I got a Ruger V/T giving me problems

[Ryan S Albright]

I had a Ruger V/T barrel shortend to 21" a couple of years ago. I believe it shot well when I got it back. I decided to work on it a little I change the trigger out to a rifle Basix and glass bedded the action all the way back to the tang. I pillarerd the rear tang because the laminate stock was getting beat up from all the disasimbly from cleaning. Now the rifle moves bullets around the target I have had strings both side ways up and down groups of twos here and there. Each time I have reworked the bedding filed the magazine down to relieve stress shimmed the trigger gard over and over. Just when I get it grouping well and believe I got the problem solved my groups fall a part. I have been eye balling the crown and wondering about recrowning the barrel is there a way to do it my self? I don't know of any gun smiths in my area.

[glenn asher]

Is the tang tightly bedded? That will make a huge difference in how the rifle shoots. If the tang IS bedded tightly, the action can't expand evenly when it heats up (no matter how little that may be), and that can cause stress in the action, and bollix up accuracy. Every little thing matters to some degree, and Rugers can be a pain to get bedded "just right" The tang is often overlooked as a problem area, but it can raise hob with getting them right.

Recrowning isn't too difficult, some guys just use valve-grinding compound on the head of a brass screw, chucked in a drill, to polish out any rough areas or gouges in the crown.

[Lenard]

Ryan, did you use the action screws to tighten everything while glass bedding the action? I will say that I have had much better success since just using electrical tape to hold the action in the stock while bedding. Bedding is a critical step we take and we have to be very careful the action is not stressed when letting the bedding harden.

My guess, based on early failures, is that the bedding is not good on the rifle. 6MMbr.com has a very good article on bedding a barreled action and I would suggest you read it carefully.

I learned years ago, from reading Warren Pages book, "The Accurate Rifle", that having a perfect bed, was necessary for good accuracy. I bought a dial indicator and followed his directions. I found if when loosening the guard screws, that the movement of the barreled action was over .005, that accuracy was sporadic. We had a Ruger 77 in 6mm that we bedded and came up with .002 of movement after bedding. The gun just shot bug holes after that.


Lenard

[Ryan S Albright]

Yes I did use the action screws when bedding. I bedded the action in there phases front, Tang with a piller and the center section last around the box magazine. I made sure the tang was very tight and even filled the piller with epoxy. Since then I have taken the epoxy out of the piller rebedded the front and middle sections twice. when I took the epoxy out of the piller in the rear and shimed the trigger gaurd It started to show promise. I have had to deal with windy range conditions and time constrants. Last night was very windy at the range this morning it is dead calm but I can't make it out to the range. The trigger gaurd was putting presure on the magazine box and pushing it up in to the action. I figured this was to much so I have relieved this with a file and fine shim to fit also the magazine latch. I have worked on the tang quiet a bit I drilled back in to the stock to make sure that it had a really hard and tight fit filled with epoxy. What would be the proper way to relieve this area. Luckily I have a lot of bedding material and have learned a lot of new tricks to preping the action for bedding. I will take all the advice you can think of giving.

[Lenard]

Ryan, the magazine boxes can cause difficulty for sure. A couple months ago, I purchased a CZ 223 with a Kevlar stock. I had fits with the gun until one day, I determined that something seemed loose, either the scope rings, bases or the action. Upon further examination, I discovered the magazine box was bottoming out and the front guard screw was not pulling the action tight in the stock. After removing about 1/16 off the top of the magazine box, the action bottomed out and the gun started shooting as it should have. The Kevlar stock was not deep enough for the barreled action/magazine housing.

Now the gun shoots cloverleafs. So, it is a process of elimination and sometimes not easy to diagnose.

And, by the way, I have had to redo glass jobs several times.
EDIT
Ryan, you likely know this, but the center screw should only be loosley tightened. Otherwise it might pull the center of the action down and put tension on the action. In addition, I never glass the action except for the the recoil lug, up about an inch under the chamber and at the tang. The rest of the action has no pressure on the stock. This is only my option, as others glass the entire action.

Another trick, is to loosen the rear tang screw/not torqued up tight, and see if that makes any difference. An additional trick, is to shim the end of the stock so that the action will not have pressure from the weight of the barrel while glassing.

[glenn asher]

"I have worked on the tang quiet a bit I drilled back in to the stock to make sure that it had a really hard and tight fit filled with epoxy. What would be the proper way to relieve this area."


OUCH! That, and that center screw Lenard alluded to, are surely culprits to be reckoned with. If you can, try to relieve around the tang at least 0.005 all the way around, keep any bedding material away from the tang itself, and make sure the tang screw isn't holding things back, also.

Figure that the action IS going to expand a fuzz, if it's allowed to do so, and it needs a little room back there to do that, same for the rear screw, since it's hanging down from the tang. A Dremel tool, or a really sharp little chisel, might help remove some of the material. Easy does it, just a little bit will help a lot.

I had issues with the center screw on my little Marlin .17HMR literally binding up the action when it was tightened down hard (Marlin had them so loose they'd practically fall out) I built up a "bed" of Acraglas to keep the action from bending and binding, so I could tighten the screw up without bending the action. Same principle applies to the Ruger (or the Model 70 Winchesters, and their center screws).
This is probably why most rifles are designed with just two screws nowadays.


I think this will help a bunch. The action should, just like Lenard said, just rest on the "bed" without any stress. A little bedding compound behind the action lug and under the first couple inches of barrel is usually all that's necessary (making sure to have clearance in FRONT of the recoil lug, too!) I can get you a link to a good thread on glassing the Ruger, gimme a couple minutes to chase it down.

[glenn asher]

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthread ... ost3003214


Here's Northern Dave's recipe for bedding a 77. It's a long thread, heavy with pics, but Dave's a good guy with a wicked sense of humor, too. Sometimes he gets it really right, though, and this is one of those times.

[Clint E]

I have never glass beded a gun before but it looks pretty easy. Thanks for sharing that link glen

[jo191145]

Two biggest must do's for bedding.

As Lenard said, electrical tape around the action and stock for proper hold. You need to use the action screws to line up the action.
You do not want to tighten those action screws. That will just impart any stresses in the action already present by the improper fit of the stock.

It is in the article Glenn linked too. You must drill the epoxy out of the pillars after its cured and action removed. You definately do not want those screws making contact with the sides of the pillars.

Follow those two rules and its hard to end up with a bad bedding job. Of course all rifles are different and need other various tricks but these two are universal.