Free float barrel
 

I have a Remington 700 and the barrel is free floated except for about 1 inch at the fore stock. What are the pro's and con's of sanding away the pressure pt at the front or leaving it stock. Will free floating it hurt the groups which are good now?

RE: Free float barrel
 

I have two Remington 700s and I free floated both as soon as I got them. Pressure points will keep a barrel from getting it's best harmonics as it will be held at that one point every shot. Some may say leave it as is, but I free float every barrel a ssoon as I get it. If for sme reason it doesn't shoot as well with the barrrel floated (never came upon that yet) you can always glue in a piece of woodor plastic to return the pressure point. I have heard of a few rifles shooting better with the points but my experience has been to float the barrel. In fact a custom rifle maker told me to cut away enough to put a thick playing card under it. I always use a doller bill but he told me to go even more. The two 700s I have , a 30/06 and a 22/250 both had pressure points right at the end of the barrel. I had to cut down a lot more on the 30/06 because they both have the same stock. Since I reload and shoot a bunch the free floating is justa common part of what I do. Also bringing the trigger pull down to 2.5 -4.0 LBS really helps the 700. I like to adjust mine down to 4.0 LBS. the 22/250 with the old 1-14 twist wasn't supposed to stablize a 70 grain bullet but with the lighter trigger pull and the floated barrel it shoot about .500 groups at 100 yards. Much better with the 60 grain. Try it you will likeit!

RE: Free float barrel
 

YOU WILL NEED TO SAND.

Whether you free float or not you will need to sand, the presure point is uneven and will push to one side more and more with each shot. You will need to sand to adjust this problem to a minium. If you free float do yourself a favor and glass bed the rifle. You may or may not betighter grouping bullets by glass beding and free floating, but it will be more constant.

RE: Free float barrel
 

A lot of guns will shoot tighter groups with a fore-end pressure. Problem is that the group may not hit the same spot from day-to-day and week-to-week; due to the effect of temperature and humidity on the amount of pressure the stock exerts on the barrel at that point. The other issue is that a gun with fore-end pressure will usually shoot lower off of sand bags than it does from a Harris Bipod or a fence post. So you aren't really sure, in a specific situation, just where your gun is going to shoot.

First choice is a free floated barrel. If it is one of those black plastic stocked Remingtons, take out quite a bit of material - a gap the thickness of credit card would be about right.

RE: Free float barrel
 

I own a ton of 700's! Remington's have a "crown" about 1" from the tip of the forearm,don't touch it...:eek:

RE: Free float barrel
 

All of my guns have free floated barrels and shoot very accurately.However the biggest advantage of free floating is that the point of impact seems more consistant when the gun is fired in different tempertures or off of different rests or bipods.

RE: Free float barrel
 

PAjack if yours shoot the groups you want with out bothering them, then I would be the first to say leave them as is. I was shooting1.5 groups before floating and now .500. Also if you are going to glass bead the rifle you will have to get rid of thefactory plastic stock as the bedding will not stick to it as it should. This calls for a new $250.00 stock. So if the rifle shoot good groups leave it alone. But everyone I have I had to float it to get the group I wanted. To some people a 2.5"-3" is ok and others like around .500. Imhave some old (1960) 30/06s tha twill out shoot these new 700s because it has a real good walnut American made stock not some plastic junk.

RE: Free float barrel
 

a bell and carlson is only about 150 but it's still some

RE: Free float barrel
 

Actually you can glass bed a remington crappy plastic stock if you know how. You need to use a dremal tool to rough up the honey comb walls and other surfaces in the stock and enlarge the recoil lug area, drill hole's in the honey combs 1/8 diameter.The you need to clean the entire stock with 99% isopepal or asotone.

RE: Free float barrel
 

After having bedded more than one synthetic stock in the past with no problems, I wish to say that you need to roughen up the barrel channel and action area. Any areas that are to be corrected with bedding compound need to roughened and cleaned thoroughly with a grease removing solvent prior to using the compound. If you follow these steps, I feel you should do O.K. I USUALLY solid bed the rear of the recoil lug, while leaving a bit of clearance on the sides and bottom. Also, I solid bed about 1 1/2" of the barrel in front of the lug. The rest of the barrel is free-floated. Just my way of doing it, but it has always worked for me. Hope this helps-----

RE: Free float barrel
 

The best way to bed one of these plastic Remington stocks is to install aluminum pillars where the front/rear guard screws go. Although this is best done by a gunsmith, it isn't really all that difficult and could be done by a skilled hobbyist.

RE: Free float barrel
 

Just passing on what a custom rifle maker told me about bedding the factory stock. He builds all kinds of rifles including Marine sniper rifles and has retired Marine snipers try them out.
Kammerdeiner custom guns
1622 Carter ST
Vidalia, LA 71373
John Kammerdeiner Owner/Gun builder

RE: Free float barrel
 

It is just plain dumb to free-float a barrel before you find out how it shoots just as it comes out of the box! Some barrels definitely shoot better free-floated, and some don't-every one is different! You cannot know what you've got before you test it. For example, this is a typical group from my 6mm/.284 which has a Douglas Premium grade barrel in a Fajen Myrtlewood stock that has a pressure point "island" in the barrel channel up front. I don't know how it would shoot without the pressure point, but I don't plan on finding out, either!

RE: Free float barrel
 

I probably wouldn't "rock the boat" on that rifle either. But the main issue with having a hunting rifle that is not free floated is that it may shoot a really great group on any given day, but not shoot it in the same spot from day to day and week to week. Not only do wood stocks shrink and swell as humidity and temperatures change, but even sythentic stocks with fore end pressure tend to get stiffer or more flexible with temperature changes - and change the point of impact vertically as the "firmness" of the rest changes. A gun that shoots 2" high at 100 yards from sand bags may shoot 4" high from a Harris Bipod. Free floating helps create a rifle that you can depend on to stay zeroed, even if it doesn't shoot quite as tight of a group as it did with pressure bedding.

PS: Isn't the 6MM-284 an amazing caliber?

RE: Free float barrel
 

Well I free floated the barrel without bedding the stock. With factory ammo itshot about 1.5 inches at 100 yds. Loaded up 47gr of IMR 4350 chasing 140gr Sierra boattails. Went out today and put 5 within an inch and had 3 in that group touching. With the pressure points on the stock it did have a tendency to shoot high after the gun warmed up. I am very happy with the way the gun shoots now. Thanx for all the input.