Is it worth bedding a Savage 93R17?

Potshot21

Potshot21

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Howdy folks!

I have begun dabbling in what I would call amateur gun tinkering and have been looking for some new projects to try out. I've done some research on bedding actions and understand how they can benefit to increased accuracy. Of all of my rifles, the best candidate I can come up with is my Savage 93R17 rimfire as it has a grey laminate stock and is a bolt action. I'm curious if anyone has attempted to do this and if there was any noticeable improvement? Also for anyone who has done this, are there any tips and tricks for a newbie such as myself?

Thanks!
 
Unless you really mess up you certainly wouldn't hurt anything.

Will it improve anything - that really depends on you.

I have a 93R17 with the factory thumbhole stock. It shoots far more accurately than "I can".

If I put it in a gun vice and fire 5 shots, then shoot 5 myself (with any kind of support), the "vice groups" are far tighter than mine (I shake a little) - so "for me" the gun is "already more accurate than I am", so no amount of "tweaking" is going to make "me" a better shot.

I would suggest you try something similar - if you can't shoot at least "as good as the gun by itself", then while bedding may make the "gun more accurate", if you can't take advantage of that greater accuracy, you probably wasted your time/money.

Just one guys perspective.
 
You make an awefully good point galamb. I've never had a super solid rifle vise until a couple months ago, and even then I never really thought about using it for accuracy testing. Perhaps I'll give it a go with the vise and see exactly how well it shoots without operator influence.
 
When I break in a new rifle (or try out a new to me rifle) it goes right in the vice - that takes away as many "variables" as possible.

Because before you know "what it can do" it's tough to try and tweak anything. No sense loading different bullets, charges, primers etc if it "can't shoot straight".
 
What kind of accuracy are you getting out of it as is? Are you not satisfied with that? What is your goal? Not sure about your shooting skills (judge yourself) but I find front and rear bags plenty stable and I out shoot all my guns I don't think a vise is necessary for myself anyway. Recently bedded my .270 but haven't had a chance to test it yet to see any improvement. I can tell you it was not to my satisfaction before bedding.

If you decide to go ahead and bed ask yourself if you're ok with something in the process not going smoothly, turning out quite right, possibly marking up your stock with new "beauty" marks etc. I've done 3 of my rifles so far and none have turned out perfect and I marked up the stocks to varying degrees despite my best care in working on them. One little slip of a tool is all it takes. I'm OK with rugged, functional and accurate if I marr the perfect finish I'm not too upset about it. Depends on how attached you are to your things looking pretty.

To sum up if it's worth doing, very unlikely to make it worse and benefit can be marginal to great. YMMV
 
I pillar and action bedded my 93R17 BV not long after I bought it. I am sure it helped somewhat with accuracy but I like to take the stock off once in a while for cleaning and to make sure no rust is forming. I will shoot in inclement weather from time to time so my rifles see lots of cold or some rain.

I found the laminate stock was soft and had a poorer fit to the action when I torqued it all back together. I wanted it to just pop back into place without any drama. I used acraglas on it. Garbage. I had used JB weld on a previous bedding project and it turned out much better and easier. Regardless, I am glad I did this project as 9 years later it still has a great fit.
 
I just finished pillar bedding my 93 BSEV... About to start the action-bedding process, if I can stay awake.

I didn't use purpose-made "pillars", just used misc nuts that had the appropriate size.

I also installed a spacer in the gap between the action & the top of the front factory post (gap visible in pic), basically completing the "pillar".

I put it back together & shot it today with just the pillars installed, and came up with this group (pic below)...

It definitely tightened up the groups, it was a 1" @ 50yd rifle before today. And people say 22wmr is the least accurate rimfire.

The top #1 and #2 shots were to get the new scope on paper @ ~100m (96.5 exactly). The previous two 50m shots were on (a different) target, but 2" high.

This 6 shot group was taken while sitting in a lawn chair & using a 3 foot high tree-stump as a rest.

It's hard to see but the centre hole in the top black bullseye is actually 2 shots, almost perfectly on top of one another.

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20160409_160331_zpspys92p4a.jpg


20160411_005034_zpsifrbpotk.jpg


20160406_121016.png_zps4jywojaj.jpeg
 
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