free float barrel?

I bought one of the Wally World Winchester model 70 black shadow rifles in .300WSM and the synthetic stock is tight to the barrel. Should I remove the action and sand out the barrel channel with a dowel wrapped in sandpaper to free float the intire length of the barrel? Has anyone else had this same situation with Winchester's Black Shadow rifles? This is the first production rifle that I've owned that came with a factory composite stock that wasn't free floated from the factory.

I`d shoot it before I tried changing anything. You might just find it needs some dampening, and shoots fine with the stock the way it is.

if you do decide to try floating it use a couple of pieces of card stock under the action to raise it from the stock and shoot it this way before you carve out the barrel channel. This will allow you to test the floated barrel in a temparary setting and still go back to the factory bedding if it doesn`t work.

I have shot it some already and I was not impressed, best groups were only about 2" with either factory ammo, (tried both Winchester Super X 180 grain Power-Point and the Federal Premium 150 grain Ballistic tips), and reloads, so far, have been 165 grain in Hornady InterLoc and Interbond and Speer Grand Slams. I've tried Reloader 19 and H4831SC. Although I don't have more than 75 or so rounds shot, you'd still think I could get better that 2" for my best groups. One problem, I believe is the stock. It's not touching here and there along the barrel, It's touching along the entire length of the barrel! Like I said before, I've owned other fiberglass stocked rifles and all had free floated barrels. I'm planning on glass bedding the action anyway and was just wondering if anyone else has freefloated the barrels on their Winchesters with the black fiberglass stocks?

I would try a heavier bullet for the 300 wsm than the 165 grain. I would start at 180 grain with a load of IMR 4831. I agree with Ol Joe about the bedding on your rifle, try his idea and if it doesn't work you can float the barrel. :grin:

my rifle was from bass pro, but the same rifle. I found that it shot about twice as good with a floated barrell. However, you will have a first shot in one point and the next 4 will be in one hole about .3 away.

I reccomend floating which only requires you to remove the pressure point near the end of the forend and glass bedding the action.

My rifle now shoots consitantly sub half MOA with 130-180 grainers. 200g are about 1 MOA slightly less.

mine really responds to once fired neck sized brass

If your trigger is as sorry as mine was, I highly recomend a timney trigger. However, be prepared for slight milling with a die grinder to install it as the groove is no longer square cut in the action.

hope this helps.

I think you meant 'Super Shadow'. And I had the same problem with my Wally World Super Shadow in 223 WSSM. When you remove the stock, you will find the fore-end is mostly hollow with a few ribs for support. And you will see that Winchester used some sort of black epoxy to bed around the recoil lug and also maybe around the tang. If you are planning to bed the chamber area, you will have to remove Winchester's epoxy first. I would support the barrel at the tip of the stock using a shim (the cardboard from the back of a tablet cut to a .25" square should be just about right), then bed the recoil lug and the flat area behind it (and under the chamber).

Nearly every rifle I've owned with a sporter-weight barrel (that means not the ones with a tube the size of my fly rod) has responded well to bedding the recoil lug and the chamber-portion of the barrel. The rest of the barrel is free-floated. Flyweight tubes generally shoot better with some forend pressure.

I would float it, and bed it. Bedding those oily injection molded factory stocks is a little ticklish but I do quite a few of them successfully.
I've never seen a rifle not shoot better after properly bedding the receiver, and floating the barrel. Even it doesn't shoot better, it can't hurt a thing.