Well, I made the jump and bought a Rem 700 BDL 338 RUM. Remington Model 700 BDL 338 Rem Ultra Mag 338 RUM : Bolt Action at GunBroker.com I should get it by the end of the week!
Congrats, nice rig. Are you planning to do immediate upgrades to it, or shoot it like that for a while?
I'm going to get it bedded, trigger job and put on a muzzle brake. After that, I'll see how it shoots and go from there. I'm trying to figure out if I should just replace the stock and then have it bedded. Suggestions?
Congratulations. Nice rig, I hope she'll be a shooter once the mods are done...as far as the stock I can only say it seems to me that I read often that folks change the stocks out. Keep us posted on how it shoots.
Try the first upgrades you mentioned, get some load development and see how it shoots, then modify if you need to. Good luck, keep us posted in the shooting results.
That is actually an LSS not a BDL "Laminated Stainless Steel" BDL is a walnut/Gloss Blued rifle. Very nice rig though. Mikegun)
That laminated stock is a very comfortable and looks good IMO, and it should be very stable. I would definitely wring it out before considering a swap.
The stock is probably ok, and worth bedding; but I'd worry about that Remy barrel (new or used). Shoot some loads through it (on a lead sled or with a sand bag between rifle butt and shoulder) before you invest in a muzzle brake. To paraphrase Forrest Gump: Remington barrels "are like a box of chocolates; you never know what yer gonna get." You might decide to replace it with a custom barrel.
