Talking about the barrel on this one. Some say that bed the barrel and others say free float the barrel. What is it. My Rem 700 in 243 need one or the other. Mine is holding pretty hard on the bottom of the barrel and I can move the stock back and forth against the barrel. When this happens I am not sure if it is returning to the same point. I was going to take the stock off and sand it down a little to float the barrel but I wasn't sure if that was the best. My groups seem to be fine for now but I am afraid that certain weather conditions my mess me up. I live in central Illinois and this rifle is with me 24-7 all winter. I have missed some easy shots for unknown reasons in the past in nasty weather. I am just trying to take any precaution I can.

I'm no gunsmith, but I would Bed from just infront of the recoil lug back and free-float the barrel.

I have also heard both sides. Somewhere I read that you should bed sporter barrels and free-float heavy barrels. Again I am neither a gunsmith nor an F-class shooter.

If your groups are fine now---Leave it be.

MThuntr echos what I've run across as well. Thinner barrels often benefit by bedding and pressure points, whereas heavy bull barrels often can be free floated----You didn't say which type your rifle has====but don't change it if your shooting good groups now.

Its just a stock barrel. No Bull

My son has a Remington .243 Win that didn't shoot to expectations. I free floated the barrel. Results were better but it really settled in when I bedded a small wood pad in agraglass approx. 3/4" back from the forend tip. This was a thin shave of wood about the thickness of cereal box cardboard, maybe a bit less. After that, it was a very consistent shooter.

Just my way of doing things; float the barrel and that way you can instantly tell if it has changed by simply running a bill down between the barrel and stock.

Almost always the barrel will shoot better if it's floating.

Pillar-bed the action (aluminum pillars), glass it in out to about 3-4 inches, and float the rest of the barrel.

Shael.

You can probably put a shim under the action, at the front action bolt, that will raise the barrel enough to "float" and see if there is an improvement. If there is, float the barrel. If it doesn't take the shim out.

I would glass bed the lug, or perhaps the entire action to 1" in front of the lug irrespective of results. I have never had this be a detriment to accuracy, but normally see improvement.