To float or not to float

[ossett_hunter]

Hi ive got a weatherby vangard .270 using homeloads i get around 1 inch-1.5 inch groups. It sits in a hogue overmoulded stock. There is more or less full barrel contact. Would floating the barrel bring in the groups or make it worse. If I float it theres no going back.

 

Thanks

 

Andy

[Jim78]

By floating the barrel the barrel is allowed to vibrate like a tuning fork which it needs to do if you want to achieve accurate groups. I took a Dremel and a small abrasive flap wheel to the stock on my Rem 700 and let out the barrel channel and by doing so increased the gap slightly so i could fit a sheet of A4 paper down between the barrel and forend . the secret is to take your time and slowly work it and re checking by fitting the barreled action until this is achieved .I do not pretend to be a gun or rifle smith but this is how i made my rifle shoot better from 1.5-2 inch groups to 3/4-1 inch with my reloads. Hope this helps if in doubt see a gun smith.

 

Jim

[SteveW]

Would floating the barrel bring in the groups or make it worse. If I float it theres no going back.

 

To be honest there is no way of saying with 100% certainty, the only way to tell is to actually try it. But based on your current groups with home loads, I'd say go for it. But if your not confident of carrying the work out yourself, get someone with the right tools/skill to do it for you, would be worth considering getting it pillar bedded at the same time.

Edit, Just reread your post, not sure if you can properly bed a Hogue, but I' certain there are a few on here who do

If you do have it done, let us know how it shoots after.

[ejg223]

I could imagine that a target or benchrest rifle could shoot better with a pressure bedded barrel.

Adjusting scope constantly to changing POI of the rifle could be less of a problem compared to the advantage

of simulating a thicker barrel by holding it with the forend. This might go well with absolute consistant

pressure on the forend through the front rest.

but for a hunting rifle this won't work, as we all know the POI changes if add weight to a barrel. Just as

even fitting a lightweight moderator will change POI by inches. Resting a rifle on the front of the forend

can easily put one or two kg of pressure on the barrel of a pressure bedded rifle. The forend under tension

will transfer the pressure from the rest one to one on to the barrel.

One simple way of making sure a rifle will have the same POI under all shooting positions is to free float.

A free floated rifle will more reliably shoot to the same POI under differing temperatures.

edi

[Arell]

Hi

 

I've heard there are two versions of the hogue stock, one with an aluminium bedding block, one with an aluminium chassis that runs the full length of the forend. There was a post on Snipers Hide a while back where a bloke had 'trimmed' out his forend to free-float the barrel and ended up losing all rigidity, letting the barrel touch infrequently (mostly while loading up the bipod) and subsequently c**king up accuracy altogether.

 

I did something similar a while back with the standard polymer rem varmint stock, but finished up bedding in some 6mm steel rods with epoxy which worked very well (aside from adding a lot of weight). Just make sure you wrap the barrel in a thick (1mm) layer of tape (at the furthest point of where the barrel and forend meet) when you reposition the action & barrel to make sure when the epoxy sets, the barrel remains freefloated and the heat from the chemical reaction of the epoxy doesn't warp the stock and make constant contact with the barrel (similar process to glass bedding).

 

For what it's worth I would consider ditching the Hogue and going for a Bell & Carlson which is already freefloated and includes the ally bedding block.

 

Cheers,

 

Rich