bedding a rimfire

mudbug

mudbug

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Might be a dumb question but .... does bedding a 22 help as much as bedding a larger caliber rifle? I have a remington 581 and at 50yrds it shoots about 1-1.5" with 10 shots, but my buddy with a brno shoots tighter and I would love to kick his ass. What could I do to get mine to shoot better without going out and getting a better 22. There is pressure marks from the barrel on the stock and was wondering if this would be the place to start?
 
well if your gun has a steel reciever I would free float the barrel, and skim bed the action, then get your crown checked and maybe recut.

if it has an alloy reciever like a 10/22 I would bed the barrel to the balance point so there is no torque on the reciever.

first though what you should do is get the cleaning brushes out, the copper and lead solvent handy and spend a good hour cleaning that gun and making sure ALL the lead is out of it.... keep going till it shines.
 
I have a Rem 581 that was shooting just like yours at 50 yards and I tryed premium ammo like Gold match federal, ten X Eley etc I free floated the barrel and it and am able to keep 10 shots in 2" at 100 and if no wind I have kept them in 1" off bench.
I used 1/2" copper pipe with sand paper to enlarge barrel channel, and removed some wood around action screw and filled with accuglass.
The problem with the 581 and 541 etc some of the older ones only have one screw that holds gun to action and it is hard to get action solid in stock. but it helped mine. I took mine to a local smith to see if he could add another screw to action, and he said it would take a lot of work and suggested it really not worth it.
 
mudbug said:
Might be a dumb question but .... does bedding a 22 help as much as bedding a larger caliber rifle? I have a remington 581 and at 50yrds it shoots about 1-1.5" with 10 shots, but my buddy with a brno shoots tighter and I would love to kick his ass. What could I do to get mine to shoot better without going out and getting a better 22. There is pressure marks from the barrel on the stock and was wondering if this would be the place to start?
Click to expand...


Yes, bedding will help a rimfire - especially if it is a looser fit between the barreled action and the stock. If you gun has an alluminum reciever than completely free floating the stock right up to the reciever probably wouldn't be the best idea as that induces stress on the action trying to hold up the barrel. If you are going to bed it I would do about 3 inches forward of the recoil lug area on an aluminum recievered rifle and if you are glass bedding a steel barreled reciever than about 1" forward is good. Also do the reciever wall areas.

Other than that ammo, trigger, scope, good chamber and crown, etc all help!
 
manitou210 said:
I have a Rem 581 that was shooting just like yours at 50 yards and I tryed premium ammo like Gold match federal, ten X Eley etc I free floated the barrel and it and am able to keep 10 shots in 2" at 100 and if no wind I have kept them in 1" off bench.
I used 1/2" copper pipe with sand paper to enlarge barrel channel, and removed some wood around action screw and filled with accuglass.
The problem with the 581 and 541 etc some of the older ones only have one screw that holds gun to action and it is hard to get action solid in stock. but it helped mine. I took mine to a local smith to see if he could add another screw to action, and he said it would take a lot of work and suggested it really not worth it.
Click to expand...

Actually, adding that second screw is one of the best things you can do for a 541/580/581 series rifle. And, it is neither difficult nor expensive. I sent two of mine to Dennis Sorensen and he did a jig job of them. Then if you hog out the barrel channel a bit to preclude any contact with the barrel, and skim bed the action, you are good to go. Mine all shoot great. Regards, Eagleye.
 
Bedding

All .22's benefit from bedding just like center fires. Each different style of .22 rifle requires a different style of bedding. Bolt guns bed similar to their centre fire counterparts, but semi autos have several methods. Like the ruger .22 - which has several different bedding options. You can float the receiver or bed the receiver. Stacking tolerances between the barrel and receiver are a problem because of the dissimilar metal and the way the barrel mounts. Barrel sag sometimes requires a pressure pad under the front of the barrel even though it is bedded.
As a bedding minimum for all .22's I would epoxy bed the barrel in front of the receiver and free float the barrel and at least pillar bed the action mounting screws so the action screws tight against metal.
 
Sorry to resurrect, but I've been giving this some thought as of late....I'm working on restoring a rimfire rifle with a partially destroyed "barrel-channel", and was thinking of sanding and bedding it as a project - everyone needs to start somewhere. :)

I've looked at the internet articles on bedding, and checked the gunsmithing threads, but....anyone got some "wish I knew that in advance" advice for a first-timer? ;)
 
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