I have a 1980's Ruger M77rs in 30/06 and was wondering about free floating the barrel. Can it be done to any rifle? Has anyone done this to there Ruger and with what kind of results? I put a new Sear in the trigger and improved the accuracy alot. I can now shoot 1 MOA +/- 1/4". How much better if any, could I expect by floating the barrel.

Thanks for any input

floating the barrel won't necessarily help accuracy. It's purpose is to assure that the wooden stock doesn't swell and put pressure on the barrel, causing point of impact shift. it is easily done with sandpaper and a dowel or other round object. Wrap the paper around it and sand, keeping the profile as much as possible. When I can get a dollar bill to slide smoothly between barrel and stock all the way from recoil lug to end of stock, I call it good.

quote:

Originally posted by A-TEAM:
I have a 1980's Ruger M77rs in 30/06 and was wondering about free floating the barrel. Can it be done to any rifle? Has anyone done this to there Ruger and with what kind of results? I put a new Sear in the trigger and improved the accuracy alot. I can now shoot 1 MOA +/- 1/4". How much better if any, could I expect by floating the barrel.

Thanks for any input

Keep in mind that as your barrel heats and cools, there is a real possibility that the expansion will cause excess pressure as the barrel bends into the stock. This will cause your bullets to walk. If your wooden stock is prone to warp as the weather changes, then this too will cause your bullets to walk.

The initial and most cost effective cure on a factory gun then would be to separate the two by free floating the barrel. Isolate the two and see what happens. I would recommend more that a dollars clearance. I'm thinking something more on the lines of at least $10.00's worth. On the other hand if you are happy with a .500 inch extreme spread, and the groups are consitent regarless of temperature and weather conditions, then leave it as it is.

mid 80s is while ruger was having accuracy problems with their barrels. 1", +/1 for a hunting rifle is pretty darn good.

sincce i've had rifles shoot well bedded, floated, part floated, pressure point (and seriously) camo taped in hard, .. it's always a question of what the rifle will do.


lossen the stok in the action, stick a biz card 2" from the forearm.. just lay it in, tighten it back down and see if it shoot any better

jeffe

Barrels vibrate, whip vertically, and some even move a bit laterally when fired. The lighter the barrel and the slimmer the profile, the more it moves. The theory behind free floating is to assure that whatever your barrel does when fired is done without touching anything that could change from shot to shot as the barrel heats up, or in the case of a wood stock, the wood swells or moves.

Pressure points are difficult to control when the barrel starts heating up. What starts out as a certain amount of pressure on a cold barrel can change a bunch when the steel starts heating up and expanding.

I’ve always felt that it was best to start with a free floated barrel because you can always add bedding material to the channel later on if it doesn‘t shoot well. Experimentation is about the only way to find what your rifle likes and doesn’t like.

Thanks for all the help guys, your information is much appreciated. Thanks again

My Son has an early(75) Ruger 77 in 6m/m Remington that was pretty sorry until I floated the barrel, since then it shoots 5 shot, one hole groups. Also, make sure the barrel isn't fouled with copper.
Every rifle I own is free floated with the exception of two .22 rimfires. The list includes Remingtons, Sako,98 and 96 Mausers and a Ruger.

Stepchild