Grant
I have owned two 700 VSSF's in .22-250 and a third in this calibre as well with the heavy barrel and laminated stock, also a .25-06 Sendero (same gun, long action) and the 700 VS you are referring to again in .22-250. (is it obvious I like this calibre??)
The laminated rifle above became the action that was used to build a complete custom rifle in .243AI
Is the current model still using the HS Precision stocks? My synthetic rifles mentioned above as well as the Sendero model all had these stocks fitted with the aluminium bedding block. Considering these stocks can be bought separately for around £400 it made the rifles themselves a bit of a bargain at the time. All I ever did to them then was fit an Arnold Jewell trigger, good mounts and a quality scope. Never once did I have any issues with accuracy but all were home loads.
Because of the amount of work they were doing I saw them as a great workmanlike tool. I know a lot of subscribers on here don't like Remingtons for some reason, but personally I would have one any day over some of the higher end rifles for sale, and then spend a bit of money accurising it if necessary.
What calibre are you thinking of going for because they are a bit limited in 'all deer species' legal calibres?
I know they used to do the 700 VS in .308 but you would have to be lucky to pick up a second hand one now in that calibre. The only slight reservation I would have in shortening the barrel to 22'' would be in .25-06 Sendero version. I have always felt that given the relatively slow burning powders it seems to prefer, more benefit may be seen from the longer barrel in higher velocities being obtained. I always loaded mine in this calibre with H4831SC and 100grn Hornady SP flat base bullets. Great calibre for the Sika at the time. Down side is with the T8 fitted I had at the time, the overall length of the barrel and mod was 30''. Bit of a pest in a highseat and for carrying on the sling.
From memory, the 700VS weighed either 8 or 8 1/2lbs. The fluted version was about a lb or so lighter I think, the website may give you a more accurate weight. I am only guessing but would suggest that 4'' of heavy barrel being removed must be getting close to 8oz or so. May not seem like much but as it is carried at the rifles extreme point this will compute to a fair bit of leverage whilst slung over the shoulder. Never notice it off the bi-pod though
Hope this helps a bit.