Originally Posted by
Big Uncle
For most local hunting this is probably true, but for a hunter that travels to a different areas I think that it makes good sense to bed and float. Humidity and temperature play hob with wooden stocks, and most plastic/fiberglass stocks are a bit flexible.
I always bed a 700 action when shooting magnum cartridges.
Free floating the barrel is only going to help you after the rifle heats up. I like going to the range and shooting paper so I like mine bedded and free floated on some of my rifles.
When you are big game hunting, it's not going to help at all, unless you plan on hitting the animal with your 6th shot(or so) after you heated up your barrel.