My experience is that many Rugers do much better with a free floated barrel. The traditional test to see if your barrel is free floated is see if you can slip a dollar bill folded once along the long axis, between the stock and the barrel. if its free floated the bill should slide freelyalmost to the receiver.I think that from the factory Rugers usually come with contact between the stock and barrel.

Although you can free float a rifle without bedding it the two areoften done together. Glass bedding is pretty easy to do yourself if your handy, or a gunsmith can do it..around my area it runs about $100