a business card under the barrel and tightening up the barrel band, then the gun shot much more accurately as it warmed up- at that point I was on to something, and I knew that further bedding would improve the accuracy- that tip came from an American Rifleman magazine.
perhaps try that first, take a business card or 2, put it under the barrel, tighten it up and see if it shoots better- if it does, then most likely it will benefit from bedding compound.
actually you could just use the business cards under the barrel, cut so they don't stick out, and no one would ever see them, and the gun would shoot better.
