Bedding the barrel/action on a Ruger .17HMR 77/17

[ColinR]

If you don't use it a lot and it sounds like you don't reading your posts you could save your self a lot of work and just trade it in for some thing more accurate.

Its a nice little gun which I am quite prepared to put the time in to get it working and if not I will trade it. It does seem to shoot a lot better in the field and would take rabbits and crows out to >200 yds. It just never grouped on a target. I imagine shooting with left hand supporting the barrel in the field and supported on a bag at the range is having a different effect on the front of the stock so probably worth a bit of effort..

[Graham M]

Sometimes it's just one of those things with the 17Hmr.
I had a CZ a few years ago that just would not stay zeroed, no matter what I did. Sold it back to the dealer a few months later. Last year bought another one with lovely wood...and it shoots like a dream.

[ColinR]

Stripped the Ruger down this morning and clearly the front of the stock is machined to support the barrel - all the action screws were tight. I might take a few thou off the stock were it supports the barrel and see if that makes any difference. Given everything is tight I would have assumed that any pressure exerted on the barrel by the stock would have been constant and would have affected the harmonics of the barrel the same with each shot, but not so. Short of taking a few thou off the supporting section of the stock, which is only about 1" to the nose, I think I'll see how it shoots and leave it there. If it improves I'll keep it but otherwise I think I will trade it.

On closer inspection of the supporting section of the stock there is only one very thin shiny line where the barrel is contacting the wood at about 5 o'clock when viewed from the front. This seems to be the only point at which the barrel touches the stock, so could be the problem. If I removed all of the supporting area of the stock at this point is it feasible to use a bedding compound to support the barrel at this point?