Putting a piece of leather in the barrel channel
I would like to know if it can work, somebody told me to put a piece of leather on the front of the barrel channel, you can say to put a preasure point on the barrel. Have anybody tried it, does it work or should I use something else
11 March 2002, 04:39
BobsterFlip, I would only use the leather strip to find out whether a pressure point would help. I assume you have tried it "free-floated" and are not satisfied. Also, make sure you have tried different loadings in case your rifle just doesn't like the one you are using. You can "tune" the resonance frequency of the barrel by moving the pressure point fore and aft in the barrel channel. Once isolated, you should then install a permanent/waterproof bedding point in the barrel channel with a commercial bedding product(fiberglass/epoxy). When doing the bedding procedure, create a "pad" about 2-3 cm in length of the bedding compound. Take special note of the torque you used when tightening the action screws so you can duplicate the correct pressure on the barrel. Also, make sure your stock is waterproofed, because once bedded this way your point of impact can shift with the humidity.
Leather would not be a good choice in my opinion bcause of its tendancy to compress and absorb moisture. This could lead to erratic accuracy and barrel corrosion.
My preference would be to epoxy bed the action and about 5 cm of the barrel ahead of the receiver ring and "free-float" the rest. I have built 5 rifles and bedded in this manner. All are consistent shooters and rarely require adjustment.
11 March 2002, 04:58
<Eagle Eye>Adding a piece of leather to the barrel channel will increase the pressure on the barrel. Many (most) massed produced rifles today already have a pressure point about one to two inches down from the end of the stock. This is meant to apply aprox. 15 pounds of pressure to the barrel. It has been shown that this can and often does improve the accuracy of a rifle by changing the vibration or harmonic characteristics of the barrel when a bullet is fired. The downside to this is that any changes caused to the stock through humidity or temperature can cause the point of impact to move. The trend towards synthetic stocks has reduced this problem somewhat but barrel heat from repeated shooting will also cause the POI to move, especially when there is a pressure point on the stock. This obviously isn't an issue for most hunting situations since it always one shot from a cold barrel. At least, that is the theory.

) It is therefore very possible that your rifle already has a pressure point and this can be tested by slipping some thick paper along the barrel channel to see if it binds anywhere. Some rifles made today do not have a pressure point and this is referred to having a free-floated barrel (examples are the Remington 700 Sendero and the Sako 75). Free floating removes the problems associated with the stock changes mentioned previously and produces a more consistant point of impact. While free floating will usually produce a more consistant POI, it may worsen the accuracy of the rifle.
There are a number of things than can be done to improve the capabilities of a rifle. However, without further information about your particular situation, it is hard to suggest any remedy other than to determine if you already have a pressure point.
11 March 2002, 10:12
Pete EFlip,
I would not use leather as it can absorb moisture. I did a similar thing with a strip of rubber inner tube off a car tyre.
I free floated a Ruger Allweather and was not happy with the results so I replaced the pressure pad with the inner tube. If you cut the inner tube long so it hangs out each side, you can fine tune its position by sliding it back and forth up the barrel channel. Once I found where I wanted it, I cut it off flush and it has been there about 5 years now and works a dream...
Regards,
Peter