Gunsmithing Free Floating an old Rem 700

[ShtrRdy]

I've got an old Remington 700 in 7mm magnum that was made in '65. I decided I would knock down the pressure point in the front of the ADL stock so that the barrel would float. The raised area on the inside of the forend was rather long covering about 4 or 5 inches. I sanded down this raised area to be in line with the other clearance on the inside of the forend. Even though I did this the tip of the forend still contacted the barrel. I think the area in the stock where the front of the receiver sits is too low. So I cut a piece of aluminum out of a pop can to cradle the front of the receiver in the stock. The aluminum shim covers about a inch, or a little more, of the outside of the receiver. This shim sits around the front receiver screw. Doing this allowed the barrel to be free of the forend.

Has anyone tried something like this? Can something like this work? Or do I need more firm contact between the receiver and stock?

 

[Dr. Vette]

Re: Free Floating an old Rem 700

I'd bed it properly as shown in the thread at the top of the page:

http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1167022#Post1167022

Also read this:

http://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/stress-free-pillar-bedding/

You might get an idea of where your issues are by doing what you're doing, but you surely won't see its potential. If you're really interested in the next level you can look at adding pillars to the stock but I suspect that some Devcon and patience will get you a long way.

 

[Tikkad]

Re: Free Floating an old Rem 700

not going to fix much but a quick trick is get the right sized dow rod and wrap it in some sandpaper. slide it back and forth u know the motion. very primitive and as stated bedding will be important. but if you just want to get it free floated this is fast easy and consistent. Go a little bit further than you think you need to. when you load the bipod last thing you want to do is reinstate those old pressure points to there old job.

 

[Tripwire]

Re: Free Floating an old Rem 700

Bed it for clearance, which will add thickness under the reciever in the area of the front stock screw. A simple way to get this is wrap enough 1" masking tape around the barrel at the location of the forend tip. Limit the amount of tape to exactly what free float you want to attain throughout the barrel channel, this will also aid greatly in centering the action/barrel while your bedding compound is curing. Pay attention to the lateral line that the action makes in relation to the stock, you do not want the action to be noticably tilted in the stock, you do want the action to follow the same parallel line as the top of the stock. You may want to address the rear tang as well with bedding, which I recommend. Do not bolt the action down when you do any of this as that will induce unwanted stress, just let it sit in the stock stress free, even through the bedding process. Once you get everything dry fitted and in proper relation/line/clearance, bed it following a good system of bedding regimen.

 

[ShtrRdy]

Re: Free Floating an old Rem 700

Thanks for the suggestions and links! The article on accurateshooter is one of the best I've read so far. This has given me a littl confidence that I might be able to do this bedding job.

One thing I don't understand the reason for - why do you place the stock over the action and let it cure upside down?

 

[jasonZ]

Re: Free Floating an old Rem 700

I believe its to keep the bedding running, if you use putty it really won't, towards to top to keep it from flowing out the bottom and to keep it "wrapped" around the action. I didn't do that with devcon putty and I really didn't have any trouble. Alittle ran down into the mag well, but it was simple to just grind it out with a dremel and go on. I could be wrong, but I really think if you follow the sticky at the top, you'll have fantastic success. I did my savage in the above method, with out pillars as it has an aluminum bedding block already, and it turned out very well. Just do your research and take your time. I kept the thread open and did it on the dining room table so I could quickly refer to the thread and make sure I wasn't missing a step. Easy fix, however I would also think you could sand the fore end and get it fixed up that way. If the shim fixed it, then I would suspect the pillar bedding would solve it and make it more accurate/consistent at the same time!

 

[Dr. Vette]

Re: Free Floating an old Rem 700

I don't do them upside down. Mine usually sit on a cheap rifle cleaning rest I own and it works out just fine.

 

[boudin]

Re: Free Floating an old Rem 700

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ShtrRdy</div><div class="ubbcode-body">One thing I don't understand the reason for - why do you place the stock over the action and let it cure upside down? </div></div>
Letting it cure upside down is just that fella's technique. Unless you have a barrel vise, it will probably be easier for you to do it right-side up in a cleaning vise or something similar. Bedding a rifle is a pretty easy job if you take your time and follow the ample advice which can be found here. After doing one, you'll want to bed every rifle you own.

 

[Tripwire]

Re: Free Floating an old Rem 700

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ShtrRdy</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
One thing I don't understand the reason for - why do you place the stock over the action and let it cure upside down? </div></div>

I've never done that, and seriously doubt I'll ever try.....

 

[ShtrRdy]

Re: Free Floating an old Rem 700

It sounds like the inverted curing is an individual choice. It might prevent some of the bedding material from slipping down into the magazine area or something.

 

[ShtrRdy]

Re: Free Floating an old Rem 700

I finally got brave and bedded my old Rem 700. Here's a picture of the results. I used the Score High pillars and bedding compound to do this. It worked great.

 

[Mike Casselton]

Re: Free Floating an old Rem 700

Very nice looking job.

You better seal the exposed wood in the barrel channel. If you don't have anything handy to do it, believe it or not Chapstick will seal it.

 

[ShtrRdy]

Re: Free Floating an old Rem 700

Thanks for the info. Before I put it all together I sealed it up with a stain/polyurathane finish I had laying around.