Sporter weight and heavy bbl, full-float. Pencil bbls like Kimber Montana or Rem Mt rifle, start out w/full-float. If they wander w/heat then I'll bed the channel too.
Couple rounds of electrical tape around the bbl near the fore-end keeps the bbl centered in the channel and can build your "float" at the same time. Winchester (Non-Fwt) has a full-cylinder section of bbl directly ahead of the action for 3/4-1". I like some bedding mat'l under there as well.
As you're wrapping, stop the tape @ the top and drop everything back into the stock. The 1st time you do this and the tape "touches" all around the bbl channel is when you take note of how many more wraps you add (1-2 is usually sufficient).
1-2 layers of tape under the end of the tang helps keep things level. Deciding between 1 or 2 is determined by how many wraps you added after you had "full-touch" of the bbl centering wraps above.
Use molding clay as a "dam" to keep the bedding goo from going where you don't want it to go. Use an exacto-knife to make your lines pretty. Tape up the outside of the stock w/painters-tape to greatly reduce bedding compound messiness.
Get some 4-5" long 1/4x32 bolts and cut/grind the heads off. Spin them into the stock finger-tight. Slather them and the bottom of the action w/release agent.
Get a piece of latex rubber "surgical tubing" 3'-4' long.
Get the bedding compound where you want it in the stock.
Make sure you've applied release agent to everything that will touch the bedding
Make sure you've applied release agent to everything that will touch the bedding
Make sure you've applied release agent to everything that will touch the bedding
Make sure you've applied release agent to everything that will touch the bedding
Place the action into the stock, I like to put a hand on each bridge and try to push down evenly. When you're "in-place" wrap the surgical tube around the stock/action paying attention to get both bridges.
Use an exacto or box-cutter blade to remove the excess bedding compound that presses out. Then use Q-Tips to get the compound off of the bbl/action where a knife might scratch. Brownells makes "pointed" Q-tips that are more durable and less "pully-aparty" than standard q-tips.
~8hrs in, pull the action from the compound, remove the headless bolts. A bronze toothbrush should flake off any bedding compound that's stuck where you don't want it. Now, re-install w/actual action screws and torque to spec. Remove any material that squirts out again using the exacto/razor/pointed q-tips.
Now walk away until at least tomorrow.
Pull it apart again and clean it up.
