to free float or not to free float

[Koda]

I think I want to free float my barrel. The gun is an older Remington 700 with factory wood stock. Is there any reason not to float the barrel? This is a hunting rifle but Ive recently enjoyed some target shooting with it and want to see if I can tighten up my group. It works fine for hunting, but I don't want to do something to make it worse for that or open up a bigger project than I'm prepared for.

I did some searching and found the tool Im looking for is called an inletting tool. Brownells sells them for 30 bucks, easy enough except my stock barrel is tapered... the majority of it measures .660". So what is the process to inlet the stock with just one, say 11/16" (.688") inlet tool including around the thickest part of the barrel where it screws into the action?

also, upon inspection it appears the barrel is contacting the stock near the end about where the sling screw is installed. Ive heard that some companies do this on purpose for accuracy (with a pressure pad...?) so would removing this contact area hurt accuracy?

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[salmonriverjohn]

You may find this to easy to believe, but I've actually had luck by cutting a credit card and using it as a shim at the anchor points.
It floats the barrel quite easily.
I've done this to a couple of fairly accurate hunting rifles and have been surprised with the improvement in accuracy.

Seen it in an outdoor life magazine years ago.

 

[Koda]

I do find that easy to believe, I actually thought of that tonight if it could be done. I might consider that if a traditional floating is more or a project than I want to do... on the surface it seems like floating the barrel channel is an easy project to improve accuracy.

 

[thatoneguy]

It cant hurt to free float the barrel. You can use a dollar bill, slip it under the barrel and see how far back it goes toward the action. It doesnt need much room. On the other hand though you can always glass bed the stock and achieve very similar if not the same results.

Good luck!

 

[bsa1917hunter]

It probably has a pressured point at the forend right now. IF you do want to freefloat it, make sure you glass bed the action first. Then you can remove the material in the barrel channel. A dremel works great with the small drum sander attachment. To fine tune the rest of the barrel channel, it's easy enough to use a deep well (long) socket wrapped in sandpaper. It doesn't take any fancy tools, if you are creative.

 

[Koda]

It probably has a pressured point at the forend right now.

it does. Does anyone know why they would do this? Would removing this make accuracy worse?

 

[bsa1917hunter]

Koda, factories do this because it makes it easier to mass produce a rifle without having to glass bed it to maintain consistent accuracy. By putting the pressure point at the forend, it creates 2 points of contact basically, which gives the barreled action more stability in the stock. This is conducive to accuracy with minimal effort. Ruger has been doing this for a long time and it works great for them. However, their design also pulls the action back into the stock as you torque the action screw down. Remington is similar, however it does not pull the action back into the stock, so if you remove the pressure point your action may end up being unstable in the stock. Some guys refer to it as the barreled action skating around in the stock. This will have an adverse affect on accuracy. Thus the reason I suggest glass bedding the action to the stock before removing the pressure point...

 

[Member 5605]

Float.

Harbor freight and buy a set of cheap shims. Cut shim, drill hole and it elevates... thus floating without compressible plastic.

 

[Koda]

Koda, factories do this because it makes it easier to mass produce a rifle without having to glass bed it to maintain consistent accuracy. By putting the pressure point at the forend, it creates 2 points of contact basically, which gives the barreled action more stability in the stock. This is conducive to accuracy with minimal effort. Ruger has been doing this for a long time and it works great for them. However, their design also pulls the action back into the stock as you torque the action screw down. Remington is similar, however it does not pull the action back into the stock, so if you remove the pressure point your action may end up being unstable in the stock. Some guys refer to it as the barreled action skating around in the stock. This will have an adverse affect on accuracy. Thus the reason I suggest glass bedding the action to the stock before removing the pressure point...

I think this is the answer I was looking for. It sounds like I also need to bed the action. I've never fully understood how bedding the action improves accuracy though since the scope is fixed to the action/barrel. Is this because the wood is extra flexible? The Remington has a recoil plate I would think once seated to the rear of its slot it would stop movement from recoil.

 

[bsa1917hunter]

Koda, even the most minute movement in the stock will reduce accuracy. The key to consistent accuracy is making sure nothing changes between and during shots. This is why some benchrest shooters actually glue the action into the stock. Now, we don't have a lot of control over barrel heat, but we can make sure our actions don't wiggle around in their stocks. Learning what your rifle likes takes some time and experimentation though. Here's a CZ 550 American 9.3x62mm that I glass bed. It had dual recoil lugs so I decided to just full length bed it. Here's how it shot afterwards:



I'm not saying full length bedding works on everything. Most times, most sporting/hunting rifles like to be freefloated. I'd experiment with your rifle first with a shim like some of the others have suggested. This will hopefully create a free floated barrel and you'll see right away if your rifle likes this treatment over a pressure point instead. This is a pretty quick and easy test that doesn't permanently alter your rifle. You can easily put it back to how it is now...

 

[Koda]

Most times, most sporting/hunting rifles like to be freefloated. I'd experiment with your rifle first with a shim like some of the others have suggested. This will hopefully create a free floated barrel and you'll see right away if your rifle likes this treatment over a pressure point instead. This is a pretty quick and easy test that doesn't permanently alter your rifle. You can easily put it back to how it is now...

ok got it, make sense. It sounds like before I sand away at the stock I should be prepared to bed the action first. What I will do first is shim the action as suggested and see how it performs. Thank you for taking the time to explain, I got the answer I needed. Nice shooting BTW...

 

[bsa1917hunter]

Good luck with it.

 

[Member 5605]

Excellent advice above^^^

Just remember a dollar bill easily slid between stock and barrel is sufficient for a 'float'.

As stated above solidifying the action in the stock by bedding is a great thing to do. Bedding with action pushed back not middle or forward is key too...

 

[No_Regerts]

Some rifles shoot better with the speed bump near the stock fore-end, but I remove it anyway. I dremel it out, bed the action, remove any material I have to float the barrel, reseal the stock (if wood), and shoot it. If groups aren't there, I will use cardboard to add upward pressure on the barrel to see if that helps. If it does, I build the speedbump back in with epoxy.

 

[coop44]

Lightweight barrels in recoiling calibers will cause the barrel to "whip" adversely affecting accuracy. There are 2 real solutions for this, first, used by manufacturers and military is to provide upward pressure on the barrel. Hence the bump or a spring loaded shoe as seen on the smile #1 mk3. It works and is expedient to use in the manufacturing process. Second, is the "gunsmith" approach, fully bed the action and barrel. For barrels with a #3 contour or thicker, free floating is recommended. Some will say to float the entire barrel, some will bed the chamber area of the barrel. My thought is it depends on the weight of the barrel. A fully floated heavy barrel will put a lot of stress on the stock and rear receiver screw, bedding the chamber area will take away some of this stress. I have seen heavy barreled rifles pass the "dollar bill test" upright but fail when put into a shooting position.

 

[Certaindeaf]

How does the rifle shoot now? lol

 

[bsa1917hunter]

Some rifles shoot better with the speed bump near the stock fore-end, but I remove it anyway. I dremel it out, bed the action, remove any material I have to float the barrel, reseal the stock (if wood), and shoot it. If groups aren't there, I will use cardboard to add upward pressure on the barrel to see if that helps. If it does, I build the speedbump back in with epoxy.

Excellent post. I've done that a time or 2 as well. Glad you brought that up. I was hoping someone would. All part of the experimentation process... Here's a ruger m77 Hawkeye I did just that with. Found it shot better with a pad at the forend tip. I've learned my lesson with Ruger m77's and now just leave the pressure point in, glass bed them and watch groups shrink:

 

[bsa1917hunter]

Lightweight barrels in recoiling calibers will cause the barrel to "whip" adversely affecting accuracy. There are 2 real solutions for this, first, used by manufacturers and military is to provide upward pressure on the barrel. Hence the bump or a spring loaded shoe as seen on the smile #1 mk3. It works and is expedient to use in the manufacturing process. Second, is the "gunsmith" approach, fully bed the action and barrel. For barrels with a #3 contour or thicker, free floating is recommended. Some will say to float the entire barrel, some will bed the chamber area of the barrel. My thought is it depends on the weight of the barrel. A fully floated heavy barrel will put a lot of stress on the stock and rear receiver screw, bedding the chamber area will take away some of this stress. I have seen heavy barreled rifles pass the "dollar bill test" upright but fail when put into a shooting position.

Awesome post. There are some guys here that know what they are talking about.^^^^^^^^

 

[Koda]

Thanks for the replies everyone. There is some excellent advice here to look into before I make any modifications and Ive learned a lot especially about putting pressure on the barrel.