I've been shooting for 30 some years and have always understood that common knowlege in the shooting sports said that that rifles are more accurate (tighter groups) with free floating barrells.

However Remington does not free float the barrells on their production Model 700s. I would think that Remington has the ballistic engineers to really determine how to make their rifles more accurate out of the box and if a free floating barrell made the rifles more accurate (tighter groups) Remington would surely float the barrells.

Thoughts?

This is a pretty good question. Most rifles with thin sporter barrels, lacking pillar bedding or even glass bedding, will shoot their tightest groups with moderate fore-end pressure. What they will also often do is change point of impact as the temperature or humidity changes, though. So I generally recommend free floating a barrel - even if it opens up the group a little - and develop a load (if you handload) around the free floated barrel. Stocks with more support around the action (like H.S. Precision) will often shoot tighter groups as well with the barrel free floated.

The main thing to keep in mind, if you are considering removing some stock material for a free float, is to err on the generous side. It doesn't look as good to have a wider gap between the stock and the barrel; but if the stock warps a little on your hunting trip and is suddenly putting pressure on the barrel again - your shot is going to be off if the distance is very far. And when free floating the barrel, it is also a good time to consider glass bedding or pillar bedding the action.

I would also recommend free floating the barrel. On every bolt action rifle I've owned, those with walnut stocks that I've done this to, the accuracy has been much improved in most cases. Of course, I also had the actions bedded as well. This includes Winchesters, Remingtons, and Rugers. As noted, when free floating the barrel give it
enough space around the barrel to be sure the stock won't come in contact with the wood
again. You often see the example of a dollar bill slipped between the barrel and forend of the stock - I like to be able to take a matchbook cover, fold it over, and have enough
room for it to slide freely. Doing this, I've never had a problem.
One exception I have is my Rem.700 LSS Mtn. rifle as it has a laminated stock, and as is it shoots very well, and maintains its' zero from year to year.

Properly done, I have seen pressure bedded barrels shoot about anything well. NULA being one of them. Problem is I notice remingtons not doing it great most of the time.

While pressure points can provide great accuracy,I find that free floated barrels with properly bedded actions provide the most consistant point of impact in varying conditions.As such,all of my own rifles are pillar bedded with free floating barrels.

With a high quality, properly stress relieved barrel free floating is generally advantageous as it removes the stock as a variable from the accuracy equation. With somewhat lower quality, mass produced barrels (like Remingtons), putting a stock pressure point on the barrel helps ensure that even a not so good barrel shoots fairly well, accomplishing a certain median level of accuracy from all rifles produced. This prevents large variations in accuracy from one rifle to the next. The rifles blessed with better than average barrels might actually shoot worse than their potential with a pressure point and would benefit from being free-floated. If the rifle has a below average barrel, however, removing the pressure point might make it actually shoot worse.

In Remington's case, they are doing an end-run around barrel quality control while still producing decent shooting rifles at less cost. The manufacturers that free float their barrels at the factory do so to benefit accuracy and, I would argue, as an indication of their confidence in the quality of their barrels. This is something I think about a lot when I buy a rifle.

Mike

All mine are free floated and glass bedded, but having done the bedding on a number of friends rifles I've seen a couple that needed some pressure on barrel to shoot good.

I like to shoot my rifle both ways then chose the most accurate method .Most end up with free floated barrels, I did have a winchester that liked alittle tip pressure. A funny story about one of my hunting buddies ,he jammed a small stick in the tip of his rifle while hunting he decided to test fire his rifle and it was spraying rounds every where .He came to me to see what was wrong so after I found that I never told him any diffrent for along time. Just to show how much that can affect your rifle . Good luck

I've got a Rem 700 Mtn LSS.

Is there a real advantage to Pillar bedding in addition to glass bedding the action and free floating the barrel?


firstshot
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Make your first shot count!

I'm not sure I would pillar bed a laminated stock. They are usually very stable - just glas bed the action. The regular wood and soft sythetic stocks (like the older Remington) are the ones that usually benefit the most from the pillars.