Now I'm uphappy

[Dick D]

After reading the review on the A5 stock I thought I would try something.
I went out into my shop and got two Reminton barreled actions. One .308 Var and one .300 mag sporter.  Clamped the receivers firmly in a vice at the end of the table on a big milling machine.  Used hose clamps to attach a Harris Bipod to the end of the barrel, rigged up a dial indicator on the barrel, and pulled gently on the extended led of the bipod. Damn, fairly gentle pressure deflected the end of the barrel, .020"to .030" on the varmint and .040" to .050" on the sporter. Now what do I do, by Precision Rifles test and definition these barrels are now as limp as "overcooked noodles". I just havn't the heart to call Remington and tell them their barrels are no good because they flex when you push on them.  What do I do now ??

[longrange]

Dick, the review wasn't about barrel flex.  It is a well known fact you can make just about any barrel deflect with slight pressure, that's why we don't mount bipods to barrels  :wink:  and also why we tell everyone to make sure you are not touching the barrel during a shot, anywhere.  

That being said, the A5 stock was very flexible and the unfortunate part was where the flex was occuring.  It was flexing all the way back to  the bedding area just in front of the recoil lug, which resulted in the bedding moving away from the barrel with very slight pressure at the bipod.

If the stock only flexed out at the front of the forend it would be a different story.  Realize this is a tactical application stock, where folks do push on the bipod.  That's a pretty big lever.  To assume nobody will pressure or load a bipod...well, that is probably best left to another discussion.

We did have the opportunity to speak with Mr. McMillan recently regarding this issue.  There were a couple of possibilities as to the cause of the flex, but the short story is another stock is being built with a stiffer fill.  We are looking forward to receiving the updated stock, as we are fans of the A5's excellent ergonomics, and updating our review.