Anyone ever bed and/or float their Frontier?

[Black Frog]

I've done the bedding and floating on a few Ruger Compacts so far with good results.

Wondering about trying the bedding and float on my 358 Frontier. It shoots ok now (ave 2" group) with factory ammo and a 2x scout scope. Does that heavy barrel on the Frontier really need the forearm pressure pad?

 

[Trey Whitley]

What caliber Frontier are you shooting? I've got them in .358 and 7mm-08 and with higher power scopes they're shooting damned close to half that group size, with no custom work whatsoever. With the Scout scope on my 358 I'm not sure I'd think 2-inch groups were a problem...I don't think I can see past the thick crosshair wires to shoot any better than that.

I don't know if the stiffness/harmonics of a shorter barrel make them more accurate, but I've been very pleasantly surprised at how accurate my Frontiers are. Have you checked the torque on the action screws?

 

[Black Frog]

I have a 358 and a 7mm-08 Frontier. The 7mm-08 is NIB in the safe and haven't shot it.

My 358 shoots ok for a 2x scope, and it's not that I'm disappointed with it- just wondering if any HAS tinkered with bedding and floating on a Frontier.

I may just to see what difference it makes.

I tinkered with doing this on two compacts with good results. When I first got my .260 Compact- it shot decent groups with different flavors of factory ammo at around 1.5". Then I got the bright idea to float the barrel and I sanded down the forearm pressure pad to remove it so that a folded dollar slid down the underside of the barrel.

Well, then my compact's groups opened up to about 3-4" at 100yds without the forearm pressure pad. Whoops- not the best idea. So then I figured I might as well play around with bedding the action. I carefully bedded the tang and recoil lug area- and left the barrel floating to see what difference that would make. The bedding turned out well and off to the range I went.

My Compact's groups shrank back to the 1.5" ave size, but now with a floated barrel. I experimented with putting plastic shims at the end of the forearm to apply some upward pressure in .010" increments. A 2 liter soda bottle works GREAT for making these shims. As I added shims to the forearm, my group sizes didn't change much and when I got to .050" I figured I wasn't gaining anything much and liked the aspect of the floated barrel in case of hunting in wet weather. So I'll leave it floated now and start messing with different ammo- hopefully some handloading later this season.

 

[Trey Whitley]

Interesting. I've had two of my M77's worked over by Lone Star Armory (http://www.lone-star-armory.com/), one an Express in .30-'06 and the other a stainless RSI in 6.5x55 Swede.

With the Express I was looking for confidence-inspiring accuracy out to at least 250 yards in preparation for an antelope hunt, and Todd delivered an honest MOA rifle (with factory ammunition I might add...I'm sure tailored handloads would do even better). With the RSI I was looking for repeatable point of impact through a series of rounds.

In both cases the action was glass bedded but I'm pretty sure the barrel was bedded along the length of the forearm instead of free-floated. I'm dropping the Express off at the end of the season to have an oil finish put on the stock; if you can wait awhile I'll verify what he does. You could also call and I'm sure he'll tell you...he's not great about returning emails but is good over the phone. Over the last year he's been building a custom dangerous game rifle to be featured in an upcoming Terry Wieland book and he's been tougher to get in touch with.

 

[Trey Whitley]

I forgot to ask: what 358 ammo are you shooting? The 200-grain Winchester Silvertips? I bought a few boxes of that recently, but I've only shot the 225-grain Accubond out of mine (great accuracy and great performance on feral hogs).

Also, if you haven't played with the 7mm-08 I'd just like to mention how impressed I am with the second-hand one I bought for my boys. Surprisingly accurate with my reduced-power handloads and the Remington managed recoil load, and that rifle convinced me to buy my 358 Frontier. Had both of them in the stand yesterday and they are far easier to deal with than 22-inch or 24-inch barrels in that situation.

I'm also becoming a believer that the 7mm-08 might be a magical white tail round. After using it to get two new (young) hunters started I highly recommend that caliber over 223, 243, etc. for absolute minimal recoil on the shooter's end and fantastic terminal performance on the down-range end. I believe if it was loaded with heavier bullets intended for the 7x57 Mauser it could be a genuine all-around/versatile cartridge.

 

[Black Frog]

All I've tried out of the 358 is the 200gr Silvertips. Trying to get into reloading this winter and tinker with some new loads. Are your 225's a factory load?

I really enjoy the 7mm-08 caliber as well. Have a Rem Model 7 and a A-bolt MicroHunter in that caliber already too. ALMOST as much as I like my .260 rifles. Slightly less recoil than the 7mm-08, and fantastic ballistics. I have three different 260 rifles now.

I read a lot before getting into the 260, I kept reading over and over about owners saying that the caliber seems to 'outperfrom' what you think it would do on whitetails. I really like this caliber.

But I agree- the 7mm-08 or 260 (they are very close to each other) I think are perfect deer calibers. Too bad they didn't make the Frontier in 260.

The vast majority of my gun collection is rifles based off the .308 case (243, 260, 7mm-08, 338Fed, 358). That way I never have to worry about finding brass, they are pleasant to shoot, and everything off that case seems to just work well.

 

[Trey Whitley]

Yes, my 225's are loaded by Conley Precision. But I think he's charging about twice what I paid for mine...I bought at $35/box and got enough to get the free shipping deal. If I remember correctly he's charging over $60/box these days (I bought long before we had any shortage in ammo or components).

I really don't enjoy reloading all that much; I took it up so I could load for the obsolete calibers many of my Winchester lever actions are chambered for. But it looks like I'll start loading the 358 when I run out of my current supply and/or can't find any more bargains on the Silvertips. I think I paid $22 - $25 each for the three boxes I have but those deals are hard to find.

You'd think between the current Browning BLR buyers/shooters, the latest run of 358 Frontiers and 358 Hawkeyes, and all the guys who have been shooting Winchester 88's, Savage 99's, the older BLR's, etc. that someone like Hornady would give Winchester a little competition on factory 358 loads. Since it hasn't happened yet I doubt that it will.