Do I need a new stock?

This is new teritory for me so any advice is appreciated. I was cleaning my rifle this weeked Remington 700 .30-06. Since it is a wood stock and I live and hunt in Wa. I always run a piece of paper between the barrel and stock to make sure the barrel is still free floating. Well I couldn't get the paper to go farther than a half inch. I'm going to go out and shoot it this week and see how she does, lets just hope I'm over reacting. I don't have much time before taking off for deer and elk if I can't get decent groups.

Is replacing the stock very difficult or necessary? I am fairly good with mechanics having built racecars, engines and done QA work. But having not done any gun smithing don't want to jump in over my head.

Thanks much
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a_bow_nut
When we have had this problem with wood stocks warping we have just took a deep wall socket that fits in the end of the stock and wrap a peice of sandpaper around it and sand it out until the barrel is free floating again. My friend was in the same situation right before a deer hunt one time and it took alot of sanding but we got the barrel to where it wasn't touching the stock and his groups came right back in. After the hunthe did end up replaceing the stock but we got his gun going for the hunt at least.
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southwind
+1 a_bow_nut, plus seal the channel after you sand with tung oil or good wood sealer. Being in Washington state if you hunt a lot in wet conditions I would consider a composite for the future.
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Default Avatar
Thanks for the advice, I think I can handle a bit of sanding for now. This may sound dumb but will Thompsons water seal work where I sanded? I'll be going synthetic this off season.
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a_bow_nut
Yes that should get you through the season. Good luck on your hunt.
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Default Avatar
Awesome, thanks a_bow_nut and southwind. Good luck to the both of you too.
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chet
shoot it first, some rifles respond well to a pressure point (remingtons commonly shoot better with it).
with that said, a synthetic will be superior for WA state conditions as the wood changes immensly with humidity.
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