recoil lugs by nature are what the name implies. they are a boss or lug the holds everything into a certain position. of course surface area, mass, shape, position, and strength make a difference among other factors.

i like those actions with integral recoil lugs. they are easier to work with in my opinion when building and accurizing rifles and they are nearly always tough as nails. when building rem 700s and others it is typical to replace the stock (small) lug with a large aftermarket lug.

to take it a step further it is important to remember that the first thing we try to achieve when accurizing a rifle are the barrel to action points of contact. we strive to build things that are "straight" thus the surfaces are trued so things fit well. when you screw a barrel onto an action you want both mating surfaces to be true and to be centered around the bore. then you add a recoil lug in the case of the 700 and others that fits between them. thus, it is the recommendation of folks like Tubbs that the recoil lugs be surface ground on both sides to ensure they are flat...

i prefer to skip that step and run actions that don't require additional lugs to be sandwiched between the action and barrel. again, a personal preference, but one to consider just the same...

for the purposes of popping out the back door and shooting a coyote or deer at 80 paces, we don't need to worry about all this work. but for precision shooting all these things become factors. thus, there are many ways to accomplish the same goal and many opinions likewise.

that's a good question. i'm not sure my answer will be right. however, i'll share with you what i believe and understand. there are many folks on this forum that have been neck deep in these matters for a lifetime. i'm mostly a newbie in the grand scheme of things. thus, i try and throw in the occasional "disclaimer" in case i screw the pooch...



that said, for years it has been understood that for the majority precision rifles the situation of "free floating" is preferred. i happen to subscribe to this for one major reason: consistency... consistency will help gain accuracy, as you can build, manipulate, alter, and otherwise change a myriad of things (primer, powder charge, bullet, trigger, etc.) to make subtle changes and we depend on the consistency of each change to take us to a new level of accuracy.

free floating allows for quite a bit. there are positive cooling aspects to free floating. as the barrel heats and cools it shifts and changes. although slight this happens. if the barrel isn't touching or rubbing something like the stock in most cases the effect of this heat and distortion will be less. you kind of get the picture.

barrel whip, harmonics, and other forces are still present, but with length, diameter, and rigidity of the barrel contour we guard against the negatives as best we can.

there is much much more to it than the brief explanation i understand. however, it is interesting that you mention barrel whip and harmonics. there is growing acceptance in precision shooting of means to "tune" this harmonic vibration. in all honesty it cannot be removed. we can dampen it quite a bit or otherwise offset it, but newton's laws dictate we cannot remove it...

some folks have used things as crude as a huge lug nut thread over a barrel wrapped with a bicycle inner tube while threading the nut up and down the barrel looking for the "sweetspot" in terms of accuracy. there are tuners built now that are threaded onto the tip of your barrel with micrometer style adjustments.

i was inspired by a thread i read on snipershide to do some barrel tuning of my own. to took apart a crappy old 1" micrometer and epoxied the "nut" into my rifle stock perpendicular to the barrel. having drilled the hole through the stock i threaded the micrometer rod into the nut, capped with a nylon cover so the barrel wouldn't be scratched as i adjusted it. i crudely cut a slot into the end of the rod so i could adjust the tension put on the barrel with a coin at my range. long story made short i ended up ruining an average micrometer and i never saw a significant accuracy increase. the important part was that through trying to tune i saw dramatic changes in accuracy to the negative. this is important... although my method didn't show an increase there was a change i could make that was repeatable. as such i'm of the opinion that a positive increase can be made.

there are many flaws with my method. each time the barreled action would be removed you'd have to reset and find again the sweet spot among others. thus the barrel tuners that are barrel mounted look a bit easier and repeatable. still, it goes to show that harmonics play a part in accuracy...

i have several weatherby mark v rifles that have stocks that are built from the factory with pads at the stock tip providing 11lbs of upward pressure. granted this is mostly from the fact that i'm running pencil barreled rigs in monster magnum chamberings, so ol' roy was onto something when he tried to dampen and lessen the effects of a barrel being tossed violently under the shaking of a pretty good "bang"... ;)

to wrap up my comments, the free floated barrels typically see the most consistent accuracy for the average shooters... there are other means that may be better, but they also require more work and in all likelihood are less forgiving in situations other than bench shooting...

do i think that free floated barrels on average are better than those without? mostly... do i think that "tuned" barrels are better than free floated barrels? yeah... it is certainly the case they appear that way... for the average varmint or tactical shooter which is the way to go? for practical purposes at this juncture i think free floating makes the most sense...

i'm not as in know regarding the BOSS system as many here. but it is my understanding that it essentially is screwed in and out in an effort to tune vibration, and thus change harmonics. the fact that some are combination muzzle brakes is probably more personal preference used in magnum chambers, but again, there can be different outcomes to either. the BOSS was marketed specifically as a barrel tuner and there are those who really were able to dial them in. i bought three win 70 classic laredo long range hunters in the mid 90s... two in 7STW and one in 7mag. i skipped the boss on all three as i didn't want to give up barrel length to do it. i wished i'd tried a BOSS on one of the two 7STWs just so i could test them side by side a bit... i wasn't into learning or understanding at that point in my shooting life or i'd have considered it. i was more interested in blowing shit up...

the BOSS system seems to have merit, but primarily as a barrel tuner, not as a brake that directs gas in different directions.

Since it's been mentioned here . . . pics of a Rem 788 in cal. 308. An oldie but a goodie. This was my 2nd rifle ever, bought when I was 14yo in the late 80's. With a cut-down 20" barrel it shoots 1.5 MOA with Federal P308F (150gr NBT).











EVOlutionary

great action. not any too common in the precision world, but also, the volume of browning rifles out there pales compared to many others, so maybe it is just a numbers thing. traditionally folks are less prepared to "chop up" a browning due to their value which is generally a bit higher than other rifles that are sold within the same market. either way, you'll probably do fine. just understand the accessories aren't "bolt on" available if you desire them. thus, a good smith will have to build or modify specific parts if you want to do some of the DBM stuff, stocks, or other items that are common.

Quite true......I shot my stocker 788 in Hunter Benchrest class for a year or so in 308 with 150 gr Nosler BTs over 42.5grs of VV N-133 (2.860 OAL)

It would repeatedly make beautiful little cloverleafs during warm-up and sight-in

This was a bone stock rifle that I'd floated the barrel in the cracked original stock. She's now my favorite deer rifle .

I also received the 788 action back from my smith . He stuck a fresh Lilja pipe on it in 6BR......need to start working on the stock for her (Im horrible at procrastinating )

Here are some Ruger M77 MK II pictures.

LOL, disregard the scope, it is just on there for testing.

You may add them to your original post.

I suggest that you copy and save them for yourself, that way that if they get moved or deleted from the site they are hosted at you will still have them.

Hey Mike , check your e-mail , I sent a link for the pics of my Nesika 338 Lapua project.

If you cant get into it , gimme a holler .

Septic. would like to see Howa offer a fast twist in the 223.

we need to add some new actions to this. if anyone has something we haven't covered, please consider taking pics at the same distances, angles, etc. we have for proper comparison and i'll host them all together.

thanks!


-michael