Accuracy Part 1: Bedding

Rifles are not inherently accurate and not every shooter can shot as well as the rifle can (I fall into the last category).   Every now and then a factory rifle will shot sub MOA using factory ammo, but these cases are extremely rare.

There are 3 main causes for accuracy or lack there of in a rifle.  They are barrel, mounting system (for the scope), and bedding.

This is a very basic introduction to bedding.  It is by no means a step by step guide on how to bed a rifle.

The bedding is what bonds the rifle to the stock.  It is the foundation for the rifle.  When a rifle is shot the barreled action wants to jump and move around in the stock because of the recoil.  The bedding returns the rifle to the same spot in the stock every time.  Therefore, you get consistent groups every time.

I'm not going to go into the specifics on how to bed different types of rifles but I'll show you the proper bedding for a Remington 700.  Above are pictures of a factory stock without any bedding (left) and an after market stock (right) with bedding.  In between the black lines by the front screw hole is what needs to be bedded properly.  On the back screw hole the whole area needs to be bedded.

Pressure bedding is another type of bedding.  To tell if your gun needs to be pressure bedded, you hold dead center on a target and try to get a grouping using the same point of aim.  If the grouping climbs or wanders the barrel is getting hot and flexing.  This happens with thin barrels or poorly made barrels.


Please comment or ask questions.  Next up is Accuracy Part 2: The Barrel.