rooshooter
New member
I will be getting a barrel bedding block made up to hold 30-32"+ barrels for a 1000yd light gun in 284 Win. How long do you make most barrel bedding blocks, I was thinking around 5" or so is this right?
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How long should barrel bedding block be?
- Thread starter rooshooter
- Start date
Five inches sounds OK. I don't know of any definitive studies. There was a piece on Bruce Baer in Precision Shooting a while back where he said based on his testing, anything over 8 inches seemed to hurt accuracy. I'd take that as the best info we have; most people don't do exhaustive testing on barrel block length.
R
Riflemeister
Guest
I've done two of the barrel epoxied into the block type. The first was a 1.25"dia 28" barrel 6mm wildcat I used to get into the VHA 1000yard club. I used a 6" long piece of 7075 aluminum for the block and am quite happy with the performance. 6061 is a little soft and even using coarse threads, you may pull the screw threads out after a while.
The second one was a 1.45"dia 32" barrel 338 Lapua Mag Improved. I purchased an epoxied in type barrel block from Bill Shehane and it was 9" in length. The block was also 7075. It looked right on the longer barrel, where a short 5-6" block would have looked like a postage stamp stuck to the barrel.
Both blocks were epoxied to the barrels with Devcon 2 ton epoxy (slow set). The blocks were pillar bedded into the stocks with no contact anywhere other than the blocks. The first job I used the two o'ring setup that Bruce Baer had in his Precision Shooting article. The second I built up two 1/4" wide rings of Marinetex spaced 9" outside to outside and then turned the Marinetex to a slip fit in the block before epoxying the block onto the barrel.
Both rifle shot well and were very easy to tune. I think that the block dampens vibrations and you are tuning only that portion of barrel that is forward of the block. The epoxy on block is semi-permanent as compared to the screw together clamshell block, but I think it is a lot easier to tune.
The second one was a 1.45"dia 32" barrel 338 Lapua Mag Improved. I purchased an epoxied in type barrel block from Bill Shehane and it was 9" in length. The block was also 7075. It looked right on the longer barrel, where a short 5-6" block would have looked like a postage stamp stuck to the barrel.
Both blocks were epoxied to the barrels with Devcon 2 ton epoxy (slow set). The blocks were pillar bedded into the stocks with no contact anywhere other than the blocks. The first job I used the two o'ring setup that Bruce Baer had in his Precision Shooting article. The second I built up two 1/4" wide rings of Marinetex spaced 9" outside to outside and then turned the Marinetex to a slip fit in the block before epoxying the block onto the barrel.
Both rifle shot well and were very easy to tune. I think that the block dampens vibrations and you are tuning only that portion of barrel that is forward of the block. The epoxy on block is semi-permanent as compared to the screw together clamshell block, but I think it is a lot easier to tune.
rooshooter
New member
Riflemeister, you bought up a good point about tuning the shorter length. Now with a 30" barrel, I load it to 2820, 2950 or 3080 fps for each of those nodes depending on the caliber. But what about with a bedding blocked rifle? The vibrations still travels the ful 30", but I take it that the nodes will come at different velocities due to only 24" or so hanging off the end?
Is this right, or do the nodes come at the same velocities????
Is this right, or do the nodes come at the same velocities????
R
Riflemeister
Guest
Bedding block
I'm not an engineer, but the way both barrels were so easy to tune and just wanted to shoot most any bullet well, it sure appears that there is some sort of vibration damping taking place. The 28"X1.25" barrel has less than 21" forward of the block and the 32"X1.45" barrel has less than 22" forward of the block. Another benefit I failed to mention in my first post is that the barrel tenon only has to support the weight of the action, not the 32"X1.45" barrel.
I'm not an engineer, but the way both barrels were so easy to tune and just wanted to shoot most any bullet well, it sure appears that there is some sort of vibration damping taking place. The 28"X1.25" barrel has less than 21" forward of the block and the 32"X1.45" barrel has less than 22" forward of the block. Another benefit I failed to mention in my first post is that the barrel tenon only has to support the weight of the action, not the 32"X1.45" barrel.
J
J. Pendergraft
Guest
I will be getting a barrel bedding block made up to hold 30-32"+ barrels for a 1000yd light gun in 284 Win. How long do you make most barrel bedding blocks, I was thinking around 5" or so is this right?
I would go 6" if possible, but I think it somewhat depends on what the stock composition is and how the block will be attached and bedded to the stock. You need solid bedding that will support the weight of the barrel, etc. so the length and surface area of the bottom of the barrel block is a factor.