floating the barrel of synthetic stock
I just pillar bedded the stock of my Ruger 77 in 300 RCM. I am wondering if I should float the barrel as well or not? If it was a wood stock, the question would never have to be asked, but seeings how it is synthetic, I'm not really sure if I should float or not. Thanks in advance.
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Always float! The effect is the same regardless of material. You don't want pressure on the barrel. It doesn't matter if it's wood or plastic causing the pressure. Plastic may not swell in humidity but if you put it on a bipod, hold the sling tight, etc it will still affect accuracy if it's not floated. Either way, it wouldn't be good. Seeing as how you just pillar bedded it, I'm guessing you want it accurate. 0 -
midnight gave a great response, but I thought I'd second his opinion. The barrel swell changing with heat and/or humidity was the original purpose of floating the barrel but as he eluded to there are other factors that come into play once you carry the gun with the sling, shoot off a bipod, etc that will flex the stock enough that it will make contact somewhere on the stock. That is really all it takes.
You spent the money for the piller bedding, you can now do the easy part and finish the "accurization" of the gun by floating the barrel. Remember it doesn't have to have a huge gap, just enough to pass paper (or dollar bills) through it.0 -
Seeing, that there is not one element, or compound on the face of the planet, that does not have a thermo expansion factor, 95% of the time I free float the barrel. The only time I bed the barrel is if the barrel is a paper thin "mountain hunting" barrel, that will not group well otherwise. Then the barrel bedding, serves to dampen barrel vibrations mostly.
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Hadjii,
For what it is worth, I use the Brownell's Steel Bed, exclusively for bedding. It is an atomized stainless steel filled expxy, that boasts less shrinkage than the glass bedding stuff. I once in a jam at hunting camp, used some Brass 1/4" pipe to make pillars, and used J-B Weld to install them in a Boydd's laminated stock, and bedded a Model 70 Classic stainless 7MM Rem. Mag., and free floated the barrel. Took it from 1 1/2 MOA to well under 1MOA. I adjusted the trigger as well. The J-B Weld does work. The fella's in camp were impressed!
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Thanks all for the help. Bambihunter, I didn't really pay to have the gun pillar bedded, I did that myself. However, I did just pick up the gun yesterday morning from the gunsmith, where I spent $300 for a new trigger and a barrel re-crown, and then yesterday evening I did the pillar bed with Brownells pre-fit pillars for a Ruger 77. They sure do work slick. I read on here that someone else tried JB Weld instead of bedding compound, so I tried that just to see how it works. I did like the consistency of the JB Weld a little better than the bedding because it was just a bit more liquidy so it flowed better onto the pillar and into the pilot hole. Time will tell if I made a mistake or not. The jury's still out on what I think about this 300 RCM. I haven't shot it yet. I had all this gunsmith work done before I even seen the rifle. Thanks again for the helpfulness. 0 -
you will have to rough up the internal section of the stock, since injection molded plastic doesn't take adhesives very well. 0 -
JustC after I used the pilot hole bit, I then took a real small bit and in my dreme, made several small gouge marks in the pilot hole itself. My theory was to make some small imperfections and crevices for the JB weld to get into to hold better. Kind of like when I put a new set of rings into a big diesel engine, I will take a punch and make a few pings in the back side of the bearing to lock it onto the crankshaft. Seems to help lock everything together. Hopefully, it will all work out good. I will find out in the next few days whether I think I did a good job or not. thanks. 0
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