Free floating barrel

[Michigan Flinter]

  I was at a Chunk Gun match last week and we were talking about doing different things to our rifles to improver our score. One shooter said he was thinking about Free Floating his barrel to see if it would help. What is your opinion on doing this ? How would a person go about doing this? Thanks for your responce to these two questions.

[smylee grouch]

I dont think I would do it, seems that I would want the barrel to only move back on recoil and not twist or shift and throw my shot off before the bullet made its exit.   

[Greyfeather]

The underhammer design is doing well in chunk matches, that is about a free floating barrel as you will see.
John

[westerner]

Free floating barrel?  Hmmm?   Seems to be a term used loosely.   Even if you do manage to build a rifle with ( free floating ) barrel, once you set the barrel on cross sticks or a chunk or log, it is no longer a freefloating barrel.  It's hard for me to understand why a moderator has not thrown this topic over the fence.    

                 Joe.

[Daryl]

yeah - why not- also pertains to normal rifles?  Suffice to say, free floating will not work in a longrifle - lack of strength in the wood and tang region of the stock. Joe has made a good point - once it touches a rest, it is no longer free floating. To have a floating barrel, a stock of some sortis required under the barrel, to rest on the support.

Proper bedding of the barrel in a stock is necessary for best accuracy, whether it's a mixed compound epoxy-type material or perfect wood/metal fit. The underhammers have this aced, unless you hold the gun by it's barrel or on a wooden forend that is attached - then it is no longer floating.

[Jerry V Lape]

I agree free floating a muzzleloader with anything approaching a traditional design isn't practical.  The main idea of the free floating barrel is to minimize interference with the barrels natural harmonic vibration so it repeats the same pattern with each shot.  Does work to some extent in a modern rifle provided you don't change the ammo is equally consistent.  With a muzzle loader  you might be able to tune the vibration with a variable position weight on the barrel so the projectile leaves the muzzle at the null point of the vibration - but the difference in group size will probably be lost well inside your error in sighting. 

[Leatherbelly]

   Ok Joe...
 ...but remember,lots of guys are just breaking in with black powder and we should cut a little slack here. Modern rifles shoot better by being free floated.With modern guns the stock supports the barrel.As we all know,with longrifles, the barrel supports the stock. Slow twist, low velocity round balls don't create "lash" like a high power cartridge gun.Yes, there is some harmonic vibration with a muzzle loader, but nothing compared to a modern 9 1/2"twist cartridge rifle. Lash doesn't exist so free floating is not needed with our round ball guns.

[westerner]

 Agreed.   The term ( free floated barrel )  Is grossly mis used these days.  Trying to apply it to an ALR is just silly.

A fellow on another forum wrote that a washer under a forestock created a free floating barrel.     

I dont see where it fit's on this forum.   Plus I get to stick Daryl in the ribs a little.   


                   Joe.

[blunderbuss]

It's my understanding that some barrels were swamped to dampen the barrel whip. They understood barrel whip they couldn't see it in action however.

[Daryl]

I personally cannot envision a whippier barrel than one that's swamped. I envision that enlarge end making circles about a central axis.

If I had a swamped barrel, it would be propelry bedded in glass, full length - or, at the breech and muzzle only, floated in between - the other alternative for full stocked firearms, antique or modern.

Of course, unless fulled bed in wood or glass, the stock would be even more fragile.