Bedding a 1712?

[BlauBear]

Are there any advantages to pillar bedding a 1712? This rifle is already so accurate, the only thing that comes to mind is stability in temperature or humidity changes. Apparently the action is so rigid that it's largely immune to things that throw other rifles off target.

[Jerry G]

Unless you overtighten your action screws, there is none. Pillar bedding keeps your stock from compressing when you tighten the screws.

[BlauBear]

Past bedding projects on lesser rifles produced dramatic improvements in accuracy, but I don't know why. They were torqued below crush before bedding, though I'm sure the wood still compressed some. My pet theory is that fitting the stock and action into a single unit with bedding increases action rigidity, something inherent to the Anschutz 54 action (what kind of steel is that, anyway?)

Professional gunsmiths write about relieving stress in the action, so it seems like, when you bed an action, you're really creating a laminate or composite structure of dissimilar materials. Serious silhouette shooting seems to become a game of controlling progressively smaller variables, so is it worthwhile to bed a rifle (like the 1712) that is already spooky accurate? My guess is yes, since it asserts greater control over a variable, but the idea of plopping a 54 action into a puddle of epoxy is frightening.

[Jerry G]

I didn't say not to bed the rifle, I said pilar bedding is a waste of time. There is a big difference. I believe that there should be only 2 points of contact between the metal and stock. If your action touches anywhere else it will change the vibrations in your rifle and change the center of your group.

[BlauBear]

Now I am confused - two points of contact? When I bed a rifle, the entire action is cradled in epoxy, plus the top of the pillars sleeving the action bolts. Short term, in my experience this either improves accuracy or has no effect. I've never seen it make things worse, though others have reported problems.

Near term, pillar bedding seems to stabilize wood stocks through weather changes, and gets things back together in the same alignment when the action is removed from the stock.

Long term, I suspect the extra support prevents fatigue, particularly in the receiver/barrel junction, and maintains long term accuracy, though the point isn't worth debating.

[Jerry G]

Pillar bedding only puts aluminum sleeves through your stock at the action screws to keep you from crushing your stock when you tighten them. If you have a stiff action, I don't think bedding the entire action does anything for you. I believe that the contact points have to be where the action screws attach.

There is no way to stabalize a wodden stock. That is why most people are going to synthetic. Wood swells and shrinks as it takes and looses moisture. The fancier the wood, the bigger the problem is because the grain goes every which way. A real straight grain piece of wood is a little easier to manage.

[yankee]

Yes, bedding a 1712 action helps if the action is not sitting square and even in the stock. I have seen both wood and fiberglass stocks that were a terrible fit. Yes you can tweek a 1712 action if your action screws do not tighten the action to the stock correctly. The front action screw should snug up very lightly and then tighten within 1/8 turn. The same for the rear screw. If you have to turn the rear screw more than 1/8 to 1/4 max. you are pulling the action and stock together and that is binding the action and can cause accuracy problems. You do not have to have great amounts of torque on the screws to hold the action in the stock, just even. I have made pillars out of steel, aluminium, steel bed and regular bedding, all work. The way I bed a rifle I end up with two pads front and rear. If you think a thin little strip of bedding running along the sides of the action connecting the two is good try this. Gouge a V about the same size that you would use between the front and rear pad in a piece of scrap wood, let it dry a day or two and pop it out and try to bend or twist it. In bedding you are not trying to stiffen the stock but are just trying to get the stock and action to sit together and level front to back. The pillars will help if you have a real soft stock that makes snugging the screws a problem.