Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats McMillan barrel channel too tight

Hey guys,
Got a McMillan stock, the barrel channel is too small for the barrel, snug against the barrel near the end. Was wondering if these stocks are hollow, or are they solid near the end? Can open this channel up a little without destroying it?

Hawk:

You can open it up safely.

rb

If you've never done it before, take a piece of sandpaper and wrap it around the appropriately sized deep socket. Best way I've found to open a barrel channel up.

Just make sure you're aware that you must take extreme care to avoid the tendency of that method to take more material off one side than the other.. You really must pay attention to keeping the channel walls evenly spaced.

I've preferred using the various scraping tools available for barrel channel modification; mainly because you can take even strokes from both sides of the stock and more easily keep the walls exactly the same thickness..

Whichever you use, go slowly and measure often.. Best to you.

Agreed. Lots of lipstick on the barrel to check for contact and constantly checking while sanding is key.

I spent a good while today opening up a barrel channel. The sandpaper & deep-socket combo is how I do it. It probably takes me longer than necessary because I'm constantly checking clearance and uniformity. The end result is usually neat.