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Posted: 5/11/2005 5:02:37 PM EDT
| If your not going to use a sling to shoot is there any advantage to having a free floated barrel (handguard)? |
Very little to no external forces felt on the barrel, such as sling pressure, bipod pressure, etc. The barrel is allowed to vibrate to it's own natural harmonics with no external interference, such as handguard caps. I think unhindered thermal expansion and contraction may play into this as well. There is probably more theory than this, but these two are the big hitters. Try this someday if you are equipped. Take a standard 20" rifle, with the standard handguards and sling swivel on the sight base. Shoot off hand with the sling hanging loose and see where your POI is. Now sling up real tight and repeat the process. You should see a shift in POI. |
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ian187 You could try your link for every question on here. Do you post this for every question? Evil Machinist - Quote - “Very little to no external forces felt on the barrel, such as sling pressure, bipod pressure, etc. The barrel is allowed to vibrate to it's own natural harmonics with no external interference, such as handguard caps. I think unhindered thermal expansion and contraction may play into this as well. There is probably more theory than this, but these two are the big hitters. Try this someday if you are equipped. Take a standard 20" rifle, with the standard handguards and sling swivel on the sight base. Shoot off hand with the sling hanging loose and see where your POI is. Now sling up real tight and repeat the process. You should see a shift in POI.” Maybe I should clarify my question a little. I have a Colt 16 inch barrel carbine. Is there any advantage to having a floated barrel (handguard) on this for offhand shooting? No sling No bipod. I don’t think I can shoot good enough offhand to tell a difference in barrel harmonics due to handguard caps or thermal expansion. I don’t think 99% of shooters could tell any difference on target either. So why do I see a lot of 16 in barrel AR’s with floated barrels (handguards) ? |
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