Wood also suffers dilatation problems with changes in temperature and humidity. It’s generally impossible to achieve enough tightness between the stock and action with wooden stocks because you can’t apply too much torque on the screws without compressing the wood. This means that the action must be locked tight to the stock, and there must be no play between them. The second step is to ensure the rigidity of the action/stock assembly. Stock/Action Rigidity Glass bedding, on the recoil lug area, on a laminated stock.
The less ideal alternative is to free float the forend all the way down, and then place a point of pressure between the barrel and the end of the forend. In that case, I heartily recommend changing the stock. In some cases, your stock may be too flexible, bending too much, which would cause it to touch the barrel even if it’s free floated. If you are experiencing flyers and non-uniform groups, this trick could dramatically improve the overall accuracy and the group tightness. If there’s not enough space between the barrel and the forend, the channel must be opened with sand paper. Thus, you need an adequate clearing space, to avoid any contact. Not to mention, you could be bending the stock, applying force from your body weight, when you assume the shooting position, moving it even closer to the barrel. The barrel vibrates when we shoot, and if it’s thin, it vibrates a lot. I’ve seen this test performed with a single bill, or with a single sheet of paper, but that’s not enough. You must be able to pass at least 3 (some recommend 5) dollar bills (or, sheets of printer paper works, too), stacked together, between the barrel and the forend, all the way to the end of the chamber (where the fattest part of the barrel meets the reciever). This means that the barrel must not touch the forend at any point. The first step is to ensure the barrel is free floating.
In this post I’ll show you how to effectively put that knowledge to good use to improve the accuracy and consistency of a standard bolt action rifle to make it into your ideal long range precision rifle. In the last article, we covered rifle accuracy, with a focus on inherent accuracy and barrel vibration.
So you want the perfect long range rifle setup? Let’s talk about the things you’ll want to consider as you put together your weapons system.