Gunsmith - Free float the gun barrel on a rifle

[drycreamer]

2 min is a little long, don't you think? :)

[njmvermont]

please respond. im getting a marlin bolt action in 17mach2 and it has a heavy target barrel. will it need free floating. the reason for the free floating being the wood in the stock expanding and contracting due to weather and putting pressure in the barrel. will target barrel fix this without free floating it

[MidwayUSA]

@njmvermont If your new barrel still contacts the wood, you will need to free-float. Even though the barrel has a heavy contour, the contact from the stock can still act as a barrier to potential accuracy.

Thanks for Your Business!

[Noobpatty]

Larry doesn't seem as chipper in this video as usual...

[marinesusarule]

Thank u for this video. I recently decided to become a gunsmith. But I don't know where to start. Any tips?

[MidwayUSA]

@marinesusarule Please check your inbox, we have forwarded over some gunsmithing school information.

Thanks for Your Business!

[deeisneat]

@MidwayUSA I would very much appreciate it if you could send me that gunsmithing school information also.

[TonyInTopeka]

Does the same thing apply to synthetic stocks?

[MidwayUSA]

@TonyInTopeka Free-floating works for synthetic stocks as well. Anytime you can remove pressure on the barrel, your firearm will be more accurate.

Thanks for Your Business!

[MrSoo1985]

I have a p14 british made .303

I need parts for it , do u now any web side that I can use to purchase parts

[usapride199]

where can i find that tool

[MidwayUSA]

@usapride199 A full line of Gunline products can be found on our website midwayusa . com

If you have any additional questions or comments, please feel free to contact us at 1-800-243-3220. Our hours of operation are Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. CT; Saturday and Sunday 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. CT. You may also email us at customerservice @ midwayusa . com.

Thanks for Your Business!

MidwayUSA Customer Service

[WeAreTwoDoorsDown]

@MidwayUSA I've heard about free-floating for a while, and I was wondering if it's possible on synthetic stocks?

Unrelated, but I just placed an order on MidwayUSA, and the ordering experience is much nicer than your... "competitors"

[MidwayUSA]

@WeAreTwoDoorsDown Free-floating works for synthetic stocks as well. Anytime you can remove pressure on the barrel, your firearm will be more accurate.

Thanks for Your Business!

[garrypope60]

where I come form we don't have "dollar bills" (we have $1 coins) and I'm not sure a coin would work for this process

is it OK to use any type of bill? say a $5 $10 $20 $50 or even for those more expensive or "harder to get" guns $100 notes?

but seriously... larry you have a lot of brilliant info and easy to understand ideas that don't need a workshop full of a million dollars worth of equipment and still get professional results

[Fisherguy28]

Stupid question, but does this apply to synthetic stocks also?

[1979aerocaprice]

@Fisherguy28 yes sir

[MrSuperfrog6]

Huning,

[VicariousReality7]

This doesn't apply if your aiming device is attached to the barrel directly

[MegaDanbo]

thats the way it is bitches

[MrInventWorld]

Great Video. Thanks.

[bluejay148]

hi im wondering is there a way to port a shotgun barrel yourself with the right equptiment 

[amaroq69]

Just free floated a barrel on my Sako Finnbear .30-06 for a replacement stock! THANK YOU LARRY POTTERFIELD!!!!

[73GunMan]

think, i'll do it to my boyds stock for my remington 700 when it comes in and the barrel touches the stock

[arridedry]

humidity level stays the same around larry potterfield,

and thats the way it is

[TheShadoKnite]

I understand everything but one thing; hwo is the barrel held on if nohing is touching it? I see no barrel bands or anything so :/ ?idk but I do know that not only does the barrel flex and expend/contract but it also will morph dramatically over time because when the barrel heats (full auto or not), the differ in pressures between the places of contact with the stock vs those without contact will heat differently, warp, twist, and change the barrel plus any steel tempering will be useless.

[amaroq69]

@TheShadoKnite The receiver has a lil' tang on the front of it that allows the barrel to be free of the stock, if you've ever owned a bolt action, you'll see different variations of this tang some are thick, some are thin...the barrel is screwed tightly into the receiver, that's how the barrel is held on.

[TheShadoKnite]

@amaroq69 I own a couple bolt actions just never noticed :/ still if it's only held on by the receiver, no matter how tight it is, any force on the end of the barrel near the muzzle will act like a lever and not be very strong. It's like me holding a long pole from the far end and you trying to snatch it from me vs. with barrel band and/or caps it would be like me holding the far end of the pole and putting my other hand farther up on your side; much stronger.

[dirtyminded604]

Can you do this same method with a Ruger 10/22? or do you have to put padding in the stock channel to help with barrel droop?

[kevluv93]

oh, that's what a free floating barrel is...

[bruth07]

hey there thanks alot friend i didnt kno you could do that yourself and it was that simple ive got an older remington 700 in 243 im gonna try that with thanks again.

[JACF7427]

how much would it cost in australia to get this done to a ruger wooden stock? from a gunsmith

[Slic3R1]

Larry looked pissed off

[chicago6584]

@Slic3R1 Yeah he's not his usual peppy self today

[Str33tFiGhTeR1]

am i able to free float an m1 garand barrel? Because i want to make it as accurate as possible. I am going to buy a special scope mount and a new barrel.

[disturbedone5009]

Not really because the upper handguard and the piston both contact the barrel.

[disturbedone5009]

Sorry meant the gas cylinder and gas piston.

[bahram149]

does it efect synthetic stock as well?

cuz i have remington 710 with synthetic stock and barrel is not free fly at all,,,!!

should i try to sand it a little bit?

[NoSweatOffMySack]

ABSOLUTELY!! Its not just the way it expands and contracts, but the vibrations will change it too. A full floating barrel is step one in your accurizing of your rifle.

[bigranger16]

@bahram149

no because it wont expand and contract

[baghdaddy12]

@bahram149 because it synthetic it wont warp but you want to make sure the barrel is floating still without contact

[Dman40475]

@bahram149

A 710 isnt worth bedding. Sanding on sythetics doesnt always work as easy as wood either. Buy your self a 700 and work on that because I guarantee you wont see satisfactory accuracy for as much as you'll put into it to get it there.

[Kylef7735]

@bahram149 The synthetic stock will not expand or contract, but if your stock is touching the barrel it can decrease accuracy, so free floating wont hurt accuracy, but it might help it.

[BusterdBodycrab]

This does not truly "Improve Accuracy". By it's self. When you do this, it reduces outside influences. Accuracy is the combination of the mechanical, human skill and outside influences (Nature).

Most factory guns will out shoot the shooters skill. If you want to reduce outside mechanical influences, then you inlet the stock. Piller, bed or combination. Tune the trigger, lap bolt & scope rings. Hand load ammo, sling work, wind, sun, humidity & above all trigger time. Both range and dry firing.

[MrJivePirate]

I agree with you, however this is a very easy modification to do ad can make it easier to hit - even though barrel stress is only a small factor, it is one we can remove. +1 thumb

[jefallijay]

@BusterdBodycrab actually free floating the barrel does help accuracy. Every improvment made increases accuracy slightly. Oh and you mentioned pillar bedding, dont pillar bed, full length bedding is what you want for accuracy. The only reason why you wouldnt notice a difference in accuracy by free floating the barrel is because a stock rifle will outshoot most people anyway, so most people would not notice a difference. Master the rifle in its stock form first...

[CMgunguy44]

No, i don't believe that it puts any extra force or pressure on either the stock or the action. Where the barrel threads into the action holds all of the weight just fine. In a rifle that is pillar bedded, the screws and pillars under the action in the stock hold the extra frontal weight securely. But unless you have an extra heavy contour barrel with more than 24"of barrel, it shouldn't create pressure point in a non-pillar bedded rifle.

[GoldenColts]

I know this is supposed to make a rifle more accurate, but does anyone know if it puts stress on the materials of the barrel since they are unsupported on one side? Kind of like the way a bridge would buckle if you knocked out support columns on one end?

[bigsavage7777]

how big is the difference in accuracy, before and after??

[chillerboy134a]

Do you like hitting what you aim at? If you do it is huge. If you shoot MOB (munite of barn) not sucha big deal.

You cant miss fast enough to make up for my hits.......

[jers1320]

depending normally on the caliber but yeah its the difference between missing a target at further distances or not

[stealthbeast]

I never understood how free-floating increases accuracy... When the wood expands, yeah, it affects the barrell.. but if the sights are on the barrel, should it matter?

[SurvivalPax]

It has to do with the natural harmonics of the barrel. The barrel actually flexes when a shot is fired.

Think of a bell. When you ring the bell, it has certain sound. When you ring the barrel while touching it, it makes a different sound.

Likewise, as different parts of the barrel are touched by the stock during different weather changes, the barrel harmonics change. The barrel flexes differently than when it was sighted in, thus changing the point of impact.

[stealthbeast]

Holy crap.

That makes sense to me. Thanks lol

[SkeenDogger]

@SurvivalPax Very good description.

[Mr2ndAmendment]

When you fire a round, the barrel vibrates. It's called barrel harmonics, and the barrel is more accurate when the barrel is free to vibrate by itself without anything touching it. This all happens in miliseconds during the shot, but it's key to better accuracy.

[disturbedone5009]

If there is contact between the stock and barrel it puts pressure on the barrel which affects accuracy. Also when the round goes off the barrel vibrates so if the stock is touching it changes the vibration which also affects accuracy.

[stealthbeast]

Okay guys, that's like the 4rth guy to answer my question lol.. I understand it.

[disturbedone5009]

Ok.

[BobSwagger65]

Thanks Larry and all the guys at MidwayUSA I apprecciate it.

[kandreas147]

man u are really good nice tips...

[MolonLabe84]

good video, bedding the action to stock is important as well.

[zekomunch]

would i need to do this on a rifle that has a Synthetic Stock?

[FieroGT42]

Could have shown ways to more accurately check for interference, but still good. =)

primitiveman3: "a free float dosent make it more accurate".

Depends on the rifle, but it generally *does* help. Even on a light barreled sporter, you still want to free *most* of the barrel from interference, and have only a small contact area to dampen the vibrations.

[primitiveman3]

grime and dirt get in the barrel channel make pars get dirty depending on what type of rifle your using think about if you in a humid area or you get caught in the rain water gets into the barrel channel and ya dont know causes your stock to mold.juss glass bed the rifle. a free float dosent make it more accurate bore sighting aligning your sight/scope and jus plain shooting it is what helps with accuracy but the main thing is accuracy lies with the shooter but what do i know im jus a gunsmith.

[superstudman83]

primitiveman sounds like an ass, typical old fart who thinks he knows it all cuz thats what they taught you back in the 50's. A huge part of accuracy does lie with the shooter like you said but a floating barrel definatly helps

[dirtyminded604]

Yes, free floating a barrel does make it more accurate. Most sniper rifles are free floating barrels. When the gases expand and send a bullet down the barrel it causes vibrations against the stock/frame, free floating it removes these vibrations...

[iamcondescending]

I was watching a video on this site and they said that the reason for free floating a barrel on a sniper rifle is so it vibrates the same each time not so that it dosn't at all I'm not the end all expert I could be wrong

[KillFrenzie]

What's a sniper rifle?

[bitchcreekz1]

i think ya hunt snipes with it--is snipes good eatin

[Bladed0edge0razor]

Does the AK-47 have a free floating barrel..And is it possible to customize it have a free floating barrel??

[JustOneGunner]

No and not unless you want a HUGE project. It's operated with a piston, and that requires a gas port and attached piston tube to the barrel. You could, however, make it so that nothing but the piston tube assembly contacted the barrel, with the removal of the handguards and their mounts, among other things.

[DonQuixotec]

Bladed: Mainly high precision rifles have floating barrels.

[primitiveman3]

why free float a barrel on a hunting rifle?

[acdcguy34521]

better accuracy

[primitiveman3]

free floating is pointless on a hunting rifle unless you like having grim and dirt in your gun. a free float is best on a target gun. its called learn to shoot if your worried about accuracy its easy

[acdcguy34521]

what does grime and dirt have to do with it if the barrel is touching the stock you lose alot of accuracy if your a good shot and you got a free floating barrel you can get the best out of that gun

[JustOneGunner]

It makes the rifle more consistent, since nothing's touching the barrel, and therefore nothing adjusts when fired in that sense.

[Bladed0edge0razor]

Does the AK-47 have a free floating barrel..And is it possible to customize it have a free floating barrel??

[ComradeKalashnikov47]

does this work with semiautomatic firearms?

[Sephirius]

Yes.

[toaster1971]

Larry Potterfield is the man.

[BHT195]

If the temperature change is dramatic during hunting, then the stock will still change the POA even if there is some relief. Maybe something thicker like a washcloth? Great tips for the amatuer gunsmith, most impressive :)

[walsynugget]

Q:Is it the same principal with a synthetic stock or do I not need to bother?

[ShiNoSaru]

synthetics stocks are not as susceptible to atmospheric changes, BUT it is always a good idea to keep the stock out of contact with the barrel.

[freddyk021]

same Q as walsynugget. even tho a synthetic stock wouldnt get effect as much as a wood stock, can you still remove material in the stock to make it free floating?

[ShiNoSaru]

I'm sure you can as long as there isn't any hard bedding in the way. It won't be as pretty or easy as removing material from a wood stock however.

[lasttry666666]

from what i hear from a old gunsmith is the synthetic stocks dont move with moisture but temp can make them move . so it can in prove some .

[PaulyCracker]

Dollar bill isn't enough, it's better to use the bump test with your palm. I heard this from Darrell Holland, and it works great. You need more float than you'd think, especially if you have a bipod. 1/8" is good. However, excellent video as always! 4/5 stars.

[ShiNoSaru]

+1 dollar bill is not sufficient.

[lasttry666666]

that is what i was thinking for how is .010 of an inch going to clear when wood moves that much?

[PaulyCracker]

Actually, it's only .0043 thick. Even two isn't enough.

[Bladed0edge0razor]

Does the AK-47 have a free floating barrel..And is it possible to customize it have a free floating barrel??

[bilesteve]

another good one, thanks.