I have three rifles with thin barrels. A Rem 700 Mountain laminate, a Rem Model 7, and a Winchester Featherweight. At age 78, these are easier to carry and hunt with from elevated box stands.

I wish there was something I could do to tighten up their groups. The Mountain rifle and the Featherweight are both wooden stocked.

Does anyone have a solution for these thin barrels?

I had a mountain rifle in 280.

Initially it had a tendency to string vertically. A shim under the front of the action to free float the barrel fixed that. I assume it was making contact in the barrel channel. From a cold barrel it was a MOA rifle but if you fired more than three shots without letting it fully cool off the groups would open up. But considering the first shot was the only one that really mattered I just worried about making that one count.

My biggest issue with that rifle is that I couldn't make it shoot, or more like I couldn't, straight off hand. From a solid seated rest it was a tack driver. On moving targets and snap shots I just couldn't connect with it. I need a little bit of weight out front to settle things down. Probably because I grew up shooting shotguns, but then again I'm a lousy wingshot lol.

I got a thing for lightweight rifles but just can't shoot them well unless it's more balanced like a lever action carbine.

I had a M70 Synthetic Shadow in 223 WSSM with a pencil thin barrel years ago. First 2 shots were usually sub MOA. Then they’d open up. All I did was float the barrel by sanding any points touching the barrel along the stock but nothing changed. Needless to say it wasn’t my fun shooter, but as long as the first couple shots were on I was happy. I just didn’t bring it out to try and shoot 5 shot groups anymore.
I’m seriously considering a Christensen Arms Ridgeline FFT. Crazy light and a good shooter.

I have rifles in all 3 configurations. None of them are Prairie dog guns. All will shoot about an inch to inch and a quarter but I had to find the load each rifle liked to get that. When deer hunting I am a 1 shot gun, rarely 2 and never 3. All will work just fine with "Minute of Fawn" accuracy out to 300 yards or so.

Do you reload?

Shakeyjake, I have 2 Christensen Ridgelines. A 26 inch 7 RemMag and a 20 inch 308. The 7 will reliably do 1/2 inch at 200. The 308 is just under an inch at 100, but I'm not done working with it. The 7 was a breeze with Fed LRM, IMR 4831, in Nosler brass neck turned and full length sized (bumped the shoulder back .002). Topped the whole recipe off with 150 grain Swift Scirocco .010 off the rifling.

The Ridgelines with the carbon fiber barrel and TriggerTech trigger are a dream to shoot though the muzzle breaks are a little loud. well, maybe a lot loud.

My plan was to shoot it without the break….and in 7RM too! Really light so it must have a bit of recoil but can’t be worse than my 338WM ABolt 1.
I handled one at Scheels in Fargo. Topped with a lower end Swarovski. Man is that thing light!
Have you tried it he 7 without the break?

Pain is just an intense form of pleasure................:)

hit your target with the first round

seriously lots of range trips , one cold bore shot at each one

besides that , free floated barrel and glass bedded action

another thought is a 5 spot target one round in each spot , save the targets shoot them in the same order each time

groups with light thin barrels will open , but are your shots consistent

maybe you take 2-3 shots a left middle and right target , how predictable is shot 2 and 3

I've bedded the actions on the last three guns I've bought and free floated the barrels one a Tikka with a pretty light barrel. Then fully bedded the barrels all shot better by a good margin with fully bedded barrels. All tested with 4 to 6 kinds of factory ammo through the testing. I'm always curious if when people say free floating the barrel is the way to go have ever tried bedding the barrel or they just Goin with the flow? Last gun has shot several quarter moa groups out to 400 yds. Free floating maybe is better for heavy barrels???? So far on last 3 tried both ways bedded barrels have been better on the target for me. Little JB weld has got me a lot of accuracy. The gun that I've got some 1/4 moa out of is a gun I bought new for $430.

I think it is a case of good enough and no desire to invest time and labor for a maybe better.

Thin barrels are not inherently inaccurate. They can be very accurate. They just can't do long strings of fire without dispersion due to heat.

I've long thought the most likely route to getting around that is full-length hard bedding. Possibly pressure point and/or heat sink material.

A full aluminum chassis would be interesting for its heat sink properties.

With my hunting style, a light weight rifle that can put the first two together is better than a heavy rifle that can put five.

If I’m shooting colony type varmints, then the heavies come into play.

What caliber?
Light weight barrels will shoot pretty close to heavy one fir 3 rounds. Caliber is big variable

Bedding them has made hold accuracy at least through about 10 shots. Never shot more in a string because the Tikka in 270 is getting pretty hot by then and I don't want to shorten it's life. But she's still shooting sub moa hot without any groups growing that I can see

Actually heat dispersion is a consideration in machine guns, particularly light MG and SAW. Dispersion provides for more of a beaten area for enfilade fire.

What caliber? The Mountain laminated is a 280. The 700 LVSF is 7-08, and the Win Featherweight is .243.

The 7-08 has a Triggertech trigger. The others are stock. All are under 3 lb.

My .20 has an .80" muzzle, it's made groups at 100 yards where all three bullets were in one hole, outside group measurement was .250"

243 just try different ammo. 100 federal psp shot really well in my savage. Try them or Remington corelokt. If you are hunting deer either round will be good enough fir hunting scenarios
Can’t help with other caliber

Do you reload?


While I don’t buy into the notion that heavy barrels are inherently more accurate, or have the potential to be more accurate than light barrels, they are definitely more forgiving to find accurate loads for.

Lots more “whip” on the skinny tubes. Especially when you introduce a can.


Every rifle I’m building going forward will be a #4, maybe a #5. Not “light”, but not “heavy” either.

I owned an Ithaca Featherlight 16 gauge shotgun when I grew up. Accurate slug gun that I shot many deer with.