I'm working on a budget build precision rifle based on a Savage 111 action.  

When I bought the donor rifle, it had a factory profile 270 Win barrel on it.  I just got the news that my medium varmint profile 7mm-08 barrel is going to be a while longer than I expected and I have all the other stuff ready to go.  I'm planning on doing a pillar bed job on it and once that's done, fully bed the receiver leaving the barrel completely free-floated.

Here's the question:  Can I put the factory barrel back on and bed the receiver now or would I be better off waiting for the new barrel before I start?  I would think since I'm only bedding to the recoil lug that I should be able to go ahead.  Otherwise you'd never be able to change the barrel on a bedded action.  If I could go ahead and do the bedding, all I'd have to do when the barrel comes in is head space it and wouldn't go nuts waiting to shoot it.

Thanks in advance.

How many measurements of the new barrel do you have (diameters and position on the barrel)?

How much do you trust them?

I would wait.

I always bed the first three to four inches of the barrel in front of the recoil lug when I bed a rifle. This has to be done after the receiver has been barreled, never before.

I just bedded a Savage 11 .308 last week. I completely removed the trigger group prior to bedding and used modeling clay to fill every pin hole and milling relief in the receiver. I hogged out at least 1/16" of the interior wood using a Dremel making sure that I left the shelf on the rear tang untouched. I aggressively hogged out the area around the recoil lug and used a drill in the forearm to make recesses for the Devcon to grip the stock. I filled the trigger area with modeling clay.

The standard stock trigger assembly on Savage rifles swings very close to the rear receiver screw. I made sure I left a lot of space open in this area so the Devcon would build a decent shelf to the left and right of the receiver near the rear screw. I wrap my barrel with electrical tape toward the front of the stock to establish barrel to stock clearance and hold the whole thing in place so the Devcon can set up.

I use Brownell's long action screws that are specifically designed for stock bedding. I wrap masking tape around them so they will just fit in the aluminum pillars or the stock holes, depending on whether I'm using pillars or not. After I squish all the Devcon out and clean the stock off (the entire stock is covered in masking tape and waxed) I will wrap several layers of masking tape around the receiver to hold it firmly in the stock. I check it regularly over the next couple of hours to make sure there isn't any more Devcon oozing out. If there is I clean it off before it hardens.

After at least three days cure I will remove the tape and drive the barreled action out of the receiver. You will have to use a file or Dremel to remove a lot of material that has formed around the rear receiver bolt. You have to angle it the same way the trigger group swings and you have to cut at least 1/3 to 1/2" below the rear bedding block at a relatively steep angle. The back side of the rear bedding screw will be exposed and visible when inserted in the stock by at least 1/4".