Fixing the stock on a 700 sps varmint

cam1936

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Okay the last thread involving the sps varmint turned into a savage vs. remington bash fest. Please do not start that here.

I have a 700 sps varmint in .223. It shoots pretty good but and I know I'm the weakest point in the rig but the stock bugs me. The barrel is not free floating and this is something that I want. If I hollow out the stock a bit to float the barrel it wont matter because with a bipod on it the stock will flex and touch the barrel anyways. Any ideas on what to use to stiffen up the forend and truley float the barrel? Also, any how-tos on beding the action in the stock. I'm really not allllll that concerned if I f things up as it would be an excuse to go with an hs precision, but I don't want to shell out that kind of money without trying to fix this one.
 
Wrap some sandpaper round a wooden dowel or broom handle and have a go at the barrel channel. Free floating can be a couple thousands of an inch clearence to a 1/4 mile:cool:
 
You are basically wasting your time trying to bed and float the plastic stock.
No matter how you do it the stock is still going to flex as plastic is just not structural enough to make a decent ly ridgid stock, and the key to an accurate rifle is to have zero flex in the stock as the repeatability of shots depends on the rifle ding the same thing with every shot.
My suggestion would be to save up the $$ and upgrade the stock to something known to be ridgid, HS, B&C, Robertson or Mcmillan are a few that come to mind, that way you will not have the flex that is effecting your accuracy now.
The basic rifle you have is fine, we have sold many of these and upgraded the stocks and they shoot very well.
 
Fixing 700 Remington stock

I bought a 22-250 in the varmint sf with the tupperware stock. The gun wanted to shoot but would get fliers in the group. I free floated the stock and it helped a little bit but did not fix the problem. After much frustration and ammo trying to get it to shoot I installed a wood stock off a BDL, bedded it and now it shoots what ever I feed it with good accuracy. I bought a twin to this rifle and before even shooting installed a wood stock and with the same load the other rifle likes while sighting it in shot a .291" group good gun or luck call it what you like I am happy. The plastic stocks are too flexable.

Edge
 
I epoxied two arrow shafts in the fore stock of my Stevens 200. The barrel will stay floated even with a bipod. Should work for the SPS. I haven't bedded the action yet though.
 
You can make it stiffer but it will never be as rigid as a HS or McMillan stock.

I have done this on 2 tupperware stocks and it works, but is not as stiff as a good stock to start with. I took a dremel tool and made holes thru the partitions in the barrel channel and notches in the sides of the barrel channel. I put about 10-15 notches in each side to mechanically hold the resin to the forearm. Then I cut old carbon fiber arrow shafts to fit tightly between the front of the action and the front sling swivel mounting tab, I had to cut a notch out of one partition to get them in full length. I wedged them in and filled up the entire barrel channel with fiberglass resin, with fiberglass fibers mixed in. I only filled it up to just over the partitions in the channel, and made sure the barrel is still free floating.

If you are going to try and bed the action, I would take the dremel tool or a small drill bit and make a few shallow holes in the bedding area, and something on the side of the action area, and roughen up the plastic with some 80 grit sandpaper. This will help hold the bedding compound to the plastic, I haven't found a compound that sticks well to the plastic and gives the strength you need in the bedding area. I have used permatex cold weld, or devcon steel putty for the action area.

I would say you are looking at a few hours on 2 days (need time for the resin to set in the barrel channel) to do the job.

OR

Just buy a decent stock and skim bed it.
 

Probably a good idea. But how does one get a boyds stock. I heard they stopped shipping to Canada. Also, where does it say the size of the barrel channel. I assume the stocks on their website are for sporter weight barrels because they don't say any different.
 
Probably a good idea. But how does one get a boyds stock. I heard they stopped shipping to Canada. Also, where does it say the size of the barrel channel. I assume the stocks on their website are for sporter weight barrels because they don't say any different.

I bought one about a month ago. The "weekend" sales seem to come up frequently, and they are aggressively targeting the Canadian market with a $99.99 fully finished sale price tag. I ordered mine over the phone, the guy on the other end knew the export laws that applied, including the $100 limit. He seemed sympathethic to our plight, and claimed that there would be more sales in the future.
Many of the unfinished stocks make it under the magic $100. At least it would be a better base to work from than a tupperware SPS.
 
Probably a good idea. But how does one get a boyds stock. I heard they stopped shipping to Canada. Also, where does it say the size of the barrel channel. I assume the stocks on their website are for sporter weight barrels because they don't say any different.

Ordered one yesterday for my Stevens :D As long as its under $100 you are ok.
 
Its the rules. If its over $100 you need an export permit, blah blah...Its been discussed alot on other threads.

Cam1936, I was told by the guy on the phone that the one I ordered is for sporter weight barrels, but there is enough material if you want to "hog it out" for a heavy barrel.
 
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