Need to re-apply a pressure point to my Vanguard stock fore end.

[GJgo]

So years ago I bought a Weatherby Vanguard sub-moa in 300 WSM. Overall I like the rifle a lot, it's killed lots of deer & elk with me.



I shot it as-is for a couple years, and it shot great. 3 shot groups around .5-.6" with handloaded TSX off a bench. Well I like to tinker, and one day I decided to sand out the factory pressure point in the fore end of the barrel channel to free-float it. Ever since then with the same loads it's been a 1" gun. A couple years ago I decided to glass bed the action. Still a 1" gun. Last year I decided to full length glass bed the stock & it's still a 1" gun. So, I think I'm going to re-add the pressure point which was IIRC about 3" from the end of the stock.

So here's the question. The original pressure point was obviously a hard point, which I could do with epoxy. Alternatively however I've considered making the pressure point out of a rubber grommet to give it some damping. Has anyone ever tried this or have an opinion on the matter?

 

[natman]

IMO, if you need a pressure point, it's vital that it be the same all the time. Anything compressible will eventually take a set and that means that your POI may change. If you are going to restore the pressure point, do it with epoxy.

 

[HexHead]

The new Vanguard S2 stocks are a big improvement over the older ones. They, and the new upgraded match grade 2-stage triggers, are available on the Weatherby website for about $129 to retrofit the older Vanguard.

I'd just get one of those and be done with it.

 

[GJgo]

The Sub-MOA model came with a pillar-bedded B&C stock, & when I bought it I installed a Timney trigger (which is wonderful BTW), so I'm good there.

Good idea about the PP needing to be rigid though, I'll grind out a seat & use epoxy to build a small hump.

A little Googling tells me that I'm not the only one who saw a degradation in accuracy when the PP was sanded out in a Vanguard...

 

[HexHead]

Weatherby doesn't recommend floating barrels with a #2 or less contour. Obviously for a reason.

 

[Bio-Chem]

You are a brave man to tinker with a gun already shooting .5" groups. hope the epoxy works out for you and you get your groups back.

 

[243winxb]

Use bedding compound for a fixed pressure point. I have used about 9 lbs up pressure on wood stocks. Dont know about a B&C stock??

 

[GJgo]

Sometimes tinkering means not leaving well enough alone. All in the pursuit of experience, I guess.

I was fresh out of bedding compound so I used a 2 part epoxy. First I used the dremel to ground out a bed then dropped a dollop in the hole. I monitored it and once it had skinned over but was still pliable I sat the barrel in the channel to give it a little contour. Afterwards I removed it to harden.

With everything done & installed there's a nice amount of upward pressure with the action screws torqued. I hope to do some testing tomorrow.

 

[GJgo]

Did some testing today, no significant change to group size. The POI did however move up about 4" at 200 yds.. In the big picture this is a hunting rifle & I'm OK with it being a 1 MOA gun, I just want it to be consistent with regards to POI whether it's 5° or 50° out. Previously I did notice that the fore end of the stock would flex a bit with exposure to heat (direct sun on a warm day) so hopefully the glass bedding & now the PP will tighten things up in terms of temperature consistency.

 

[GJgo]

I've been reading more on pressure points, seems there are lots of opinions. I did see it recommended to have the pressure be more than 3 lbs. to work, and it seems in the 5-7lb range was favored. As it sat I measured this out to about 9 lbs., so I used a piece of 300 grit sandpaper wrapped around the barrel to lower the epoxy bump down to 6 lbs. pressure while keeping the contour.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I shot it as-is for a couple years, and it shot great. 3 shot groups around .5-.6" with handloaded TSX off a bench. Well I like to tinker, and one day I decided to sand out the factory pressure point in the fore end of the barrel channel to free-float it. Ever since then with the same loads it's been a 1" gun.

If it aint broke, break it!

 

[morcey2]

If it aint broke, fix it until it is!

Fixed... er.... broke it for ya.

 

[Reloadron]

This short article may help as to getting the pressure right.

Maybe 25 years ago there were adjustable pressure point devices that were installed in the forearm of the stock. An Allen wrench was used to adjust pressure applied to the barrel. Like a small pad on the end of a screw as I recall. Can't recall exactly what those devices were called?

Ron

 

[GJgo]

So to follow up, with the PP around 6 lbs. I was successful in getting a few nice .75" groups, which I'm happy with- so I took the rifle hunting last week and got a deer & an elk.

One evening while sitting under a tree where the left side of the stock was in direct sunlight, I noticed that the fore-end of the stock was flexing to the right from the heat. I have to imagine that this lateral barrel pressure will cause a change in the POI which is not good for me. So, it seems I have two choices..?

- Leave the PP in & add glass bedding at the tip to lock the barrel in the channel, but that will not stop the stock from physically flexing in the sunlight/heat & putting lateral pressure on the barrel. Might make it better than it is now, though.

- Grind all the bedding out & make it free-floated again, if it's 1 MOA but the POI doesn't shift from barrel pressure changes I'm OK with it.

Thoughts on the best direction to go?

 

[LAGS]

Adjustable Barrel bedding pillars can be made out of some short lengths of 3/8 aluminum or brass rod with a hole drilled and tapped with like a 10/32 hole thru them.
Then the pillars are epoxied into the barrel channel at a 45 degree angle to the barrel channel so the top of the pillar is below the bedding.
Set screws are used to adjust the up pressure on the barrel, and you can also set them to add more or less pressure to each side of the barrel.
I know Brownells and Midway probably sell the things to do this, but I just make my own.
My Weatherby 7mm Vangard that I use to have, shot better with 0 pressure, but Not Free Floated