new stock for classic 700

[suburbanman]

my father has passed on to me a Remington 700 .25 06 24" barrel with a beautiful walnut stock with fleur de lis checkering. (Vintage?? I should include some pics) It was never really his gun in that he used it; he just got a good deal on it, then gave it to me. I've only had the chance to shoot it at 50 yards and of course its accurate enough to hunt with.
But if I am to make this my primary hunting rilfe, well my first thought is that it's a little too pretty. The stock is like new and I don't want to be the one to give it its first ding and dent. A friend suggested I get a synthetic stock and put away the wood stock. So finally, here is my question:
Has anyone had a bad experience with changing out stocks on 700s? Are the barrels of older 700s locked into the older wood stocks in such a way that you can't duplicate this with a synthetic stock. I've read some mention of "pressure points" and I know a floated barrel can (but may not always) improve accuracy.
(another option would be to take the cost of a good synthetic stock, add to that the money from selling this gun, and just buy something new...)

 

[Clemson]

For the money, you can get a better hunting stock in a laminate than in a synthetic. Sporter Express (www.sporterexpress.com) sells a "pepper" laminate Boyds stock for the 700 BDL for $150. Some Acraglas gel to bed it into that laminate stock, and you will have a very stable "shooter" that will be every bit as accurate, and probably much more so, as the factory original stock.

Clemson

 

[jglenn]

The Boyds are very nice.


You can find the stock Remington plastic stocks all day on ebay for both the ADL(very common) and the bdl. most are black and less than $100


1st synthetic to look at above that would be the Bell & Carlson for around $120 up.


easy to paint in any camo combination you can think of.



no big deal on re-bedding the action. You can get a kit from Midway complete with instructions to bed the action. try free floating the barrel first..

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=790049&t=11082005


Acraglass Gel from Brownells is also a great kit



pull out you wallet and take you pick

 

[jglenn]

actaully if you are interested in a stock black Rem ADL plastic I have one for a long action taken off a 06 we're customizing.

I have the trigger guard to go along if you like

$30

 

[suburbanman]

Let me ask a related question: when I do get the chance to set up and shoot at 100 yards, if I don't like the shot group, is there any guarantee that a new stock, floated barrel, and glass bedding will help?

 

[jglenn]

no guarantee but let me put it to you this way..Every rifle I own has been bedded and the barrel floated.

 

[suburbanman]

Thanks. I may have some questions for you later once I decide where to go with this gun. I know modifying 700's can be a world unto itself, and if I do go down that road I want to be sure I'm doing it right.

 

[wvduece]

i baught a new 700 classic in a 223 cal.in 2000 that was the caliber that year that remington made it shot unbeliveable great right out of the box my brother shoots competion n he said he couldnt belive how good it shot right out of the box so he got the bright idea he would take it to his gunsmith n have it worked glass beeded n free floated n i dont know what else they did all that n the gun wouldnt shoot as good as it was before all the work the gunsmith tinkered n did all kinds of things to get it to shoot nothing worked so they had to put it back to factory specks im shure this is unusual i know the gunsmith does goodwork as he has did other guns for me with great results anyone else seen this before jb

 

[Hammack]

There are never any guarantees when it comes to a rifle. Some shoot better floated others shoot better with a pressure point. The only way to tell is to spend range time. Bedding will almost always help, but keep in mind that some of the plastic synthetic stocks like the remington factory stock are tough to bed because most bedding material has a hard time sticking to the plastic the stock is made from. Bell and Carson makes a nice synthetic, and I personally am a fan of the Hogue overmolded stocks.

As far as making a rifle shoot worse by working on it I personally have never seen it with a factory gun. I have seen some that didn't like a completely floated barrel. Especially light sporter contour barrels, but I have never seen a factory gun that didn't improve with a proper bedding job. Good luck, and let us know what you decide.

 

[germag]

I'm sure it's probably happened before, but I've never seen a 700 that didn't have a noticeable improvement in accuracy with free-floating the barrel. I would say that glass bedding will always be an improvement on just about any factory rifle, and pillar bedding is even better. Pillar bedding is a little more complicated than just bedding the action with Acraglas, but Charley Robertson (Score High Guns) makes a pillar bedding kit specifically for Remington 700s that makes the job simple.

 

[Chute270]

Hogue

Just another quick plug for the Hogue overmolded stock. I recently put one on a Weatherby Vanguard and that thing shoots like a dream. They are very reasonably priced and come either pillar bedded, or you can order one with a full length aluminum bedding block. Mine is the pillar bedded model, and the action dropped right in. It sticks to your hands better than any stock I've ever owned, and the fit for me is right on.

 

[suburbanman]

All good suggestions. Since I first posted this question I really haven't had a chance to shoot it, and if I find that it shoots well the way it is, I'll leave it and just be very careful with it. If I want something better than minute-of-whitetail or minute-of-yote, then I'll be sending some of you a pm about which slippery slope to customizing to throw my money

 

[lonewolf5347]

Remington stocks

http://www.boydsgunstocks.com/JRS-REMINGTON-700-p/rem-700-bdl-sa-jrs-w-f-2nd.htm
you may want to check out Boyd's closeout specials

 

[kry226]

Just another quick plug for the Hogue overmolded stock. I recently put one on a Weatherby Vanguard and that thing shoots like a dream. They are very reasonably priced and come either pillar bedded, or you can order one with a full length aluminum bedding block. Mine is the pillar bedded model, and the action dropped right in. It sticks to your hands better than any stock I've ever owned, and the fit for me is right on.

+1

Both of my 700s (.243 and .308) wear Hogue rubber stocks. Both sub-MOA.

 

[suburbanman]

+1

Both of my 700s (.243 and .308) wear Hogue rubber stocks. Both sub-MOA.

I was looking at the Hogue stocks in the Calbelas catalog. Is the barrel floated when you have a pillar or aluminum bedded stock? Does it need to be?

 

[Hammack]

I believe that the hogue stocks will float the barrel regardless of whether it is pillar or full bedded.

 

[kry226]

My .243 wears the stock Remington sporter barrel that is floated in the stock and prints 3/4" with Hornady Custom 100 gr. ammo. My .308 wears a Hart heavy barrel and it rests on a pressure point at the very forend of the stock, simply due to the barrel size versus the stock channel size. This rifle will do 1/4" groups with factory Hornady Custom 150 gr. ammo.

The takeaway is that some rifles need fully floated, some rifles need that pressure point. The trick is to find out which your rifle needs.

 

[suburbanman]

thanks

 

[Darkhorse]

I think you should reconsider changing out that stock. What good is a pretty stock doing you hiding in the closet? I have a BDL Rem. that I hadn't hunted with in over a decade because I'd been using a synthetic stocked rifle. A couple of years ago I pulled it out and started hunting with it again. It was just really nice to hunt again with a classic pretty wood stock rifle.
If you restock the rifle it won't be your Fathers anymore. It will be yours and all the warmth and memories that comes with wood and the little handling marks using it accumulates will be gone.
Now that I am older and wiser my advice is: Float that barrel and reseal the wood.
If you need an all weather gun then buy one whenever you can. Good ones are reasonable in todays market. Not much more than you will pay for the synthetic stock.
And thats a good reason to buy a new gun.