[davek]

What is bedding and why would I want to do it?

Minds out of the gutter guys! :o

[bobs1066]

Simply put, bedding is the material between the stock of a rifle and the barrel. As I understand it, the bedding provides a solid attachment between barrel/stock. This is done to increase accuracy.
Contrast with free floating a barrel, so that the stock doesn't touch the barrel past the action. This is also done to increase accuracy.
Different philosophies at work. Which one is better for a given rifle is beyond my meager understanding.

[Frohickey]

Bedding is supposed to be done with environmentally-stable materials, such as fiberglass or epoxy. Stuff that is supposed to keep its shape, hell or high water. Hot or cold, etc. That should give you a very consistent barrel vibration when you shoot a particular load out of the rifle.

Free-floating, is not allowing anything to touch the barrel at all, except for air.

In both cases, its for consistency of barrel vibrations.

[dakotasin]

and i like all my bolt guns to have their actions glass bedded and the barrels free floating.

[Swampy]

davek,

Info is well stated (excepting the part about "between barrel and stock").... Most bedding is done between the ACTION of a rifle and the wood. Barrels are usually left free floating, though there are some exceptions. Rifles like the M1 Garand and M14 have pressure applied to the barrel by the front end of the stock during the bedding process. This is due mainly to the mechanics of the rifles not allowing a true "free float" and applying consistent pressure is the next best alternative.

The typical turnbolt rifle will have the action bedded, but the barrel forward of the chamber is left untouched by anything.....

Best regards,
Swampy

[30Cal]

When a rifle is bedded, the stock is routed out around the recoil bearing surfaces of the receiver. Fiberglass or epoxy (steel filled is extremely durable and popular these days) is poured in and the receiver is set into the stock. Basically, you're making an epoxy casting of the receiver in the stock. Metal blocks and/or pillars are used to add extra rigidity to key points (where the action screws go).

When you fire the rifle, the action stays in the same exact place shot after shot. In the old days, it took extremely skilled and time consuming inletting to get the same kind of fit to yield an accurate rifle. The bonus of bedding is that it doesn't compress over time. A bedded rifle is more consistant.

There's also a lot of prep work involved in making sure the epoxy doesn't lock the action permanantly into the stock.

Free floating is good, but some bolt rifles do better with tip bedding (an additional bedding point at the forend of the stock).

Glass bedded M14 stock:
http://webpages.charter.net/tyoberg/hipower/smatchstock2-2003%2007.JPG

On a bolt gun, you won't see any external evidence of bedding.

[Sunray]

"...Fiberglass or epoxy..." It's not fiberglass or epoxy. It's epoxy with firbreglas powder in it for strength. The idea is to fill in all the little nooks and crannies in the space between the action and the stock so it doesn't move under recoil. It makes the action and stock more like one thing.
The barrel must be free floating or have a very small spot of epoxy just aft of the end of the stock as a pressure point only. The barrel must not be epoxied to the stock. This spot of epoxy doesn't work for every rifle and the only way to find out if it does on yours is to try it. If it doesn't help you can just sand out the spot.

[davek]

Thanks for the explaination. That clears alot up. So it's basically custom fitting the stock to the action?