I have a BRNO 602 that is being built in .458 Lott. This action being very much the same as a CZ 550, how the gunsmith bedded the 602 should be relevant.
Note: For a .375 H&H, float the entire barrel. Of anything with higher recoil read on...
The background is a retired gunsmith had acquired many rifle parts and stock blanks over the past decades. With a BRNO 602 action and a .458 bore barrel blank he started “his” project a year or more ago. This is something the gunsmith is building for himself and at his pace. He is not building the rifle to shoot, no he is building the rifle just because he wants to. The stock work on a piece of English Walnut was worth the rifle’s cost so I elected to buy it! I'm a sucker for lovely wood!
As for bedding, the forward barrel lug screw was removed. Both recoil lugs are fully bedded to distribute the recoil of a great area of the stock. The portion of the barrel forward of the forward lug is free floated.
FYI, between the recoil lugs I provided a 3” x ½” tungsten rod for a little extra rifle weight. The placement will be just behind my forward hand when shooting to keep the weight “between the hands”. Like a fine shotgun, having most weight between the hands provides more lively “movement of inertia”.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moment_of_inertia
A few years ago another gunsmith and unfortunately now a late friend would repair stocks cracked or broken at the wrists using a fiberglass rod. For the BRNO .458 Lott, I discussed with the builder adding this prior to any cracking. He told be for adding such, he would bore a hole through the wrist from where the rear portion of the action would be. We haven’t come to a decision on the fiberglass rod because the grain of the stock flows as it should through the wrist. For a CZ factory stock in .458 Lott or higher recoil chambering, a fiberglass rob might be wise before a crack develops. Rumor is that most all CZ 550 stocks for the high recoil chambering’s develop a crack.
