Are the barrels on the Remington Model 7's supposed to be completely free-floated?

The reason I ask is, I have three of them (.223Rem, 7mm-08 & .308Win) and none of them will allow a piece of "very thin" paper to pass down through the barrel channel any further than the point where the front sling swivel stud attaches to the stock!

I was thinking of finding something to shim up the action to the point where the barrel "is" free-floated! What should a person use as shim material?

None of these rifles shoot extremely well, the .223, about 2 inches at 100yds and the 7mm-08, about 1 1/2 inches at 100yds! I just got the .308 (used) and it was a real bear to get it under 4 inches at 75yds!

Thanks for the help in advance;

Chuck-
Every 700 I have owned had a pressure pad right about where you are saying the paper quits sliding. I would imagine that it would be the same with a model 7. If you pull the action from the stock, you should be able to see a very obvious hump in the channel just above the swivel stud. Sand it down, shim the action just behind the recoil lug (I use a 1/2" square piece of cardboard from the acraglas box), bed it, and you should have some decent shooters.

Good luck- Gib

I was amazed to read a John Barsness piece in current Rifle magazine on Basic Rifle Bedding.

He recommends shimming the front of the receiver in order to float a barrel. Dismisses the effects of cocking the barreled action this way as inconsequential. Don't do it.

First relieve all four sides and the bottom of recoil lug cut. About 1/32 to 1/16" will do. Stay below stock-barreled action line.

Now relieve a similar amount just behind recoil lug. Again stop short of top of stock and a little short of magazine mortise. Make the same size relief in front of recoil lug under barrel.

Using a couple layers of masking tape cover sides, front, and bottom of recoil lug. Liberally apply release agent to masking tape and all metal you don't want epoxy.

Now you are ready for epoxy. As you can see we will end up with just the rear of recoil lug, pad behind the lug and pad under barrel. Front and sides of lug will not be touching bedding. Most importantly bottom of recoil lug will not be touching anything. Important because a bottomed out recoil lug is one of worse culprits regarding poor grouping on target.

Mix about 1 tablespoon of epoxy thickened with fibergalss flox or wood flower. Doesn't sound like much but best results and easiest cleanup is attained with two step bedding.

Apply epoxy to relieved areas - mostly in bottom most areas of our reliefs. Tighten front and read guard screws. Don't forget release agent on screws. I like to turn screws in and out during curing just to insure they don't become permanent.

Once cured remove action screws. Holding underside of rifle by forend with left hand with butt resting on a chair strike barrel just in frong of forend tip smartly with a rubber/leather mallet. Repeat if necessary to seperate stock from barreled action.

You may notice incomplete coverage of areas we relieved. Scrub well with acetone or such and reapply small amount of epoxy and rebed.

Once you are satisfied with bedding we can NOW address floating the barrel. Remove any factory barrel pad. Carefully rasp, sand or scrape barrel channel until floats from the small pad we made under chamber area.

Don't be tempted to wrap sand paper around a dowel, holding it on by hand, for sanding out channel. You'll end up with an unsightly gap along top edge. If you do not have tools Glue sandpaper to a dowel and use it. Seal sanded areas.

Wally

Be sure to float the barrel enough to pass more than a thin piece of paper. Stocks warp and barrels move when they get hot and you want enough clearance to avoid any possible contact between the two.

Good luck,

Malm

Almost all of the Rem 7s I have had in the shop have reacted postitively to just getting rid of the "hump" at the end of the fore-arm. I do this with a barrel rasp and sand paper.[Carefully]Just enough to let a dollar bill pass. If this isn`t good enough I bed as usual, all the action and about 2 1/2" of the barrel shank. Only other problem is that some of these barrels seem to be 1 moa barrels and will not shoot less no matter what you do. I had one in 223 that was that way. Tried every load, trick in the book and NOTHING!! Installed another 223 take-off and away he went with a 1/2-3/4" shooter. Go figure?
Aloha, Mark[in Or]

Thanks for the replies!

I took my 7mm-08 down to the basement and used my cordless drill with a long router blade and in about 3 or 4 minutes I had most of the "hump" removed! The barrel is now completely "free-floated", all the way to the front end of the receiver! I sealed the exposed wood with Formbys Tung Oil! This rifle now shoots sub-MOA!

Now I just have to get that .223 and .308 done!

Thanks again guys!

[ 11-07-2003, 17:46: Message edited by: Chuck White ]