Newman, is your 'smith local? I have wanted a laminated stock for my Rem, but no one that I know of makes one. I love the rifle but I hate the stock. Too hollow in the butt area, noisy if it rubs up against something (especially in the cold), and it feels too $#@&%# cold in my hands!

Aimat, I thought Rem made their own barrels. Where did you hear that Douglas made them?

My trigger is excellent-about 4.5 lbs with no creep or overtravel. But I bet a Shilen or Timney trigger would be sweet!

I hear good/bad things about the Rem 700 MLS. Hard to keep clean; a pain in the tukas to dismantle the bolt; not a great #209 conversion (I agree with that one); rifles are too heavy. But at this stage I would not sell it and buy a new BP rifle for anything. I have killed more whitetails with my Rem 700 MLS than with all my centerfires. I would be comfortable hunting anything in North America with it, with the exception of the great bears. And as long as I had a back-up with a .338 Win Mag I'd use it on a griz or brownie, too!

Brian