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free float worth it or no?

2K views 17 replies 10 participants last post by  moleman 
#1 ·
with all the rather inexpensive free float quad rail kits out there it is rather tempting to go ape-shit and free float-quad rail/mall-ninja everything but the kitchen sink.

supposedly a free float improves accuracy.


the comp shooters pretty much use free float rails/tubes any time the rules allow.

now i have shot the old ar.m16 for eons with just the plastic GI hand-guards and have found it to be more accurate than most people can shoot.

in theory the floated barrel is a big + for accuracy. now how many have noticed an improvement with the float and how much?


i sort of think the free-float quad is more of a mall-ninja bragging rights thing than anything else --but they are handy to mount shit on.
 
#2 ·
I read an articles in a gun magazine that tested free floated barrels vs non free floated and found on average of 1/4 inch m.o.a. improvement in accuracy at 100 yards. Does it improve accuracy yes. Is it a big + for accuracy, I would say no. If you can afford the extra cost it is always nice to know you are getting the best out of your rifle but in the end it comes down to the shooter.
 
#3 ·
I'm a firm believer in free floated barrels. I started using free float tubes on AR's back in the 80's when Olympic arms started selling them. If you're shooting from a rest, it doesn't take that much downward pressure to throw a shot off with a warm barrel. Nearly all of the National Match rifles at Camp Perry have free floated barrels - because free floating really helps! A free floated AR 15 can shock the hell out of a hard core bolt rifle shooter.
 
#5 ·
the barrel (a good barrel)is more effective on accuracy, than the float tube but the free float tube has more to do with the zero shifting due to sling pressure while shooting positions..so in effect it may still shoot tight groups but not where you want them to be at distance.. B2B
 
#6 ·
i sort of doubt a FF will improve the groups by a whole 1/4"--a 1/16" maybe--LOL

it might improve the groups a little but no way a sling is going to move POI much --that is less you got a loose barrel nut and that is a whole nother story--LOL
 
#7 ·
It will be more noticable with a pincil barrel profile, but slinging up tight into an ar15 can change the point of impact quite a bit even if the barrel is properly set up. It just removes a couple varibles that the user can effect a change in point of impact. One of my best shooting barrels was an extra heavy cmp style barrel from eagle arms. It was so heavy that they had to run a groove in the barrel for the gas tube to sit in. You could not sling up tight enough on that barrel to effect accuracy. I also had a mini 14 that you could change the point of impact almost a whole foot at 100yds by slinging up tightly I can see that the free float tube has it's place, but for what most of us use our guns for it is a waste of money. ..They do look neat though and often enough thats all the justification needed.
 
#8 ·
all i can say is my 9mm carbine has a free float quad rail , mainly because i got a cheap --probably Taiwan knock off amazon for peanuts.


everybody says 9mm carbines ain't accurate --all i can say is this one is punching the rounds nearly through the same hole @ 50m-- that seems awful damn good for a pistol powered carbine.


i don't know if it is the free float --or that bull-dog stainless steel barrel making it so accurate--


if i had to guess i would say --it the barrel--LOL
 
#9 ·
Hello All,

Like most things in life, Free Floating is just one aspect that affects accuracy.

Here is my $0.02 for what it is worth:

Accuracy is achieved by incorporating the following into any firearm.

1. The barrel must be a heavy enough profile to resist "Whipping". All barrels "Whip" to an extent. The heavier the profile, the less the "Whip". Fluting will help with rigidity, and dissipating heat.

2. Free Floating simply insulates a barrel from being acted upon by external forces. A cold-bore shot from a free floated barrel will be just as accurate as it is from a "normal" barrel, simply because the barrel is cold, and most resistant to "Whip" and heat.

3. Blue-Printing. All of the parts that comprise a rifle, being correctly fitted together, with square and true mating surfaces. As the rifle heats up, there is little or no "heat warping" since all of the mating surfaces are square and true. Duh.

4. The rifle needs to "fit" the shooter. Length of pull, cheek weld, focal distance to rear sight, and everything else that you want to mention right down to balance and grip size all contribute to a 10 shot group at 500 meters all perforating a heart sized target, vs. a 12" group.

Again, this is just my set of beliefs. But, I can back this up with an AR, and AK, an SKS, a Mauser, an Enfield, a Springfield, a 1917, and any Remington 700 or Savage 10 / 110. I can not say this about a Mosin, since I have never built one with my own little hands, but I am certain that these rifles share the same set of physics that the rest do.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
 
#11 ·
i think this is what was wrong with my uncles browning auto shotgun --

all kinds of warped and miss aligned parts = scattergun that shoots a yard and one foot to the LEFT!

damn thing about the browning though it still functioned fine--lol.
 
#10 ·
It will be more noticable with a pencil barrel profile, but slinging up tight into an ar15 can change the point of impact quite a bit even if the barrel is properly set up.
A CMP or high power shooter using a leather sling on a AR 15 type rifle can put enough windage on a standard barrel (A2) from sling pressure alone to move the strike of the round out of the 10 ring at 100 yards.. easy let alone at 600 yards.. A free float tube is dam near mandatory in High power shooting if you want to win or shoot well.. As far as accuracy goes it is quality of the barrel that makes the most difference to accuracy (along with solid lock up) and a quality projectile (bullet) B2B
 
#12 ·
Just got to this post late. FF tubes pretty much keep anything from effecting the barrel giving it a more true point of impact. I have one on a S&W M&P 15 and love it. Many people get tight into there slings and when teh sling is mounted to the barrel it effects it even more. So now the thing to do is get a FF hanguard and attach the sling onto it as to not throw of the point of impact. If you put stress on that barrel you get unusual wear patterns in the barrel as well. I have another AR without FF tubes and my dad even has a 1st Gen AR with the rotary rear sight and the triangle hanguards and I will say I am accurate with all of them, but I have heard of accuracy increasing as much as 50% with them. I have gone 10 for 10 at 500 yds with an M16 A2 so like I said I dont notice it severely but I'm just an AR guy. There is a purpose to them though and it makes a difference for some guys.
 
#13 ·
To me if you're a competetive shooter, the free float is mandatory. If you're just a rugular shooter that busting paper and/or home defense, then there is ZERO need for a FF handguard. Of course unless you're into the Mall Ninja thing, so you can brag online about how accurate your AR is compared to everyone eles obviously inferior weapon because it doesn't have a "insert brand name and part here"!!! LOL.
 
#14 ·
Hell yea,, I free float everything, even my $89 Wal Mart Savage 22, and that was just a piece of milk jug between the stock and action lug, but it even made that one drive tacks, even though it shot great before, busting penney's at 50 m now one after another, no issue, before 1" groups. And all with 5 minites work and a piece of milk jug, not very high tech at all. Try it out, it really works well believe it or not.

EVEN BUBA,,, can do it!!!
 
#16 · (Edited)
bellson..

Very good info.. Interesting.. Reading one of the gun books, I could not believe the barrel really does bend.
But the Mosin.
Check out Mr. "White Death."
Top sniper WWII... Finn. Russian commie killer..
Rifle, old beater Mosin Nagant.
First 500 kills, with no sights. :rofl:
His next 201 kills, they broke down and bought him a scope..
That was nice of the cheap skates..
Total confirmed now 701.
Unconfirmed?
 
#18 ·
Very good info.. Interesting.. Reading one of the gun books, I could not believe the barrel really does bend.
But the Mosin.
Check out Mr. "White Death."
Top sniper WWII... Finn. Russian commie killer..
Rifle, old beater Mosin Nagant.
First 500 kills, with no sights. :rofl:
His next 201 kills, they broke down and bought him a scope..
That was nice of the cheap skates..
Total confirmed now 701.
Unconfirmed?

There are some very interesting stories about him, and what all the russians did to try to get rid of just him....a single soldier.
 
#17 ·
i saw some ninjas ar-15 the other day--it was free floated and quad railed and even the quad rail had its on angle mount rails! which held more rails--damn rail crazy!--


i really need the FF quad just to be in with that IN crowd--sort of a fashion statement--LOL!
 
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