Remington 700 Mountain Rifle-Free Float It Or Leave It Alone

[TXSPIKE]

I just picked up a used Remington 700 Mountain Rifle,wood stock,in a 270.I noticed it's not free floated and from the looks of it,the factory barrel channel is set up to keep pressure on the barrel nearly to the end of the stock.All my rifles are free floated but the small contour barrel on this rifle makes wonder if I should just leave it be and see what it does.Anybody free float theirs?

[243tom]

I asked the same question about my Remington(s) 700 a few weeks ago.......it's down the page a bit,, read what the fellows with more experience(s) have to say.  So far I'm leaving mine as the factory made it. Working up different 165gr loads for my 06 and hoping for the best.

[island66]

Shoot it first.  If it doesn't shoot like you think it should, call Remington to see what they can do for you.  If you don't get satisfaction that way, have a good gunsmith float the barrel and bed the action.  Once the stock has been modified, it's yours and Remington won't help with any accuracy issues under warranty. 

Jason

[BrianU]

I have a Model 700 Mountain Rifle in 7mm-08 that I purchased the first year they made that rifle in a short action, I believe 1988.  I had a local smith glass the action not long after I bought it and he asked me if I wanted him to float the barrel, adding that if I did not like the way it shot, he would replace the pressure point.  With it floated, that skinny barrel will put 140g Nosler BTs literally into one ragged hole at 100 yards and even 140g Partitions into a nickel all day.  As hard as it is to believe, there was a down side.  That slim stock, for a better word, is flimsy.  Pull the stock from your action and holding it by the pistol grip, notice how easliy the fore end can be moved.  I found that I had to be very careful about how I put pressure on the fore end of the stock.  On the bench, this was not much of a problem, but in the field was another story.  Lean on or against something for support, prone position, basically any way that caused me to firmly grip the fore end and it would cause the stock to twist enough to contact the barrel and change the impact point.  I eventually fixed my problem by going to one of the composite kevlar/fiberglass stocks from Remington's cusom shop.

Brian   

[TXSPIKE]

Update.Well I decided to free float the barrel and bed the action.I topped her with a Bushnell Elite 3200 3x9x50,loaded up some 130gr Hornaday SP Interlocks with 55grs. of IMR-4350,she shot great with groups of 3/4" or less at a 100yds.Not too bad for a lightweight barrel and first time out.

[Skunk]

Update.Well I decided to free float the barrel and bed the action.I topped her with a Bushnell Elite 3200 3x9x50,loaded up some 130gr Hornaday SP Interlocks with 55grs. of IMR-4350,she shot great with groups of 3/4" or less at a 100yds.Not too bad for a lightweight barrel and first time out.

Spike,

I'm happy to hear it is shooting well, and I'm sure that if you did a good job bedding the action and free floating the barrel, that you did the accuracy no harm. But, since you didn't shoot it first, how do you know for sure that the rifle would not have shot that well before you put all the work into it? I'm just saying that I'd have liked to of had something to compare my work with - something to see if I got any fruit for my labor.

[chucky52]

I must be lucky, my 7-08 came from the box and shoots factory ammo into one hole at 100 yards. No sense in screwing up success.

[ricktile66]

My Remington 700 BDL's all have the pressure point.  My 300 winchester has a pressre point that is uneven.  It shoots under 1" 200 yard groups.  They all shoot so well I am afraid to change anything.

[sniperVLS]

My Remington 700 BDL's all have the pressure point.  My 300 winchester has a pressre point that is uneven.  It shoots under 1" 200 yard groups.  They all shoot so well I am afraid to change anything.

1" @ 200 yards?? Don't ever fiddle with them or we will have to sit you down and have an intervention 

[ricktile66]

Not to worry.  I usually freefloat everything and hate the idea of a pressure point on a wood stocked rifle.  I killed a lot of deer and antelope with that 300 when I lived out west and wouldn't change anything about that rifle.

[supertodd]

My 264 if you pushed on the barrel it would stick to one side of the stock because of the front part of the stock, took it to a well known gunsmith and he felt the barrel movement and told me just sand the rise down a little, boy  what an improvement that made. barrel rides nice and even in the stock and shoots way better.

[Val]

I've got a Mountain Rifle in 280. Does anyone have a good recipe using 130 grain pellets? The only bullets in 130 grains that I've found in 7mm is the Hornady SPs. I would like to save some time and money by getting someones succrssful recipe for 130 Hornady SPs. Thanks.