Free floating barrel?

Question

I know that it increases accuracy but why does it do that?

Answer 1

The barrel isn't being pushed harder on one side than the other by the stock.  Also to check if a gun has a free floating barrel try to slip a dollar between the forend and the barrel.  It should slide without binding all the way back.  Some say free floating a barrel is the economy way of making a gun, however I bought a tikka t3 chambered in 22-250 with a bull barrel that will shoot dum-dums (little lollypops) at 150 yards all day long.  

Answer 2

If you're betting money on it, that's the way to place your bet, but free-floating doesn't always improve accuracy. Remington's 700 sporters have always had a pressure point under the end of the fore-end to improve accuracy compared to fully free-floating, and it generally works for them. They do sell a pile of them.

When you fire, there's a thing called barrel whip. Please don't confuse this with recoil; they're totally different things. The barrel actually oscillates very much like when you snap a bullwhip, though of course to a much smaller degree. Free-floating allows this to happen unhampered by the barrel touching the fore-end. On the other hand, the pressure point can dampen the oscillation. But especially with wood stocks, the dampening may not be consistent from one shot to the next, and if that's the case, accuracy can suffer.

Answer 3

any pressure on the barrel will cause harmonic stresses that affect accuracy... free floating simply is a process were we make sure the stock material is not in contact with the barrel at any point.

glass bedding goes along with this process... adding a layer of fiberglass in the barrel chanel and were the action beds stiffens the stock.

Answer 4

The stock does not put pressure on the barrel to flex it or influence the barrel vibration to decrease consistency between a string of shots.  Even if the barrel is free floated, a cheap stock can end up putting pressure against it if you use a sling or bipod, etc to shoot with.