tropytaker308 is correct, a thin barrel doesnt mean it wont be a shooter. The 700 Mountain Rifle I had in .30-06 shot as good as all my current heavy varmint barreled 700s do, and thats saying something because they are all sub moa out of the box.
I used that Mountain rifle as a longrange rifle for years, hitting 2 liter bottles @ 4 and 500 yards every time I put the cross hairs on them. The thing kicked like 2 mules though and it wasnt pleasant shooting from prone, lol. A whitetail took its last breath in the early 90s thanks to that rifle, and at a range of about 380 yards too.
I did infact free float it after a few years(mostly because I wanted to attempt it on my own), but it shot no better than before I did that, so if it shoots remarkably consistently *as is*, I wouldnt bother with anything but a trigger job.
*the barrel Im shocked at is that garbagy looking stick on the 710. I looked at it before shooting my cousins and laughed inside a little. Boy was I surprised when I was getting excellent groupings, and with that 25.00 scope no less!
Update:Wow I missed the first post about the ammo and cleaning..Im losing my mind!
Do Not get hasty and glass bed it yet. You've hardly put any rounds down the tube, let alone try several different brands and types of ammo.
Get 100 - 200 shot thru it and every 20 or so, try different brands of different weights and types. Some have that special *off the shelf* round they love and hopefully youll find it.
The VLS in my sig didnt like any remington core lokts, but loved the cheapest Federal(power shok or vital shok, dont recall which). The best factory Ive shot is the Remington 168 grain matchking HP's, just showing how some guns are picky is all.
To make things more interesting, my VLS shoots best when its dirty and the bore has a lot of copper in it. I dont even bother shooting at paper for accuracy until I have a 15 or so shots fired. Dont get me wrong, the cold bore shot is still deadly, but groups wont satisfy me until the barrel gets fouled.
An old friends VLS isnt as delightful. Groups start spreading out around 30 rounds fired and his CBS was closer to zero than mine but while hes cleaning, I go atleast 80 to 100 before I clean it thoroughly, and even then it doesnt need to be cleaned, I just do it so cooper doesnt get out of hand. The best thing about the heavier rifles is that I can shoot all day and feel no pain. Gets trickier carrying them around while hunting but thats for another day......
I hope I didnt get off topic, just wanted to show the variations in ammo and barrels. I hate seeing people get antsy and start bedding right away without knowing what the rifle is truly capable of once things settle down
