sigma 40ve
Member
I have a Remington 673 in 308. I want to free float the barrel. The stock rests against one side of the barrel now. Is there any secrets to free floating when it comes to laminate stocks? What is the best method to do the float?
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
Free float question
- Thread starter sigma 40ve
- Start date
- Status
-
Not open for further replies.
TheGunGuru
Member
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2007
- Messages
- 79
Well congrats on picking a great rifle and the .308. You have a few options when it comes to free floating the barrel but it might be good to ask "do i need to"?. The point of making it free floating is to increase accuracy, if your gun shoots great now...don't worry and be happy, if not keep reading.
The easiest way to make it free floating is to work the stock, using a sharp knife/rasp/file/sand paper remove to wood thats in the way and seal the marks with polyurethane. I have done this with a few of my rifles and its the quickest, easiest method I know of and will always work.
If you don't want to modify your rifle you can shim the whole action off the wood stock very slightly to space the barrel off. This method is kind of a red-neck method but causes no harm to the rifle and is completely reversible if you find you don't like it. What you do is take 2 pieces of a soft material, I have used wax coated leather and wax coated pieces of denim blue genes, and place it around the action screws in the stock. When you tighten the action back in the leather/denim will space the action and barrel off the wood by a fraction of an inch and take care of the spacing problem. I coat the fabric with wax to keep it from absorbing water in the field and rusting the stock. It also helps to put a thin layer of thick grease between the waxed material and the action to keep water from getting between them and rusting.
The easiest way to make it free floating is to work the stock, using a sharp knife/rasp/file/sand paper remove to wood thats in the way and seal the marks with polyurethane. I have done this with a few of my rifles and its the quickest, easiest method I know of and will always work.
If you don't want to modify your rifle you can shim the whole action off the wood stock very slightly to space the barrel off. This method is kind of a red-neck method but causes no harm to the rifle and is completely reversible if you find you don't like it. What you do is take 2 pieces of a soft material, I have used wax coated leather and wax coated pieces of denim blue genes, and place it around the action screws in the stock. When you tighten the action back in the leather/denim will space the action and barrel off the wood by a fraction of an inch and take care of the spacing problem. I coat the fabric with wax to keep it from absorbing water in the field and rusting the stock. It also helps to put a thin layer of thick grease between the waxed material and the action to keep water from getting between them and rusting.
trstafford
Member
Is it normal pressure
Was the rifle manufactured with a pressure point ridge on the stock near the end which is designed to apply pressure to the barrel? If it was not then it could be that the stock is not cut properly at the action and is allowing the barrel to touch. I had a Ruger like this once. After floating the barrel and firing a few shots the action would shift and apply pressure to the barrel again. I had to bed th action to correct this situation.
Was the rifle manufactured with a pressure point ridge on the stock near the end which is designed to apply pressure to the barrel? If it was not then it could be that the stock is not cut properly at the action and is allowing the barrel to touch. I had a Ruger like this once. After floating the barrel and firing a few shots the action would shift and apply pressure to the barrel again. I had to bed th action to correct this situation.
Sir Aardvark
Member
I free-floated my Browning A-bolt by finding a piece of copper pipe that was a little bit bigger than my barrel contour and wrapped sandpaper around it and just sanded away until I was happy with the fit.
I have bedded the action of the rifles that I have "free-floated" the barrel on.
I usually bed the first part of the barrel where the round chambers and the rest is free-floated.
I use Devcon Plastic Steel now - the first action I ever bedded I used Brownell's AcraGlas and I found it to be very messy!
My 10/22 Ruger seems to like a little bit of "upward-pressure" on the barrel at the end of the forearm of the stock. You can experiment with cut-up matchbook covers until you get the thickness you want that works best for you (if any) and then come up with something permanent.
I have bedded the action of the rifles that I have "free-floated" the barrel on.
I usually bed the first part of the barrel where the round chambers and the rest is free-floated.
I use Devcon Plastic Steel now - the first action I ever bedded I used Brownell's AcraGlas and I found it to be very messy!
My 10/22 Ruger seems to like a little bit of "upward-pressure" on the barrel at the end of the forearm of the stock. You can experiment with cut-up matchbook covers until you get the thickness you want that works best for you (if any) and then come up with something permanent.
Art Eatman
Moderator In Memoriam
Many years ago I found a tool intended for cleaning out the barrel channel of a stock. It's a screwdriver dealie, but at the end you screw on a round cup which has sharp edges. Two sizes of cup came in the kit. Maybe Brownell's has them?
Anyhow, I've found that for most hunting rifles, a little shim at the front, after free-floating, dampens the barrel vibrations for better uniformity from shot to shot. I use a strip of kitchen wax paper, maybe 3/4". I fold it back and forth until it takes about a five-pound pull to separate barrel and stock to allow insertion at the forearm tip. Trim excess with razor.
Anyhow, I've found that for most hunting rifles, a little shim at the front, after free-floating, dampens the barrel vibrations for better uniformity from shot to shot. I use a strip of kitchen wax paper, maybe 3/4". I fold it back and forth until it takes about a five-pound pull to separate barrel and stock to allow insertion at the forearm tip. Trim excess with razor.
Grizzly Adams
Member
If you don't want to modify your rifle you can shim the whole action off the wood stock very slightly to space the barrel off.
You should try this to see if the accuracy improves. If it doesn't you probaly don't need to mess with floating the barrel.
Taurus 617 CCW
Member
The one tool I swear by when doing stock work is a product made by Jerry Fisher. They are scrapers that are designed to accomodate many different shapes of barrel channels. I have used them to inlet many stocks with great success. You can find them through brownells at http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=6521&title=SCRAPERS
I would recommend buying a large and small scraper which will give you four different round sizes to choose from. I would also get some prussian blue for the barrel to show where it is touching the stock. That way you know exactly where to scrape. For larger jobs you can use a tool made by Gunline that works really well for removing a lot of material in a short amount of time. They are also available from brownells at http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=6796&title=BARREL BEDDING TOOL. Hope that helps.
I would recommend buying a large and small scraper which will give you four different round sizes to choose from. I would also get some prussian blue for the barrel to show where it is touching the stock. That way you know exactly where to scrape. For larger jobs you can use a tool made by Gunline that works really well for removing a lot of material in a short amount of time. They are also available from brownells at http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=6796&title=BARREL BEDDING TOOL. Hope that helps.
- Status
-
Not open for further replies.
Similar threads
- Replies
- 28
- Views
- 6K
- Replies
- 3
- Views
- 308
