I didn't invent the internet, but I once thought I invented the ladder method of load development. That was until I learned that someone else (David Tubb?) got there first. So here is another idea that someone else has likely tried.

How about bedding a barrel in the channel using silicon caulk or a similar material? It could be partial or full length. One could try different amounts of pressure. I'm thinking that it could act as a vibration damper. If not successful it would be easy to remove the material. Any thoughts out there?

Do a search. It has been done for years. Gun-Test.com mentioned it back in 1996. Have seen very little if anything except one or two people saying it helped them.

No matter what you have in the barrel channel as the barrel heats pressure will change.

Not somehting I would even dream about but help yourself. If it helped accuracy BR shooters would have already been all over it.

Besides vibration is not the issue harmonics is.

Hi Ramrod. Thanks for the response. Can you offer any info on the difference between vibration and harmonics? I will consult Mr. Vaughn (Rifle Accuracy Facts) to see if he offers any elucidation. My strong area is statistics, with a little knowledge of wave motion tossed in. Still learning.

Back again. My interest is hunting rifle accuracy, so hot barrels aren't a concern. Just the first shot or two, and repeatability. Also, I don't think I'd try this in a wood stock.

I've never tried it but I can see where it might help to damp a bad vibration. Like I said though, no personal experience.

Edited: to avoid a citation from the grammar police

Various kinds of flexible dampers have been used in rifle bedding for at least 80 years that I know of personally.

I once bought a Model 52 Winchester "Bull Gun" which had been used by a Brit to win the Great Britain small-bore championship several times in the years around WWII.

On disassembly to examine its condition, I found that the entire length of the barrel in the stock was damped with a strip of foam rubber inletted in the bottom curve of each side of the barrel channel. The strips were about 3/8" high (including the part inset into the wood), and perhaps 3/16" wide.

The exterior of the rifle was uglier than home-made sin, as it had raw wood rasp marks pretty much everyhere he had adjusted the fit to his own peculiarities, but it shot like a terror...very, very good. BTW, it was so ugly that I got it at an auction of his estate for just 10 Guineas...in those days about $28.50 Canadian.

P.S. One "damps" vibrations, not "dampens" them.

Everything that happen when you fire causes a vibration firing pin moving striking the primer etc. What causes the main problems with accuracy is the circlular arc. To me that is the harmontics. Yes vibration as an impact on harmontics.

Heck by definition maybe they are the same.

Everything has been tried at one time or another. Full bedding, pressure points free floating. Key to accuracy is consistantly the bullet leaving the barrel at the same point of the arc.

Things like the adjustable weight used by browning and Winchester, the rubber movable knob are all used to adjust the arc.

Most find the best accuracy by free floating and adjusting the load. Silicon will apply pressure to the barrel. Since the other side is touching the stock it will still apply different pressure at different times.

Harmontics: http://www.rifle-accuracy.com/harmonics.htm

Heck if you try it be sure and post your results.

Vibration - that covers a lot ,all kinds of vibrations with all frequencies and amplitudes.!
High amplitude peaks can destroy machinery such as aircraft.
Radio antennas also involve 'vibrations'. We Hams match antenna length to frequency for efficiency as the antenna then has it's resonant frequency .
A musical instrument like a violin also deals with this.A string is tuned to a note or natural frequency. If a string is tuned to 500 cycles per second [Hertz] harmonics are multiples of this , twice 1000,three times ,1500 etc . A good violin is one that develops good harmonics in a good way .
A rifle barrel also has a resonant frequency and you pick components that will meet these frequencies for best accuracy.
Does that help you ?

quote:

Originally posted by Alberta Canuck:
P.S. One "damps" vibrations, not "dampens" them.

That reminds me of the "vibration damper" that goes on the crankshaft of an automobile engine. I have never heard any mechanic call it anything other than a "vibration dampener"(or harmonic ballancer).

I guess sometimes we just say/write what feels right.

I don't know if it is silicone or not, but when I pulled my .308 Browning Micro-Medallion apart for the first time, that surely looked like what Browning bedded it with. It still shoots well under an inch for the first three shots after 15 years. I didn't mess with it.

quote:

Originally posted by mete:
Vibration - that covers a lot ,all kinds of vibrations with all frequencies and amplitudes.!
High amplitude peaks can destroy machinery such as aircraft.
Radio antennas also involve 'vibrations'. We Hams match antenna length to frequency for efficiency as the antenna then has it's resonant frequency .
A musical instrument like a violin also deals with this.A string is tuned to a note or natural frequency. If a string is tuned to 500 cycles per second [Hertz] harmonics are multiples of this , twice 1000,three times ,1500 etc . A good violin is one that develops good harmonics in a good way .
A rifle barrel also has a resonant frequency and you pick components that will meet these frequencies for best accuracy.
Does that help you ?

Very good explanation and analogy!! Have never seen it done simpler or better.

My 2004 Winchester M70 Safari classic came with their hot glue bedding that looks and feels very similar to clear silicone.