Free Float my 700 SPS

[bryanrheem]

I have a stock Remmington 700 SPS. It's just a target gun right now but I would eventually like to take it hunting.

Being the basic 700 SPS (in.308), it didn't come with a heavy free floating barrel. While I don't think I want a heavier barrel, I do wonder if it's worth to free float the barrel. As I understand it, free floating the barrel will help with accuracy as the barrel heats and expands, preventing any shift due to the current contact point (where the sling mount is on the stock).

To be honest, I don't even know if I would be shooting this barrel long enough to really affect the heat? Obviously this would only be a factor during target shooting and not hunting. Are there any other benefits to free floating a barrel?

Thanks!

[jrswanson1]

Have you tested it to see if it's free floating or not? The SPS comes with a synthetic stock, unless you are shooting a long course of fire for tiny groups it won't really matter.

[bryanrheem]

It's not free floating. That's what I figured in that it wouldn't' really make a difference for what I want it for. I wonder though how rigorously the rifle needs to be fired for the barrel to heat up to where it does make a difference.

Thanks for the feedback.

[jrswanson1]

If you can't touch the barrel because it's too hot, you may notice some movement in your groups. For my 700 CDL with the skinny blued barrel, it takes about five rounds before I have to leave the bolt open and let it cool off.

[brianj]

I like free floating barrels even if the gun doesn't get shot a lot. Whether its true or not, I believe in the idea that a free floating barrel will vibrate or move the same every time its fired, where a barrel that's touching some part of the stock may bounce off of the point of contact.
I have two very different rifles that have been free floated. One, a Marlin 22mag in a synthetic stock that I shoot a lot when I take it out. I opened up the stock while I had it apart changing the trigger spring and cut 100 yd groups from 3" down to about half that. Was it the stock or the trigger?, I don't know. The other is my deer rifle, a 7mm magnum in a wooden stock. It only fired two rounds this year, hardly enough to warm up the barrel. Both of those shots were very quick clean 1 shot kills. It's easy enough to do, and it was worth it to me, and something I'll probably to to any bolt gun I own in the future.

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[Chingon]

The reason for a bull barrel has nothing to do with heat. In fact, most barrels shoot better when they are hot, albiet it will take a few more rounds to heat up. The reason has everything to do with the vibration of the barrel as the shot is taken. As you fire a round through a regular barrel, the barrel vibrates in a circle pattern, kind of like hitting rebar on a concrete floor and watching it shake everywhere. With a bull barrel, the vibration is reduced seignificantly, allowing for tighter groups. Depending on the rifle, the variation in vibration could be up to an inch at 100 yards. Factor in your shooting ability (or lack there of), and you could have a spread of up to 3 inches because the round will leave the barrel at different angles of where the barrel is vibrating.

http://www.varmintal.com/amode.htm

[bryanrheem]

Thanks for all of the responses! I saw an episode recently about how you have to cold sight and warm sight your rifle as well!

Looks like I will be looking to either free float my 700 or buy an upgrade soon!

[Taggure]

When I got my Remington SPS AAC-SD I was looking for information about it and found this forum with a lot of info on the 700's, and you might want to check it out

http://www.700rifle.com/forums/

they are a pretty helpful bunch of folks there

[Chingon]

Thanks for all of the responses! I saw an episode recently about how you have to cold sight and warm sight your rifle as well!

Looks like I will be looking to either free float my 700 or buy an upgrade soon!

A really quick and easy way to tell if your barrel is free floated is to take a dollar bill and slide it between the barrel and stock. If the dollar bill goes all the way back to the action with no major problems then your barrel is free floated.