Floating barrel

[JohnGalway]

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Edited September 2, 2009 by JohnGalway

[deadeye ive]

One of the main reasons for barrel floating is that your looking for consistancy in the harmonics produced by a fired round and if the barrel touches the stock that could change ...............Notice i say could because some very accurate rifles have barrels that fully integrate with their stock, eg the SMLE .

 

I'm not a fan of raising the action out of the stock using washers ...................Looking at your set up it looks like a honeycomb stock and I would be tempted to remove material from the barrel channel ........You could first try tightening up the rear screw on the trigger guard first as this can sometimes raise the barrel enough to slip that piece of A4 all the way down

Thing is John if your set up can achieve very good accuracy then I would leave well alone .........Don't fix what ain't broke

[kip270]

John, get rid of the sheet of A4 and try it again with a £5 or £10 note. You will find it will go all the way back to the receiver.

[Devon Fox]

I have a spanking new 243 t3 super varmint, a normal bit of paper wont go up to the reciever, but £5 note will !!

 

Dont panic Mr Mannering

[JohnGalway]

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Edited September 2, 2009 by JohnGalway

[kip270]

John, take the rifle out of the stock, and get some fine grade sand paper (done this with my Browning A-bolt synthetic stock ) and gently rub on the inside of the stock, taking out a small amount of the stock near the reciever, then place the action back and check it for clearence. Don't take too much out though

[Hodmedod.one]

John, take the rifle out of the stock, and get some fine grade sand paper (done this with my Browning A-bolt synthetic stock ) and gently rub on the inside of the stock, taking out a small amount of the stock near the reciever, then place the action back and check it for clearence. Don't take too much out though

 

 

Thats exactly what I would do. Good luck with it John.

[mry716]

You need to float your barrel sufficiently so that when fired you can pull a fiver the full length of the stock/barrel gap whilst it is under flex. Now as you cannot do that you do need to allow more than sufficient gap for that flex. If you shoot off a bench rest or sandbag then there will be less flex than if you use a bipod.

 

For bipods I tend to work on 30 thou as a start guide with synthetic stocks which is far, far greater than a fiver.

 

Use masking tape, measure how many layers are needed for 25-26 thou and tape the underside of the barrel. Let in until you can now pull a fiver the full length.

 

 

All that may well be unneeded as many rifles tend to shoot far better with a pressure point. Try tapping up the barrel where it fits in the end of forend until you add at least 5-7 thou of pressure. Try the rifle and add another 5 then try again.

 

It could well be easier and even better than a full float. If it is, mask the stock back and front of the pressure point with layers of tape and fill the inbetween area with Devcon. Sand until pressure point is correct as per testing.

[Hunter]

Had the same on my T3, used a fine file to clear it

[deadeye ive]

Both screws are pretty tight, as they were when I first got the rifle. .

John

 

Slacken both screws off then re-tighten both until you feel the slightest bit of tension or torque ........Once you've reached this stage concentrate on the rear screw leaving the forward one well alone .........you should see the barrel lifting out of the channel ..........by experimenting with different torques on the two fastening screws you just might have your fully floated barrel without the need for removal of stock material .

 

IMO ,if your going to float a barrel by removing channel material you may as well aim for a buisiness card thickness at the very least ..........A £5 thickness is no guarentee that once a round is fired there is no interaction between stock and barrel .........whilst you can zero for this and get consistancy the next time you remove the stock and re-fit it things will be different .

[JohnGalway]

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Edited September 2, 2009 by JohnGalway

[deadeye ive]

Ive, do you mean that adjusting the stock the width of a fiver will mean things can be different while adjusting it the width of a business card will have it more consistant when removing and replacing the barrel? sorry for the akward question, I think you'll know what I'm asking.

 

Not only that ,whether you shoot from a bi-pod like MRY says will have a different effect to resting on a fence post when out in the field .

 

Let me give you an example

My barrel channel has a cleaning rag clearence and when resting on a bail of straw with the legs of a harris S25C up the groups were eratic ............reason being was the fact that the rubber tips on the bi-pod were touching the T8 and throwing everything out ..............so by not having enough clearance could mean you could by your style of shooting in the field cause the stock to interact with the barrel and change the zero which was set up under range conditions

[JohnGalway]

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Edited September 2, 2009 by JohnGalway

[miffy]

The barrel on my Tikka T3 is the same as your's John if not worse.

 

My rifle shoots fine even when hot. Leave it well alone unless accuracy is a real problem. My rifle one hole groups ok with a non floating barrel

[JohnGalway]

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Edited September 2, 2009 by JohnGalway

[deadeye ive]

Grand I've I get ya now, am I right in thinking to counter act that what I would need to do is zero using the bipod, note that, then zero using the sticks (with bipod attached) to simulate hunting conditions and be aware of the change.

:(

 

I was just saying that with all the clearance my set up has the poi moved because something was touching the silencer ......yes full bore can be that sensitive

 

Only if you have a very fine clearance different shooting styles could change things due to different pressure points on the stock ...........Stock hammer is when you have clearance one second and upon firing the stock hits the barrel (So no clearance really )............It can happen in both senario's Bi-pod and sticks where the POI can be different in both case's because the pressure on the stock can be greater using a Bi-pod as oppposed to sticks .......Hence causing more stock hammer

 

Miffy's rifle is a good example of a terribly floated barrel but the rifle is very accurate (I have fired this rifle BTW) ........in fact if my memory serves me well the whole of the left side of the stock touches the barrel .I can only assume that the sythentic stock is quite flimsy (Due to the lack of honeycomb stiffeners )and therefore more forgiving

[P03]

Just tried a piece of A4 on my T3 and it goes right up to the receiver easily. Mine is a Hunter though...wooden stock...not that that should make any difference.

[JohnGalway]

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Edited September 2, 2009 by JohnGalway

[deadeye ive]

Good luck with it John

[JohnGalway]

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Edited September 2, 2009 by JohnGalway

[JohnGalway]

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Edited September 2, 2009 by JohnGalway

[kip270]

John, if it shooting that well for a three shot group i wouldn't take any more off, you will very rarely shoot three in row when out foxing (unless your Frank of course ).

So by the time you get to a second shot your rifle would of cooled down