Barrel floating/setting

[BULLBLASTER]

I dont clean the bore on my rifles until accuracy falls off or i shoot different bullets. Theres no need to clean the bore if it is shooting really well imo. I will wipe and oil the outside and scope tho.

[7mmfan]

Alright well that is going to be a big change for me but I'm going to roll with it. Trying this new open minded thing    I'm heading out right now to see if simply floating the barrel has helped. I have a feeling I'll be stopping at Cabelas on my way home though to check out bedding kits.

Is it possible to effectively pillar mount after I bed the action?

[BOWHUNTER45]

hey I can give you what I loaded in my wife's 7mm-08 if you like ...  The issue about not cleaning my gun until after season is mainly because I do not plan on shooting it much ...except one more time to drop something 


here is what I loaded in my wife's 7mm-08  about a 1/2 to 3/4 group !   139gr Horn. Interlock / 45.5 gr IMR 4350 / SEAT  2.770 C.O.L

[RadSav]

I have a feeling I'll be stopping at Cabelas on my way home though to check out bedding kits.

Is it possible to effectively pillar mount after I bed the action?

Yes it is possible to Pillar bed after you bed the action.  But, generally speaking it is either done at the same time as the bedding or prior to bedding.  Not sure there would be much benefit to doing it afterward and the risk of messing up your bedding job runs high.

I would not be so eager to get a bedding kit from Cabela's!  Do more research on-line and buy over the internet.  That Gilbert Bed kit and the AcraGlas kits are mediocre at best IMO.

[7mmfan]

Well so far the floating of the barrel seems to be a success. I ran out of time to fully dial it in, but for the first time with this gun, I feel like its doing what I'm telling it to do!

Started with a three shot group out of a cold/clean barrel (no pic) that was 2" left of center and 8" low, in about a 2" group.

I made a scope adjustment and waited about 10 minutes and fired my first shot (far left)

Made my next adjustment, waited 10 minutes, fired my next shot, (center)

Made one more adjustment, 10 minutes, (far right shot).

At this point I was out of time, so I waited a few minutes, no adjustment, and fired the shot just under the far right shot.

Those 2 shots are probably the 2 best consecutive shots I've ever gotten out of that rifle. I think that with a little more tuning of the load, I'll have her dialed in to hunt this season. This winter I will take your advice Radsav and do a quality bedding and pillar job on the action to solidify everything. As it stands now, I am MILES ahead of where I was before.

Thanks for the advice, it has helped tremendously.

[7mmfan]

Thank you for the load BOWHUNTER, I appreciate it. I am going to finish off my H380 before I go trying another powder. Its just to expensive to buy a pound of powder to tinker with not knowing for sure that its going to work in my gun. If someone has 8-10 rounds they want to donate, that would be ok though 
 
This load was 45gr of H380 with 139 Hornaday Interlock.

I have a 45.5gr H380 load that I am going to shoot next time. Not sure how much .5 gr will make, but I figured bumping up the load in .5gr increments isn't a bad idea.

[RadSav]

Now that the tube is dirty I'd start off the next target session with a three shot string.  You are on paper and close to center now so worry about group size before wasting ammo on sighting in.  Once you find your best grouping then worry about where that group hits.

I'd also encourage you to ditch the single spot target and go to a five spot for working up groups.  A lot of free printable downloadable on the net.  Or by a stack at the gun store.  Hornady Lock-n-load is one of my favorites.  You will be amazed at how much easier it is to group when your not trying to hit the center of a small round dot.

[RadSav]

I thought you may find this interesting since you are thinking about possibly bedding your rifle.

I have a Ruger M77 varmint rifle that has a problem with an inletting high point.  It is actually inletted quite nicely, but a combination of time and over torqueing the action screws has created an off center high spot of uneven pressure on the action and seems to be effecting accuracy.  Normally I would just add pillars, remove 1/16" of material in all appropriate spots and do a complete bed.  But, this rifle is quite unique and I was hoping to accomplish a good result while keeping the rifle as close to original as possible.

I coated the bottom of the action well with powder foot spray and assembled the gun with a very minimal torque on the action screws.  Then removed the action and reviewed the powder transfer to the stock.  Then with a very small sharp wood chisel I removed about .005 to .010" of wood at the contact points I wanted to avoid.  I then reassembled and repeated the process until the powder transferred only to the areas I wanted.

You can see from the pictures how the powder transfers well with no mess.  You can also see that after eliminating the high mid point contact the action dropped far enough that the bolt release lever started making contact as well.  So about .015" of wood was relieved from the side of the stock where the lever made contact.  I also had to remove about .010" from the bottom/front of the magazine box to eliminate a pinch created when the action dropped.

You need extremely sharp tools and smooth steady strokes.  And I could probably have bedded the action in nearly the same amount of time.  But results can be very effective if you have good inletting to start with.  I'll take it to the range tomorrow and see if the 1.75" groups have gotten any better.  I'm pretty confident they will!

[RadSav]

Impatience sometimes does not allow a full story to develop.  After getting the inletting sealed I headed to the range to see what difference it made.  Problem was my impatience led me to try a new load at the same time as checking what improvements were met in the bedding work.  Not sure which had the biggest impact 

I'll certainly accept the result though!  Looks to have improved group size by nearly an inch.  Sometimes it just doesn't take much to get that rifle to fall into it's groove.

Three shot 100 yard group.  Plus one single after four clicks to the west.

[7mmfan]

Very nice Rad, thats what I'd call a shooter!

So I was finally able to get back out and shoot this gun again. The last time I shot I had walked it into about where I wanted it and then had to leave without finishing the job. I was thrilled to find that my first group was right where I'd left the last one. 

First 3 shots were a 3/4" group just right of center. Made one small adjustment and put 2 rounds 1.5" high and dead center 3/4" apart. I'd say floating the barrel made a difference!

Load: 45 gr H380
139 gr Hornady Interlocks
Magnum primer
Shot out of a dirty barrel, not cleaned after last time out.

VERY happy this gun is shooting now. Thanks to everyone who offered knowledge a suggestions. I learned a lot through this process.

[RadSav]

I see a lot of guys using the magnum primer with that powder!  Maybe some day I'll get brave enough to try it.

Maybe next time run a five shot string and let us know what that looks like.  I'd be very interested to find out!

[huntnphool]

Impatience sometimes does not allow a full story to develop.  After getting the inletting sealed I headed to the range to see what difference it made.  Problem was my impatience led me to try a new load at the same time as checking what improvements were met in the bedding work.  Not sure which had the biggest impact 

I'll certainly accept the result though!  Looks to have improved group size by nearly an inch.  Sometimes it just doesn't take much to get that rifle to fall into it's groove.

Three shot 100 yard group.  Plus one single after four clicks to the west.

 I've got the same M77 that has about the same accuracy.

[7mmfan]

Revisting this thread for one more piece of advice! I've shot this gun a few times now after all the work and she is the tack driver I knew she could be. 3/4- groups all day long.

I realized this morning that I forgot to reseal the stock where I sanded. I know alot of people use polyurethane, but I've also heard people use Tru-oil as a sealer. I'm assuming the polyurethane is tougher but is there any pros/cons to using one or the other?

[RadSav]

Poly is very durable and long lasting even if it does not penetrate into the wood fibers, as would be the case with laminate.  Tru-Oil is very nice on traditional stocks.  Does not give that plastic feel to real wood even though it can be polished to a brilliant finish.  Benefit to Tru-Oil to me is touch-up is a breeze.  Whether abrasion or rock damage or briar scratches...with Tru-Oil or most Linseed based products you can simply spot repair.  With Poly-U that is very difficult and stripping is often times needed.

I personally use a "hand wipe" poly-U on all my laminated stock guns.  It is super thin and really gets into every pore without having to be applied very thick.  Just be sure to give it a complete 24 hours before assembly!

[7mmfan]

Considering that the area to be treated is inside the barrel channel I'm not to worried about getting abused to much. I got a can of spray on poly-u and did 3 very light layers and am letting it dry over the weekend. Everything looks good so far, can definitely tell that it is covered now.

I'm very glad that I put the effort into making this gun shoot. My nephew who was on the fence about hunting this year has decided that he wants to go, so starting next week we will be in intensive training a couple times a week behind the rifle until the opener. I would so love to have him drop his first buck with this gun!