i have a remington 700 bdl in left hand (270 cal.) i've noticed the the stock seemed to have swelled (the bottom of the barrel touchs, not the sides) i use to be able to run a peice of paper under the barrel all the way to the mounting screw. now the paper sticks at the sling swivel stud location, but it's not the stud. i took it apart and nothing looks out of place, the finish was still intack. i ended up sanding down a small section of the stock to get the clearance again.
2 questions- what kind of finish should i put on the bare wood to reseal it? i don't know what remeington would have used. and i don't want to glass bed.
AND my rifles are kept in a dry location, any ideas why the stock may have changed? it was about a 1/2" area between the end cap and swilvel stug. again the finish was not cracked or missing in any spot. i have not got the rifle wet in years. would long term storage in a hard sided rifle case warp the stock? (butt plate down)

If you're just looking to seal the inside of the barrel channel, any clear polymer finish available from a paint store (Home Depot, Lowes, etc., if you have them in Canada) will work. You may want to thin it to a near water consistancy and apply numerous coats, sanding with well worn paper in between, to completely fill the pores of the wood.

smoke,

Master gave some good advice on the materials.

I had a .243 Win. short-action L/H Remington 700, sold it; was a Monday morning production run rifle for sure. Had quite a few issues with it including re-doing the entire barrel channel. I did exactly what Master recommends; used one of the Birchwood-Casey finishes thinned a bit with turpentine and gave it several coats, applying the next after the previous had dried with sanding with fine sandpaper between coats. Fixed it just fine.

I thought Rem 700 stocks were designed with a "pressure point" in the fore-end.

Glen,

They are - it's just a matter of how how much and where these pressure points occur in Remington's manufacturing process. Inconsistant has been my expereince. On the stock mentioned above there was a wooden "ridge" running all the way from under the chamber area to the beginning of the black plastic forearm tip. You could wiggle the barrel around inside the channel and find two or three positions where the barrel would rest until bumped/moved again. It ended up shooting better with all of these "inconsistancies" removed.

Agreed. The point I was making was that where it was touching the barrel is likely where the factory intended it to touch.

the finish was rough in the barrel channel, and a lump of finish was in the spot where it was touching . the wood never use to touch, i use to always be able to run a peice of paper up under the barrel. i'll refinish it and take it to the range to retest it. i use to get 1"/10shot groupings at 100 yds with my handloads.