Cost and labor involved in free floating

[zstephens13]

I have tried a seach but didn't come up with what I was looking for. If you can find a thread detailing my question I would appreciate a link.

What exactly does it take to modify a normal AR type rifle to a free floated barrel and free floating handguard?

If it makes a difference it have a standard mid-length Rock River Arms LAR-8 with a 16-inch barrel.

Thanks for the help.

 

[mdThanatos]

Pm'ing you a link for assembly and the like.

Essentially here is what you do.

Take off the barrel.
Take off front sight if you have one.
Install barrel again.
Install free float barrel nut.
Install free float lock nut.
Screw on free float rail.
Install front sight.

Done.


Cost depends on how long it takes you to do it and how much your time is worth but shouldn't take you that long. Main thing on cost is tools if you don't have them already and parts.

 

[Tirod]

Cost depends on what you pay for the tube, they run $100 to $250. What it does is take the sling pressure off the barrel, and that's all.

The result is the barrel continues to shoot with the same accuracy it naturally had, there's just less influence from pressure on it from a sling or handguard. There may be no discernable improvement.

It cannot make a 2MOA barrel shoot better than it is. A free float can help preserve a 1/2 MOA barrel's accuracy, but it can't improve on it, either.

I improved the accuracy of my service rifle in qualification by NOT using the sling, everything settled down, there was consistency, and groups tightened up. That's the goal, don't move the barrel around, and it rings as true as it can. The rest is up to the shooter.

On a hunting/duty rifle, free floating doesn't do much. They are as effectively accurate as needed with handguards. If it's a precision gun, the barrel should be special, and guaranteed to a specified accuracy, or there's no point to bother free floating the handguard.

 

[Red Cent]

http://www.varminthunters.com/ar15tech/freefloat/ar15freefloat.html