Has anyone fired one of these in recent production years? I am wondering how good the accuracy and triggers are on these today.

Seems to me the first time I saw them, they weren't fluted.

Best friend has the laminated model in 243...great shooting rifle and very accurate. He doesn't shoot it much though and hasn't really gotten that much into handloading for it but it has plenty of varmint accuracy with factory ammo and the few handloads he has tried in it.

I do not own the fluted model. I do own two Remongton Model-700 VLS (varmit laminated stock) chambered in 22-250. There accuracy is great with factory ammo & my handloads. Both triggers were too heavy IMHO, but I corrected that.

Biscuit I am sorry I didn't see the fluted part. My buddy has the nonfluted one .

My dad has the "non-fluted" version of the Remington 700 VLS in 22-250 and .223. Both are tack drivers with factory loads. Both had hard triggers on them, but you can fix that.

Very accurate guns. His guns shoot so well that we didn't even need to work up a load for either of them, which is a good thing because he's too lazy for that stuff anyways

I can't see why the fluited barrel vs. heavy barrel would affect accuracy in these guns. I could be wrong tho.

I am niether an engineer or a gunsmith, but a gunsmith that did good barrel and trigger work for me told me many years ago that a rifle barrel acted like a tuning fork once fired. The thicker the barrel, the less it would oscilate, thus increasing accuracy. There is a fair amount of steel missing on the fluted barrels. I can see where it would help with heat dissipation, but I wonder about accuracy. The same gunsmith told me that if I really wanted a tack driver, go to a heavy weight, 20" barrel, and single shot bolt action for maximum lock up behind the cartridge. I could see where if any of those ribs are cut unbalanced, it could pull a hot barrel off your zero.

I see that Remington will be putting out a desert stock varmint 700 in 308 next year. Hmmm. For a midwest cornfed Norway descendent, I have ended up in the desert alot.

Which is where I cooked up my chili recipe.....