Manners T4A DBM fit and technical questions

[Firefox]

M4C members,

A while ago I bought a Remington 700 AAC-SD in .308 (short action) and after throwing a few hundred rounds through it, I have decided to replace the Hogue stock it came with. After doing my research, I have decided to go with a manners T4A DBM with the mini chassis for my rifle however before I spend a considerable amount of money on this, I have a few questions about the stock itself and would like to make sure I have understood the research I've done correctly.

Here's some background and information on my rifle, intended purpose, and train of thought so you can better understand and help me.

-Intended purpose: to be able to engage man sized targets at 800M before my round goes transonic (the 8-900M mark as I understand), ranges past that, (1000M) will come over time with practice and the proper gear. That being said I have every intention of taking this rifle to classes while I have time off from school and will learn to use it to best of my ability.

-As the rifle sits now, I have a horus vision 4-16x FFP mil/mil with the H59 reticle for glass, it sits in NF low profile rings which is on a NF 20MOA base. Everything else on the rifle is as it comes from the factory.

-I chose manners because of their reputation for making supreb stocks/mini chassis and the ergonomics of T4A, I've had the chance to play around with an AI chassis before and it just didnt feel right to me. I am going with the DBM on this mini chassis because I am not a fan of the internal magazine, I find it easier to deal with a detachable magazine like I am familiar with in other rifles.


-I buy into the "buy once cry once" line of thinking. I much rather pay more upfront for a quality product that will serve me well instead of trying to cut corners.

1. First and foremost, a big selling point of the manners mini chassis for me is that from my understanding, it eliminates the need for bedding as the action is held to mini chassis via screws which essentially "free floats", for lack of a better term, the barrel and keeps it from touching any point of the stock. Is this correct? If this is incorrect, what products are out there that eliminates the need for bedding as I want to be able to maintain the ability to take down the rifle.

2. What barrel contour does the AAC-SD have? Every website I've gone to for information I seem to get a different answer. I read an article on ar15.com that said it has a varmit profile, a number of others say it comes with a heavy profile, leading me to think something along the lines of the M24. I was not able to find anything from Remington's website or in my manual so here I am. It is important for me to know as I know stocks need to be matched to their barrel contour and it'd be a shame to screw something like that up.

3. Hypothetical situation. I know the M24 contour is pretty thick, if I went with a T4A inletted for that contour and my aac-sd has a varmit contour would there be any drawbacks to that? The reason I ask is because although I want to shoot my rifle for a while before trying to replace anything like the barrel that is a definite possibility in the long run and I may want a different contour when I decide to replace it. I'd imagine it would be better to have a little extra space upfront so I have options on contours rather than being stuck with whatever my 700 currently has.

Thank you all in advance for your help. It's much appreciated.

[ForTehNguyen]

AAC-SD barrel looks like the same profile as the SPS Tactical which is a heavy profile .86" diameter

[jbjh]

Manners will be able to answer your questions about barrel profile measurements. I'd get the stock inletted for what you have now, then you can either have them open it up more for you later, or you can do it with sandpaper and a dowel or deep-seat socket. As with all things, it's easier the take more material off, but putting it back is a hassle (And by the time you change the barrel, you might have changed your mind too)

[E. Bryant]

The mini-chassis does indeed replace bedding, or at least attempts to do so. Since Remington actions aren't really all that straight or round, Manners floats the tang (thus the specified torque and tightening sequence in the instructions).

A properly-bedded 700 will experience no problems with repeated action removal, at least not if some reasonably care is taken and if the 'smith provided sufficient clearance to the front and sides of the recoil lug.

In my opinion, there isn't really an issue with either choice on the barrel channel. If you go with the tighter one and eventually switch to a heavier barrel, then it doesn't take but a few minutes with the correct-sized dowel and some sandpaper to open the channel. If you go with the larger channel now, you'll have a bit larger gap between the barrel and the stock, but that's strictly a cosmetic issue and won't hurt performance in the least.

[Pappabear]

Your fine buying with the M24 contour. Just know a SPS Heavy may be different than Krieger heavy. If you buy for the m24, you will be fine. Just know you will have more space between your barrel and stock. But that's only ascetics.

[crossgun]

Having had a T5 with the mini chassis I would recommend that you go with the stock of your choice and have it bedded to your action. You can still remove your action plus you get to use the bottom metal you want which to me is a big deal.

Many that use the mini chassis also skim bed the chassis to ensure the action is correctly supported and not torqued or stressed.

If you want it done right and really want to get the best accuracy then bed the action to the stock.

Is the mini chassis good enough to hit man size targets to 1000 yards, YES

[Firefox]

Gents,

Sorry for taking so long to reply, I've been busy moving and starting class this week so I have not been on the boards much or had time to reply. After looking through the responses I went ahead and ordered the T4 with the M24 inlet and it arrived a few days ago, now sitting on my 700. It feels great and I'm very happy with it thus far but we'll see how it does at the range this weekend. It seems everyone is recommending to bed the action anyways and after looking into skim bedding it looks like that will be done in the future when I send it in for the action to be trued. For now though it's off to the range for a while to get out and shoot. Thank you everyone for your help and input.

[jackinfl]

You may want to check directly with Manners but I think skim bedding voids any warranties with their mini-chassis.

My son has the AAC-sd and at sea level here in FL he goes transonic with Hornady 168 AMAX right around 800 yards. Stepping up to 175 SMK ammo has gotten him to 1K.

The aac-sd is a neat gun. Good luck.

[Firefox]

You may want to check directly with Manners but I think skim bedding voids any warranties with their mini-chassis.

My son has the AAC-sd and at sea level here in FL he goes transonic with Hornady 168 AMAX right around 800 yards. Stepping up to 175 SMK ammo has gotten him to 1K.

The aac-sd is a neat gun. Good luck.

I'll go ahead and check with manners to make sure on the bedding, although I wouln't be bedding or messing with the rifle again for some time now. I've been craving to actually get some rounds down range.

That's good to hear about the 175s reaching 1000 before going transonic. I just picked up 60 rounds of SSA 175 HPBT I'm going to shoot this weekend. Aside from ordering online, it was the best I could find locally. Once I get to my reloading setup back in OH, I plan to mess around with some loads consisting of 175 SMKs and I've also heard great things about 175 bergers. For now though it'll be factory ammo for the next month and half :P Thanks for the input!

[Alpha Sierra]

Firefox, as an aside, have you ever been to Thunder Valley Precision near Coshocton?

If not, you're in for a treat once you return here.