Gunsmithing ? regarding bedded stock for 2 different Remington actions

[rookie7]

Good evening all,

I have a bell and carlson tactical medalist that I bedded a few years ago using Devcon. The bedded barreled action is a Remington 700 SPS tactical in .223 - all factory.

Correct fit and alignment - no problems.

I have a Remington 700 Mapul version in .260. I took it out of the Magpul stock it came in, and put it into the B & C stock. The barrel channel aligns the same, and it goes into the recoil lug slot like it should - not quiet as easily as the original 700, but it doesn't seem to bind or miss fit.

The rear action screw goes in fine, and the front goes in as well - but gets a little tight to turn when getting close to bottoming out. I think the screw is rubbing against the aluminum pillar towards the muzzle end of the rifle whereas the 700 SPS tac does not. It goes together like butter.

I can torque it down to 65 inch pounds no problem - and I have shot the rifle like this - but I want it to be "right".

So - from a gunsmith's opinion - is this acceptable?- or should I drill it out and re-bed for the new action even though they are both factory Remington setups with same barrel profile?

Or - is it just common practice to NOT switch actions in a bedded chassis or stock?

Thank you in advance for your input.

 

[Supersubes]

Yes, common practice is to not swap barreled actions. Remingtons are finished in a number of ways, from blasting to belt sanding, to turning, and the degree to which that is done from action to action is not consistent. Imo, not a workable solution. If you re-bed to the .260, don’t then think that the other action will be happy there.

 

[rookie7]

Thank you. That’s what I wanted to know.

 

[...]

first of all......how does it shoot?

if it shoots fine, ide honestly just leave it.

you are always going to have slight variations between 2 different actions......so if you wanted everything "proper" you can grind out some of the old bedding and rebed it......

 

[Bandaid]

IMHO - If it shoots great and you think it has good contact with the recoil lug and along the action then you could probably leave it. some chassis only have thin lines of contact and firm up against the recoil lug.

If I were a paid gunsmith I would not let it out of my shop that way and I would grind it out and re-bed the action.

 

[Litshoot]

Not a Smith, my mechanic side would lead me to just oval out the bolt hole so I know theres no tension built up as long as its sits secure i wouldnt go overboard.