I have a Rem. 700 ADL, syn. stock, in 7mm-08. Shooting with a cold barrel, waiting between shots all is well, but shoot three in a row (no waiting between shots), they walk down. This barrel gets HOT after three shots, more than my other barrels. I opened up the channel, but left the factory pressure point that they put toward the tip of the stock.

Question is:
If I remove this pressure point, free float the entire barrel, would this help, to be able to shoot three in a row and stop the moving down?
I also suspect the two piece base I have could be causing some of this, I usally go with a one piece base, but am trying this one now.

Any suggestions welcomed!
Bulldog...

My first guess is you have some stress in the barrel. The pressure point makes it worse. Take it out, if it gets worse it is easy to put back in. HTH, Dutch.

Hello Bulldog, my wife's elk rifle is a Remimgton Model 7 in 7-08. Her "practice" rifle is a Model 7 in .223. Both are stainless and synthetic. When we bought them and before a shot was fired I free floated both barrels. I do this because my personal opinion is that a barrel should be freefloated. This is just my highly prejudiced opinion. But also, both synthetic stocks were "bent" just a bit to one side at the front, which caused a larger gap on one side of the barrel than the other. It was apparent to me that there was a lot of side pressure on the barrels. So I took some 80 grit sandpaper and totally freefloated the barrels.

Now even though you have an ADL I believe some of what I am typing can be useful to you because of your synthetic stock. I am not a big fan of these Remington synthetic stocks because I see a lot of them "bent" to one side or the other. I checked out some others in the gun store just to be sure we didn't get defective stocks. I've concluded that the normal state of these synthetic stocks is BENT! This puts unwanted side pressure on the barrel. What do you think will happen to your shots as you hold your rifle tightly, slightly flexing the stock to varying degrees from shot to shot? I think that the POI will change from the increasing or decreasing side pressure on the barrel. I believe the same kind of effect occurs from barrel heating due to the "bent" synthetic stocks even if you don't induce stock flex from a tight hold.

My wife's 7-08 gets awfully hot after 3 shots, also. Hell, even her .223 gets awfully hot after 3 shots. Remember, hers are the skinny barrel Model 7. Now for us, freefloating the barrels on these flexible, bent stocks results in her rifles shooting two quick shots darn near always within 1 inch at 100 yards. She gets an awful lot of these 2 shot groups within 1/2 to 3/4 inch, enough of them to tell me that her two rifles are pretty darn good shooters for the first two shots. The third shot in a quick 3 shot string typically takes the group to 1 1/2 to 1 3/4". But we really don't care about anything after the first two shots. We also don't care about the groups when we shoot 1 shot, wait 1 minute, shoot 1 shot, etc. We hunt deer and elk, and that's not how we shoot our rifles at an animal. We get 1 shot at an animal from a cold barrel, rarely do we get a chance for 2 shots.

Now this may not be up to the accuracy standards of many people around here, but I gotta tell you that this kind of accuracy from skinny assed barrels are, in my opinion, plenty good for deer and elk hunting rifles shooting factory ammo. Also, in a hunting situation, it's those first two shots that you care about. Shots 3, 4, or 5 don't matter. At least not how my wife and I hunt.

I'm a believer in this... practice shooting your rifle the way you are going to shoot it. And check the accuracy of your rifle the way you are going to shoot it. In other words, if you are going to hunt with your rifle, who in the world cares about 5 shot group accuracy? Some hunters do care about 3 shot accuracy. I only care about two shot accuracy. If you have a target rifle or a varminter, sure you'll care about the accuracy of 5 or more shot groups. But yours is an ADL, and you need to be honest with yourself and determine what accuracy do you really need, and what can you realistically expect from an ADL. I would expect decent two shot groups, half decent 3 shot groups and lousy 5 shot groups. But, I've heard of people getting great accuracy out of ADL's only after they change the stock, trigger and handload their ammo. And even then, they have to contend with the effects of barrel heating walking shots. Not much you can do about barrel heating other than live with it and work around it.

Also, (sorry about being so long in my reply) a person I met a few years ago who is a lot more experienced than I am told me, and I quote, "Every rifle is an adventure unto itself". That has proven to be very profound in my experiences with rifles. Every rifle I've owned needed special tweaks, and I've had to learn what the rifle needed from me to shoot its best. If I free float the barrel, find a factory ammo it likes, handle it gently while shooting, and shoot an appropriate number of rounds at an appropriate rate of fire, my rifles give me good accuracy. Not exceptional accuracy, but good accuracy. If I wanted exceptional accuracy, I wouldn't buy a Model 7. You probably won't get exceptional accuracy out of an ADL unless you do a lot to it. But you can get decent accuracy with just a few tweaks and learning your rifle's special needs.

By the way, my Remington 700 VSSF in .223 also has a bent stock. Even though the barrel is free floated from the factory and the stock is a great stock with an aluminum bedding block in it, it was BENT fercrissakes right from the factory. I couldn't believe it. So I took my handy 80 grit sandpaper and made darn sure I had lots of clearance around the barrel. It is a great shooter. I like to shoot 5 5-shot groups with it and do the average thing. This rifle is suppposed to be shot this way. But my hunting rifles, and in my opinion, your stock ADL, should not be expected to perform well in this manner.

Sheesh, I'm exhausted. roy p.

Thanks guys for the replies.
I also opened up the channel, it was hitting on one side of the barrel. I guess that is a common thing with the Rem. Syn. stocks.
I just use this gun as my deer rifle, no target shooting with it. All I want is to be able to shoot three to see that everything is ok. No more, no less. Sometimes hunting I get that second shot, but I have to miss with the first... I have never owned a barrel that heats up so quick as this one does. Three shots and it is HOT! I will "remove" that pesky pressure point and free float the entire barrel.
Thanks again for the replies,
Bulldog...

Hello again, Bulldog. I just want to clarify that I actually do like the Remington synthetic stocks, but I just wish they were not bent. But this must be quite common, or maybe I should say it is not uncommon to have a bent synthetic stock. I also had a bent synthetic stock on a Ruger 22 Magnum bolt rifle, so it isn't just a Remington problem. I've learned to shoot my (my wife's, actually) rifles with a gentle grip so I don't flex the stock when I shoulder the thing. Her two rifles really do shoot great, but it took me a while to learn to be gentle with them and not put a death grip on them.

As far as barrel heating goes, I agree with you about how hot the barrel seems to get. I have a Sako 30-06 and I think the barrel gets awfully hot after three shots. Maybe hot for me is different than other people's hot. But my wife's 7-08 gets hotter than my 30-06 due to the skinny barrel.

By the way, the stock on my Sako is perfectly straight. The barrel is centered in the channel. I don't know if it is the design of the stock or the material they use or just better quality control. But I still took the ol' 80 grit to it to get more clearance even though the barrel is free floated from the factory. I just like more clearance than what the factory gives me.
roy p.

Roy P,
Not sure what's the deal with Rem. stocks. I was in the gunshop today and looked at a 308 SS with a HSP stock, noticed right off the barrel leaned to one side of the channel???
On this ADL I gots, I may just turn this one into a custom...new barrel & all...
Thanks for the input,
Bulldog...

As some type of side note, if you keep the gun and only want to spend a few bucks, I've heard that puting some Acurglas or other in the bottom hollow of the stocks will "stiffen" them up. I had a few Savage "tupperware" rubbery stocky that if I didn't replace would have gotten this treatment. Just an idea for less than $20.

Good suggestion from Jesse James. I've done that with Savage stocks as well.

If the stock is pillar bedded, check to see if polymer stock material is "flooding" over the tops of the pillars. If it is, it will cant the receiver in the stock, and therefore cause the barrel to favor one side or the other in the forearm.

I took a 1" to 1 1/4" diameter wooden dowel, and wrapped 80 grit sanpaper around it. I placed this dowel (about eight or ten inches long) into the receiver channel of the stock. By working the dowel to and fro, I was able to relieve the excess stock material that was keeping the receiver from making full contact with both pillars. You should see score marks on the tops of both pillars when you're finished. If there is stock material (polymer) built up on one side or the other, the barrel will run down the forearm in the opposite direction.

As far as heating, I think that's just the nature of the beast. You've got a light barrel, shooting a fairly potent load. In the cooler months of fall and winter, the barrel won't heat nearly as quickly, and 3rd shot POI will be closer to the first and second.

Best of luck,

Dan Newberry
green 788