Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 700 SPS free float or not

Have a SPS in 7mm08 with factory synthetic stock. I can't get a decent group out of it. Was going to float the barrel but have been told that the factory stocks get real flimsy and flex so it may not be worth it. I'd like to replace the stock but it probably won't happen right now.
Should I risk messing up the factory stock or leave it for now?

Mine all shoot better floated.

The factory stock while not a Micky isn't too bad. Just give it a generous float, not the "I can pass a dollar bill under the barrel" float and you'll be fine.


Put some business cards under the action to float it if you want to test before whittling the stock.

Give it serious float, or do the opposite and bed a couple inches of the tip in solid so that it has solid pressure on the barrel.

Did you bed the lug and action yet? If not, start there.

I have a couple of SPS synthetics and one shoots best with a free-float and the other shoots best with some tip pressure added.

Short answer - it depends. Try both ways.

drover

first inch or so of barrel near recoil lug is the way I roll most of the time

I haven't done a thing to it. I'm going to try the spacer test before I sand on the stock

How many rounds through the barrel? How many different loads did you try before saying it isn't shooting? Did you try different bullet weights? Check mounts, bases, screws ect. Clean barrel and shoot. Are you shooting it when hot/cold ect? Now go to bedding/free floating/trigger work ect.

Float it.

I wouldn't take it back to the range until it was floated.

No argument from me.

My SPS 30-06 was a 3-MOA gun until I cut it to 20", and generously floated it.

I tried everything before cutting it. Tip bed, full bed, free float, many different loads and oal's.

Now it is cut to 20", floated, in a McMillan stock. Shoots 1 moa with just about everything now.

There is no consistency to the groups at all. No stringing, no 2 in 1 out, just patterns.
I did get the gun used but I did not personally scrub the barrel so I will also do that tonight.�
I'm frustrated because I've never had this much problem getting a rifle to shoot. I even got my wife's Remington 770 243 to shoot 1 ragged hole with a 10 shot group and a 710 30.06 to shoot .5" groups with boring repeatability.

I've tried:
120gr Nosler Balistic tips
140gr Nosler Balistic tips
139gr Interbonds
139gr Interlocks
140gr Corelokts
140gr Accubonds
Varget
IMR4064
H4350
Tried all these with no luck. Various Coal, and charges. �

They have always shot better for me floated. Never seen one shoot worse..

Sounds like you have tried a lot to get this thing to shoot. If the crown is fine, I would scrub it and float it. Have you tried a different scope and bases?

Clean the barrel, float the barrel, check rings and bases put a different scope on. Load the 120 BT with 43-44 grains of RL 15 and some 140 BT or accubonds with 46-47 grains of win 760. If it won't shoot then bed the lug area and tang. (You tube will teach you how to do this if you do t already know) If none of that helps send it to ITD custom for a new barrel and get you a bell and Carlson or McMillan to match your new barrel.

Sell that POS and buy a Tikka. Problem solved.

I will be scrubbing the barrel today, I did just replace the scope with a new Vortex Viper HS 4x16 and leupold 1 piece base and Burris 30mm rings. I just found a pound of RL15 so I will give that a try and I'll have to get more 120gr NBTs and will try the 120 Barnes bullets also.

Mine loves the 120 gr bt or ttsx over a max load of big game. Gives me way sub moa and 3200 Fps in a 7mm-08. I stopped using the bt on deer cuz it started coming apart at this speed. Ttsx works nicely. It also worked well with 748 and imr 4350.

I have a Rem. 700 .223 in a tupperware stock. Back before I started handloading the best loads I could find for it were in the 1" three shot range. One day while at the range I decided to file out the factory pressure points after reading that it would float the barrel. Much to my horror the barrel laid hard on the left side of the stock afterwards. Groups shrank to the 5/8 inch range.

Thinking it would only get better I stiffened the forearm, bedded the action and floated the barrel in the center of the channel. The groups didn't improve but they didn't get any worse.

Once I started handloading the danged thing got scary accurate.

Dave.

I went ahead scrubbed the barrel with a good solvent and brush, then I took the stock off and removed the pressure points except the two on the very end of the forend. I'll be loading up some more rounds to try out tomarrow. If it doesn't get better or it gets worse I'll be looking at replacing the stock with a Boyds