I have a Remington 700 BDL 22-250 varmint special bull barrel made in 89 and the barrel around 2 or 3 shots it starts getting pretty warm and when I took the stock off I see where the barrel is touching in alot of places if not all of it even the black top on the end of stock, this gun has never been fired until about 3 weeks about so I am wondering where it set in the man's gun safe for all those years if it swelled the wood stock. Thanks in advance for any help
Free float barrel or not, need advice please
- Thread starter Coondog
- Start date
Ledd Slinger
Silver $$ Contributor
Depends. How accurate is it? Is it throwing fliers after 3 rounds or will it hold 5 shots in a tight group? I float all of my barrels and I feel it is the best practice, but it doesn't necessarily always help. Floating will help keep your barrel a little cooler, but not a lot. There's warm and then there's hot. Warm is fine, you can't avoid that and generally barrels shoot more consistently once they are warmed up. If a barrel is getting 'hot' to the touch, that's when you need to stop and let it cool or risk prematurely wearing down the lands and having excessive copper fouling.
BoydAllen
Gold $$ Contributor
Do not float the barrel without bedding the action. The reason that Remington built the rifle so that the barrel contacts the stock is because a proper action bedding job was not in the budget at that price point. If you want to get the most out of that rifle, float the barrel and bed the action, preferably with pillars. I have seen fellows float barrels without bedding the action and because the factory action to stock fit was so poor, the rifle shot worse.
It's shooting decent groups but it throws fliers, the stock kinda looks swelled a little in the barrel channel to me, I was just wanting to make it shoot better and figured with a gun like this it would free floated but I don't want to float it and mess it up
Ledd Slinger
Silver $$ Contributor
The other nice thing about free floating a barrel is that it helps keep a more 'consistent' temperature around the circumference of the barrel. I generally free float with about an 1/8" gap around the entire barrel down the forearm to allow plenty of airflow. If the barrel is touching the stock, you will develop hot spots in those areas when shooting long strings of fire and that can mess up your accuracy.
Free floating also helps maintain more consistent harmonics on the barrel as the bullet travels down the bore. If vibrations and harmonics are more consistent, it's usually easier to develop accurate loads and fine tune them.
Free floating also helps maintain more consistent harmonics on the barrel as the bullet travels down the bore. If vibrations and harmonics are more consistent, it's usually easier to develop accurate loads and fine tune them.
SSL
Gold $$ Contributor
If seeing pressure or "scuff" marks in the barrel channel, I would definitely consider floating. As BoydAllen mentioned, plan to properly bed the receiver and use pillars at the same time. Though some rifles shoot fine with varying degrees of pressure, that pressure can change when the forend is rested on a variety of surfaces. That is a guarantee for stringing shots. I also agree that you want a fairly generous clearance in the barrel channel to make sure any forend flex doesn't contact the barrel. Much is made over fine fitting of barrel channels so the gap is nearly nonexistent, but that only really works on rifles meant to be shot only a couple of times with plenty of time for cooling before shooting again, such as big game rifles.
Everyone has given you good advice. Decide what will benefit you the most and dig in! That's the fun of our hobby. Good luck and stay safe.
Everyone has given you good advice. Decide what will benefit you the most and dig in! That's the fun of our hobby. Good luck and stay safe.
Wood normally shrink with age . So I doubt it . If a gun safe had moisture in it you wold have rust on the guns .
I would have it beaded with pillars and the barrel floating . Larry
If the forearm has a pressure point, free floating will require a lot of wood removal.
CaptainMal
Silver $$ Contributor
Glass bedded, using the old Acraglass, many like that. Bed and cut out the barrel channel so nothing touches.
It's not big deal and should be a "must" for anything in a stock, especially wood stocks.
It's not big deal and should be a "must" for anything in a stock, especially wood stocks.
Watch that heat...while a hot barrel does copper foul and wear more, the real problem is scorching that throat. This is where the hot gasses meet the bore and this is also where it is the hottest and so the most damage is done. The 22-250 is a known, confirmed barrel {throat} burner and you have to shoot it carefully. One hot day at the range shooting one after another will cook that barrel, it's that easy.
The 700 BDL's had a pressure point at the forend of the stock. I would float the barrel, and at least glass bed the receiver as others have suggested. Let me say it another way...every accurate rifle around wasn't glass bedded and free floated because it looks good.
I also agree that with this rifle you should take out enough wood around the barrel to enhance it's ability to cool as much as possible.
The 700 BDL's had a pressure point at the forend of the stock. I would float the barrel, and at least glass bed the receiver as others have suggested. Let me say it another way...every accurate rifle around wasn't glass bedded and free floated because it looks good.
I also agree that with this rifle you should take out enough wood around the barrel to enhance it's ability to cool as much as possible.
It's not hard, but you have to be careful not to glue the action into the stock. Use plenty of release agent on the metal. It is best to strip the action and fill in all the voids with modeling clay. As to the pillars...they are necessary if you plan on taking the action in and out of the stock repeatedly. They prevent the wood from getting crushed and loosening the action. By and of itself, the addition of pillars does not enhance accuracy.
i don't know exactly when someone decided to "pillar" bed the first stock...but you can believe since it went from tightening the action with shims to actually using some type of glue, there are a lot more out there that have been done without it. I am not saying don't do it, it's not hard either, just an extra step and an extra day. To me, in a rifle you are hunting or otherwise having fun with the addition of pillars is most valuable when you try to sell it. Like rails all over the place on an AR...they gotta have it.
Don't get me wrong, it has it's place. If I had a really nice exhibition grade Circassian walnut stock or an otherwise softer wood stock it's a good idea to help the bedding job last as long as possible. But in a 700 BDL with hard black walnut you wont be taking apart on a regular basis...not me.
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Boyd L.
Witty comment under development
Going back through your posts in this thread it appears that you don't know with certainty that you are getting contact between the barrel and stock. If you haven't established this yet you would eliminate a bit of conjecture by doing the dollar bill test.
It sounds as if you'd benefit from bedding regardless of the barrel/channel contact.
It sounds as if you'd benefit from bedding regardless of the barrel/channel contact.
Old school way for checking barrel to wood contact. Remove action and barrel from stock. Light a candle hold the barrel channel over the candle a little bit so the soot from the candle coats the barrel channel. Install the barrel action CAREFULLY into the stock and tighten screws. Fire the rifle a couple times, and carefully remove action. Inspect barrel channel and see where the barrel makes contact. Or use the above dollar bill method and just free float it all the way. Good luck, Barlow
LarryDScott
Site $$ Sponsor
Simple float test:
Use plastic material, about credit
card thickness. It must be flexible
enough to form to the curvature
of the barrel channel, Put one piece
where the front stock bolt comes through.
It needs to come to the top of the stock
forming a U shape in this area, same as
bedding would do.
Next cut a small tab, and place it where
the rear tang bolt comes through.
This should completely float the barrel,
if the stock is straight.
If this shows group size improvement,
the rifle needs bedding. LDS
Use plastic material, about credit
card thickness. It must be flexible
enough to form to the curvature
of the barrel channel, Put one piece
where the front stock bolt comes through.
It needs to come to the top of the stock
forming a U shape in this area, same as
bedding would do.
Next cut a small tab, and place it where
the rear tang bolt comes through.
This should completely float the barrel,
if the stock is straight.
If this shows group size improvement,
the rifle needs bedding. LDS
Last edited:
jds holler
Gold $$ Contributor
I never start "hogging" into the barrel channel until I determine if the action bed could use a little shimming or relieving first. A smidge of movement at the front of the action equates to a lot of change a foot or two forward. jd
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