Bedding Problems?
 

I have a Winchester Model 70 Super Shadow in .270WSM. I put the barrel/action in a Boyds laminated stock and had a gunsmith bed it and adjust the trigger. It used to shoot 2-1/4+ inch groups at 100 yards so I thought this would make it group better. I took it to the range last weekend and the shots were perfect windage wise but they were stringing vertically. I'm not talking a little, I'm talking up to a 24" variance! I talked to a friend at BPS and he said that was a bedding issue. Go figure. I called the sport shop and the gunsmith is on vacation until 9/5. Does anyone have any ideas what is going on without actually seeing the rifle? I know that's a tough one but I want to appear more knowledgeable when I bring it back to the gunsmith.

To answer questions before they are asked:

The Leupold scope bases and rings have been checked and are tight.
The Leupold VXII scope held a zero before, or as close to zero as the rifle would shoot.
The bottom 2 piece metal is new from Winchester. The front and rear screws are tight.
The barrel is free floated from the taper forward. About 3 inches from the lug.

Thanks in advance as I am aggrevated after dropping another $300 trying to get this thing to shoot and it's worse.

RE: Bedding Problems?
 

Unless he just boched the bedding, which is hard to do, which can be checked by putting some dicum on the action and carefully re-torque it into the stock then pull it apart and see were it marks the bedding, you will be looking for blue in the center of the bedding and nothing on the ends which will give it the tee-tottering effect "up and down with the shots", or full contact tells you that there is no problem. Most likely problem with that much variation would be the scope, I would try a different scope befor I went any farther. Tom

RE: Bedding Problems?
 

Like DD said it might be the scope but 24" up and down is a lot of variation. Pop the magazine open and feel inside for the magazine box if it is loose and will go back and forth minutely then that eliminates one problem. Make sure the barrel has enough clearance. Can you slide a piece of typing paper back to the barreltaper? If not that is a problem. If you hold the rifle with your right hand(if your right handed) and holdyour leftthumb and forefinger snugly around the foreend tip and the barrel. If you can feel movement when loosening and then tightening the rear guard screwor doing the same with the front action screw it might be the action bedding.
Is the bottom metal fitting correctly in the inletting. Pop the floorplate and see if it is bearing evenly in its place. If you had some Jerrows inletting ink you could easily tell.


I had a older Sako that a gun butcher glass bedded and ruined the stock because he glassed the lug into the action inlet...I guess I could have cut the lug out with a chisel very carefully but what was a 1- 1/2 308 with match ammo became a shotgun because of the bedding job. Hope that helps but if the guy botched the job which really no one knows yet if he did or didn't wait for him to come back from Vacation and have him look it over. I had the same gun except in 7 WSM shot really well with the factory stock but I soon replaced it with a featherweight WSM stock and winchester bottom metal and magazine and it really shot well even not glass bedded.

Good luck with it , its one or the other scope or bedding..scope has a fine warranty and the bedding can be fixed pretty easily.

RE: Bedding Problems?
 

Torque your action screws. Front one to 60 inch lbs and the rear one to 35 or 40 inch lbs. work them up evenly until the rear screw done then crank on the front one. Sounds like one of them might not have been tightened. Let the middle one out or just tight enough to hold in place. I don't put the middle one back in. The rear one holds the trigger guard just fine. If you have a poor bedding job the action might be getting flexed and put into a bind, removing the middle screw may help.