stock working

bobjs

Well-Known Member
OK lads

Just who is the best guy to speak too on the site about working the barrel channel out on a stock,

I have the new 308 here and i think the stock has never been off the rifle since it was made. the stock needs to be floated before i start working on a load or its all a waste of time doing the load and then working the stock,

what i would like to ask is what do you use on a wooden stock to open up the barrel channel enough to have it fully floated, i have an idea off what i would like to use but im not keen on messing a very very nice laminate stock up.

kind regards

bob.

PS: im not talking sand paper here, is there a tool that we can use etc.
 
to make a neat finish you need have it done with a milling maching if you know someone with 1 or call a gunsmith ,or brownells sell tools for floating barrels ,but the time you spend money on the tool and vat and delivery the gunsmith is the cheapest option ,or have a go with sand parper wrapped around something round like a long socket of the right size and take it slowly till you get the right clearence ,you will need to reseal the stock wonce floated, thats the cheapest option m8
 
Socket set, sandpaper and elbow grease. Wrap your sandpaper around a socket and use long strokes.

Start small and work your way up until you have the correct clearance.

Easy to do and cheap as chips!
 
Yes to socket and sand paper. Have done this on two of may wooden stocked rifles and it has made a noticable difference. I used Danish Oil (the stuff used to seal wooden work surfaces) to seal the sanded areas as it soaks in and seals rather that a varnish which means that all the hard work you've done removing the wood is undone by replacing it with layers of varnish. You're not goint to see it anyway it only needs to stop moisture being taken up by the bare wood.

Win Mod 70
 
ha ha ha, you'll not like it, but yes, sandpaper! there's also some tools available from midway but you need to spend the money first, then perhaps re-sell on the classified if you don't need it anymore, I'm sure someone might buy it...otherwise ask on the classified if anyone has a spare tool you can borrow???
 
thank you lads.

some cracking ideas and as the shooting budget is getting tighter by the day i had an idea ?.

im going with a home made job that i have done today after loading the .308 rounds for load testing, the first prototype worked well but i need to find a better one.

its simple cheap and you should have all you need at home, (a bit like me)

bob.
 
Bob,

I thought these were designed not to be free-floating? Mine is factory standard and seems to smack the target quite nicely - not that I target shoot you understand, but sub inch groups with most ammo I've tried.
 
Bob,

I thought these were designed not to be free-floating? Mine is factory standard and seems to smack the target quite nicely - not that I target shoot you understand, but sub inch groups with most ammo I've tried.

Hi Si

Im one for free floating a barrel, just one of those things i get into,

seems to work and work well.on my 6mmbr it took the group size from 14mm to just 9 mm at 100 yards, or was i just trying harder :)

bob.
 
Hi Si

Im one for free floating a barrel, just one of those things i get into,

seems to work and work well.on my 6mmbr it took the group size from 14mm to just 9 mm at 100 yards, or was i just trying harder :)

bob.

.....OK, fair do's. So when you've experimented with yours, I'll give you mine to do.....!!
 
.....OK, fair do's. So when you've experimented with yours, I'll give you mine to do.....!!

not a problem Si

i love working on stocks on the free floating side,

love working on shotties, rifle triggers and bolts,extractors etc.

bob.
 
I free floated my 308 Ruger 77 Mk1 hoping to try & make it shoot better than the 3/4" groups I was getting. I rebedded the action & left the barrel clear of the stock - It didn't work & groups went out to 3" ---- BOOOGR!!! ----- Rebedded the front end of the stock onto the barrel (1" bed) & hey presto - groups back to 3/4".
My theory is that the rifle had a fairly heavy barrel (semi varmint) and the weight of it was a bit much for the rigidity of the action & bedding at the back.
Moral of the story is - IF IT AINT BUST - DON'T MEND IT! Bill Ruger knew what he was doing!

Ian
 
Have a look here http://www.ballisticstudies.com/ he has some good tutorials and willing to help if you need advice, nice bloke. Also try and sourcer a DVD caslled beyond belief which shows how to bed a gun in east and clear steps. I have done a few now as have my mates and the best advice I can give is take your time. All to easy to rush the job. You can do all the work with a dremmel and with the methods mentioned above


Best of luck

Pete
 
I Just saw your in Wilts and Tidworth, guess you wear green for work :)) , I am actually at Boscombe Down on the base there, if you want to borroww my dremmel, the tools, clamps and other bits you need plus the DVD let me know and we can meet up.

ATB

Pete
 
bob cant neil do it on his miller for you. wont take him ten mins. and beats getting dusty :lol:
 
I Just saw your in Wilts and Tidworth, guess you wear green for work :)) , I am actually at Boscombe Down on the base there, if you want to borroww my dremmel, the tools, clamps and other bits you need plus the DVD let me know and we can meet up.

ATB

Pete

hi pete.

been out the forces for 22 years. so the green stuff in the loft (garage does not fit anymore.)

i have a dremel and a nice we workshop /shooting/gun room/loading area, i have all the tools apart from a custom made one for that task.

i have used a old curtain pole for the job,

the rifle has a light barrel and the front 22 of the barrel is all thats touching so not a major task, with full respect to all the members but i looked into and read up on a lot of barrel harmonizing projects and i have and always will free float my barrels from my 22 lr to the 308,

if it doe's not shoot then its probably me not the rifle, thats when i enjoy it the most, ;) something needs to be fixed.

im also not into bedding a rifle, if the action site well in the stock you should not have to bed it anyway, i am only after a 1" or smaller group, im not shooting at targets so im not going there.

Jay

Neil is so busy just now im not going to bother him with this job(he would most likely smack my on the head with the stock anyway.
 
i wouldnt free float a barrel that is not free floated without doing the bedding.
especially if you are working with an older stock.

the three that I have stripped in recent time have all had compression under the recoil tab and around the site of the two action screws.
A decent bedding job can reduce the need for major channel sanding as with the BSA I have the barrel to foreend gap was reduced as a direct result of the recoil tab sinking into the action wood, by bedding it and bringing the recoil tab up 0.5mm I got the clearance back in the fore stock.
 
the stock is like new as the rifle action was used in another stock, so im happy to do it.

the way i look at bedding a action is simple.

1, if you are hell bent on doing it so that you can say it shoots better, carry on,

2, if your a bench rest shooter and think you need it, crack on

3, if you want to line someones pocket to do it for you, then crack on,

if the rifle shoots fine as it is and all you want to do is remove some variables to confirm that you have done your best as the shooter, and you have good groups with respect to hunting and a humane dispatch then why bother.

i have 5 rifles and i have had 3 custom rifles in my time, 2 where bedded after i got them and they still shot as they did before hand, the third is still not bedded (my 20 tac) and it shoots just as well as the other 2 ? so why bother.

i also have priorities when it comes to my rifles and money.

1, rifle

2, scope and mounts

3, saving some cash for the wife and the bills, :) until i get back on my feet and also find a job. :(

im happy without my rifles being bedded. its nearly as bad as saying have you got the box for that scope, because without it, its not so good ;)

bob.
 
its only £20 or less if you shop around. not much of a cost if you consider what someone will charge to inlet the stock for you.

I know what you mean though. I normally dont touch it unless it is broken!
 
OH I see some confusion here.. Bedding of a rifle action is the act of fitting it correctly to the stock so there is no induced stresses into stock of action. Of old it was done carefully by hand The recoil lug area was sometimes inletted with a block of harder wood such as Hornbeam ........................ often found in accurised lee Enfield fore stock for NRA service rifle.

Today it seems to mean hogging out material and replacing it with a synthetic compound which is quicker and cheaper to do but not better.

As for free floated barrels I again see them as a cheap costing excercise in modern production. I too once swallowed what the gun writers/experts wrote and actually hogged out the barrel channel of my sporterised Swedish Mauser , something I deeply regret doing now, until I acquired some rifles that had the stocks properly fitted to the actions and that shot better than I am ever likely to perform. The real crunch and lightening strike enlightening moment came when I accidently put int oo much bedding compound in the action area and free floated the barrel on a rifle that the inletting was poorly done on and it then shot patterns of 6" at 100 yards. Adding card shims to the fore stock just behind the rose wood tip brought the groups back down to around the 1" mark and the rifle was then properly bedded with that upwards barrel pressure.

Now Bob it's your rifle so you can do as you wish with it ;). Let's jut hope that it works out for you but I have a feelign that without getting the bedding of action to stock right your asking for troubles down the line.
 
Back
Top