Ok. I'm heading out to the range this wknd with a bunch of my new Speer hand loads at various powder weights and see if I can make something good happen. Something's gotta work better than the last ones. And, I'm gonna spend some more time on the .22 as well and try to fine tune my form. Ya'll have kinda convinced me that my rifle should be doing better than it was, so that means it must be me that needs tuning. Thanks again everyone
Do all rifle stocks need to be bedded to achieve good consistency?
- Thread starter Willerton
- Start date
So, yup, it's 6 weeks later (don't ask) and I finally got my new Speer hand loads down range. If this pic upload works it shows my progress. I do have a straggler in my five shot group but I've got 4 all together here. Looks promising to me. 100yds. 168 gr Speer bthp 44.5 gr of imr 4895.
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I purchased a Thompson Icon Classic Hunter in 30-06 a couple years ago.
They come with a MOA guarantee and a copy of the test target a 3 shot group and what ammo was factory used.
I could not get satisfactory accuracy out of this rifle with hand loads. I tried several bullet weights and powders
with varying results. 2" plus groups with fliers high to the right.
Closely examining the rifle I noticed the barrel was free floated but not in the center of the barrel channel.
I removed the stock to have a look. The Icons come with an aluminum bedding plate epoxied into the stock.
I used a pencil and blackened the receiver where it fits in the stock. I could see where it was touching the stock.
I took an Exacto knife and very carefully removed some material from the inside of the stock until the barrel would
go a little past the center of the channel.
I reassembled the rifle carefully torquing the screws while pushing the lugs against the bedding block.Next trip to the range
What a difference.
With some load development H4350 and Hornady 168 grain A-Max bullets the rifle consistently shoots under .8"
My truck gun, a Remington 721 made in 1955 is more accurate. It's not free floated or bedded.
It always holds zero. Why?
Terry
They come with a MOA guarantee and a copy of the test target a 3 shot group and what ammo was factory used.
I could not get satisfactory accuracy out of this rifle with hand loads. I tried several bullet weights and powders
with varying results. 2" plus groups with fliers high to the right.
Closely examining the rifle I noticed the barrel was free floated but not in the center of the barrel channel.
I removed the stock to have a look. The Icons come with an aluminum bedding plate epoxied into the stock.
I used a pencil and blackened the receiver where it fits in the stock. I could see where it was touching the stock.
I took an Exacto knife and very carefully removed some material from the inside of the stock until the barrel would
go a little past the center of the channel.
I reassembled the rifle carefully torquing the screws while pushing the lugs against the bedding block.Next trip to the range
What a difference.
With some load development H4350 and Hornady 168 grain A-Max bullets the rifle consistently shoots under .8"
My truck gun, a Remington 721 made in 1955 is more accurate. It's not free floated or bedded.
It always holds zero. Why?
Terry
From that group, I'd say your bedding is fine.
Shoot that load again. The odds are that you pulled the flyer. It's harder than you think to keep all the shots together for five consecutive shots, even with a super-accurate rifle and load.
For whatever it's worth, the classic match combination for decades was something like 41.5 or 42 grains of IMR 4895 behind a 168 Sierra in a .308. That gives moderate velocities but consistent accuracy. If you follow Dan Newberry's 6% rule for OCW loads, reducing your above 44.5-grain load by 6% should land you right between 41.5 and 42 grains. (That principle suggests that reducing an accurate load by 3% gives a crappy load, but reducing it by an additional 3% yields another accurate load -- in other words, accurate [and inaccurate] loads are predictable, like waves on a graph, separated by 6% of powder charge.) This is a long way of saying that you have likely hit the top accuracy node for 4895, so your results are not surprising.
I think you are off to a great start.
The standard Remington 700 has 3 to 9 pounds of up pressure at the fore end tip.
Weather/humidity plays the biggest part in changes in bedding forces on wooden stocks.
There are two ways to "tune" your rifle.
1. Tune your ammunition for best accuracy. (change the powder charge)
2. Tune the rifle for the best accuracy. (the Enfield rifle would have the up pressure varied between 2 to 7 pounds of up pressure for issued military ammunition)
Understanding Barrel Bedding
http://www.rifleshootermag.com/rifles/understanding-barrel-bedding/
Savage Action Screw Torque Tuning. (Screw torque changes barrel harmonics and thus accuracy)
http://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/savage-action-screw-torque-tuning/
The five shot group below was fired after tightening up the bedding on a No.4 Enfield rifle fore stock and adding a PH-5C target sight.
Below the thin brown paper shims were super glued to the forward draws area to push the stock to the rear, and the light colored wooden shims were used to regulate up pressure at the fore end tip. See the Canadian Marksman on Enfield bedding.
Weather/humidity plays the biggest part in changes in bedding forces on wooden stocks.
There are two ways to "tune" your rifle.
1. Tune your ammunition for best accuracy. (change the powder charge)
2. Tune the rifle for the best accuracy. (the Enfield rifle would have the up pressure varied between 2 to 7 pounds of up pressure for issued military ammunition)
Understanding Barrel Bedding
http://www.rifleshootermag.com/rifles/understanding-barrel-bedding/
Savage Action Screw Torque Tuning. (Screw torque changes barrel harmonics and thus accuracy)
http://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/savage-action-screw-torque-tuning/
The five shot group below was fired after tightening up the bedding on a No.4 Enfield rifle fore stock and adding a PH-5C target sight.
Below the thin brown paper shims were super glued to the forward draws area to push the stock to the rear, and the light colored wooden shims were used to regulate up pressure at the fore end tip. See the Canadian Marksman on Enfield bedding.
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