No4 rifle bedding

[Micheal Doyne]

I have a little torque drive and religiously slacken off and then torque up each time I shoot. some one somewhere early on told me it was a good idea. I am not convinced it helps but I can’t see it hurting and it makes me feel better. either way my effect on target is **** poor.

[Alan de Enfield]

I have a little torque drive and religiously slacken off and then torque up each time I shoot. some one somewhere early on told me it was a good idea. I am not convinced it helps but I can see it hurting and it makes me feel better. either way my effect on target is **** poor.

Why would you need to torque it ?

Once the forend is correctly fitted / bedded and the collar adjusted to the correct length, all you do is let the bolt / screw just 'bottom out'.

[Micheal Doyne]

because I have one, I can’t see it not helping with consistent setup of the rifle. it is just part of my pre shoot routine, like putting a dry patch through the bore and chamber. My aim is to always leave the rifle in low stress state, but to re set it prior to shooting as consistently as possible.

[browningautorifle]

Is there any benefit to somewhat loosening the front trigger guard screw

If the wood isn't saturated with oil it shouldn't matter. If it is saturated, it won't help.

[scharfschutzen63]

My concerns is the upward pressure exerted on the barrel diminishing over time with the forestock under constant load. I believe a piece of wood will change shape over time with a constant force. I guess the question would be is 3 to 7 pounds enough force to have a change occur over time? Will the upward force on the barrel remain constant over the years with the front trigger guard screw kept tight?

[browningautorifle]

Will the upward force on the barrel remain constant over the years with the front trigger guard screw kept tight?

I think within our lifetimes it will.

[Alan de Enfield]

My concerns is the upward pressure exerted on the barrel diminishing over time with the forestock under constant load. I believe a piece of wood will change shape over time with a constant force. I guess the question would be is 3 to 7 pounds enough force to have a change occur over time? Will the upward force on the barrel remain constant over the years with the front trigger guard screw kept tight?

On a correctly fitted front trigger guard screw & forend there is no 'crushing pressure' on the forened.

The collar allows the bolt to be fully tightened until it bottoms out and is just holding (but not putting any pressure) on the wood.

Full instructions of how to do it correctly are in Peter Laidlers 'notes' in the 'library'.

[Micheal Doyne]

My concerns is the upward pressure exerted on the barrel diminishing over time with the forestock under constant load. I believe a piece of wood will change shape over time with a constant force. I guess the question would be is 3 to 7 pounds enough force to have a change occur over time? Will the upward force on the barrel remain constant over the years with the front trigger guard screw kept tight?

i cannot see how long term stress will not affect the shape of the wood, which is why i slacken mine off when storing them. Mid people will disagree

[Bruce_in_Oz]

And everyone needs to remember that rifles in actual "SERVICE" have long been subject to regular attention by inspectors and armourers...

In pretty much ALL cases, the bedding is not set once and left alone.

One classic example is your basic SMLE. in order to inspect the state of the barrel exterior, let alone all the springs and plungers hiding away, the fore-end had to be removed.

This entailed removing the outer band, It would otherwise involve a lot of "Zen" to remove the woodwork intact.

Those who have been paying attention will have noticed that the outer-band retaining screw has a small countersink on the threaded end. During assembly, this is there to align a centre-punch to flare out the end of that screw, to stop it backing out. (No Loctite around when these rifles were designed.

Thus, EVERY time a rifle had gone for a swim, suffered fore-wood damage, just come up for routine inspection, this little screw had to be carefully removed, including the very careful use of a hand drill, to cut away the "flare".

Most "civvie" enthusiasts miss this little detail and cheerfully wind that screw out cold. Then they wonder why the thread in the mild steel or BRASS band is so dodgy.

This is why that odd little screw was made in disproportionately high numbers; and "active" Battalion would be churning through them each year, at a spectacular rate due to repairs and inspections.

These were BATTLE implements, not "safe queens".

But, if you do not apply a similar mindset to hunting rifles, in particular, things could get really annoying out in the woods. ONE tiny, corroded spring can really ruin your day.

[Daan Kemp]

I have a little torque drive and religiously slacken off and then torque up each time I shoot.

Consistency is one of the essentials to repeatable accuracy.