Bedding a Savage Model 11 in a new stock, from Accustock

[Doc7]

Hello all,

I have attached two photos, one of my Model 11 FCNS bottom metal and trigger guard assembly and an exploded schematic from Savage website for my serial number. I am interested in installing my rifle into a Boyd's laminate stock and pillar and glass bedding. I hope I can get some questions answered as having never bedded before, I want to be clear on what parts I install on the rifle during bedding. I have read every web reference I can find including the oft-cited "Stress Free Bedding" article but looking for more specifics on my action.

It looks to me like that I would need to install all of the bottom metal as part of a pillar bedding job, as the front action screw contacts directly on the front of the bottom metal, and the rear action screw force transmits via the trigger guard, the button retainer, the bottom metal and the rear pillar.

Is that the case, and how does one properly locate/ set the future position of the action and the bottom metal such that any future expansion/contraction of wood doesn't affect these? It seems to me that the wood expanding would cause the bottom metal to move which would transmit to the action, despite pillar bedding? It sounds A lot easier when someone says locate the action by putting some layers of tape on the tang and some on the barrel but I don't see anything about the bottom metal.

I do not seem to have Part 31 on my rifle and also only have one of the washers, part 19G?

 

[Doc7]

I guess my concern is that with both action screws going through the bottom metal, how does one truly do a "stress free bedding job" as they will not be independently bedded without causing possible torque on each other?

 

[Doc7]

Talking to myself maybe here, but is the answer to just use headless screws for both the front and the rear, bed the action with the bottom metal in place, and then afterwards free float the bottom metal so it is only touching the pillars? Or is the bottom metal not that big a deal in the end. This is a hunting rifle not competition.

 

[243winxb]

Fit the action to the stock and see how accuracy is first. May not need pillers and bedding.

 

[Bart B.]

Unless the synthetic bedding's done wrong, it's got a long track record of improving accuracy. There's a more repeatable fit of barreled action to stock with synthetic bedding. Completely strip the receiver then fill in all the holes and spaces with modeling clay so the epoxy doesn't get inside of it. Put O rings or tape on the barrel so it's about 1/16th inch clear of the stock and the receiver floats at least 1/16th inch clear of the stock material in proper place for its screws to fit with the bottom metal in place.

You don't need any bottom metal in place as long as the screws used in the bedding end up at the same place when the bottom metal's fitted. It helps to have the bottom metal bedded, too, but that can be done after the receiver's bedded.

Do not have any bedding between the barrel and stock; totally free float the barrel. Any bedding between barrel and stock will transfer external pressure on the stock to the barrel and that'll change how the barrel vibrates from shot to shot.

 

[Doc7]

Anyone know why I don't have part 31?

 

[Bart B.]

One of the people who had the rifle before you got it will know.

Contact Savage and ask them if that part is supplied with all rifles they send to retailers. If they do, then someone took it out before you got the rifle.

 

[Doc7]

I will call them up about that and the rear action screw washer. I bought it used from a large LGS.

 

[sawcut]

I'm planning to do a similar job. I've bedded 2 rifles before, a Mauser 98 and a blind mag Savage 110. They came out well, but I don't claim to be an expert.

This is what I will do on my rifle to get a stress free bed job and still have my action bolts line up for the bottom metal and magazine:

I'll bed the rifle in 2 steps, 1 for the pillars, and 1 for the action. Add some tape around the barrel to center and free float it in the barrel channel.

The pillar bed is just to bed the pillars in the correct location for the bottom metal and tight to the bottom of the action. I will screw the action screws in to seat the pillars against the action, but not use enough pressure to distort the action or wood. If I had a soft washer or o-ring, I would try that on the bottom metal side of the action screw to put only enough pressure to seat the pillars against the action while the epoxy sets.

To center the action screws in the pillar holes, a few turns of tape around the action screw will center the screw in the pillar, and the screw won't contact the sides once the tape is removed.

After the pillars are set, I will relieve the wood around the action and bed the action with an elastic band to pull it tight to the stock, against the (already set) pillars. I'll insert the action screws for alignment but will not fully tighten them. Once this step is done, I should have a stress free bedded action that works with my bottom metal/magazine. Technically, if my pillar bed job was done properly, I could tighten down the action screws during the second bedding and it would not matter, since the pillars are taking the pressure applied by the action screws.

The toughest part for me is trimming down my pillars so they are the right length for all this: the correct length to position the bottom metal for the mag to feed well.

I think this sequence will result in a good installation, but I am open to any comments. I bedded my Mauser action and bottom metal in one step, but I think doing it in 2 steps would allow me to more accurately set the pillars with no stress. Once the prep is done, mixing epoxy and setting the action is a 15 minute job tops anyway.

 

[Doc7]

Those seem like good ideas to me!