I have a wood stock savage 14. After the season I plan to put in some pillars and glass bed the action to the stock. The rifle is currently a 243 Winchester but may become a 6.5 creed/260/7mm08 in the future. Will I still be able to do the barrel swap (to a heavier contour) after I have the action bedded?

you might want to wait till your barrel work is done, then make sure the barrel channel is corredt

Yes you can. If you go to a heavier contour you will have to open up the barrel channel. That's easy and I'd be happy to help with a DIY cheap, professional looking method. The one stock I have pillared and bedded (7 Rem Mag, Rem 700 action) has no bedding ahead of the recoil lug. You want the barrel free floated anyway, so when the new barrel gets installed, make it clear the stock, action is still married to the stock. Everything is lovely.

Ok that is what I thought, just wanted to run it by some folks he knew not thought.

Thanks

Anybody got a good idea of what kind of accuracy you can expect to get from a savage that has had a good pillar and glass bed job floated barrel and the factory barrel replaced with a quality aftermarket from one of the big names?

1/4 MOA if you know what you're doing at the loading bench and on the range. I'm talkin cut rifled barrel here, and a top tier smith that dual indicates like my friend Tony, as well as Derrick of Horizon.

Are there smiths that don't go dual on their lathe?

How about with good handloads (assuming I do my part) and a prefit McGowen/Shaw barrel correctly installed?

Lots

If its like my Prefit Shilen it won't hang with the Rock Creek, Obermeyer, and Bartlein I have or once had. It will shoot small but not as small as the cut rifled blanks I have purchased and taken to my smith to do his thang.

One indication of quality is on the cut rifled barrels, when you're looking for lands, they will scribe equal grooves all the way around the bullet. The Shilen will scribe lines on 180 degrees of it. Not as centered as the smith that took his time.

I have built two. One with a criterion barrel that is .375 moa with a chote stock and one with an er shaw barrel that is .25 moa with no bedding at all in factory stock. Just opened the stock up and floated the barrel. Both 7mm08 with hand loads.

Did you put these together or have someone else/a gun smith do it? Thanks for the reply.

I put the barrels on and head spaced them myself and worked up the loads. As far as the stock I opened up the barrel area to make sure it had no problems touching the stock even if I used a bipod or not.