Weatherby Ultra Lightweight not free floated?

nortac

Hello, I recently purchased a Weatherby Ultra Lightweight rifle and noticed the barrel is resting in the barrel channel with front pressure from the stock on the barrel.

Question, are these rifles suppose to be this way? Would free-floating the barrel be detrimental to accuracy? Will the point of impact be consistent with the barrel like this?

Thanks much!

D.S.COLE

most factory rifles have a crossways strip of wood or synthetic material left in the barrel channel about an inch or two back from the fore end tip and about an inch wide and an eighth inch or thereabouts high. this puts a little up pressure on the barrel as its snugged into the stock.
when I glas-bed one I scrape this out and leave it free floating.
if the stock is wood and it swells or shrinks with humidity the zero can change, if its synthetic this is not a factor.
most of the time a barrel thats solidly bedded (glas) and free floated is more accurate ,and not going to change.
you didnt say what your stock is made of.
try it for accuracy and if its satisfactory and synthetic I wouldnt worry about it, it wont change .if its wood it can shift with the climate.
if accuracy isnt good enough ,glas-bed it and free float it.
while you have it apart adjust the trigger. should be much better afterwards.

richbug

I bought a MArk V a while back and was shocked to find the same thing. Mine came in the cheap Corelite plastic stock, depending on how I rested the rifle on the bags the groups would more several inches at 100 yards. I took the bump out, and groups opened up, but didn't shift arround.

I put the rifle in a factory wood laminate stock with the bump, and got better groups than initially, and the POI doesn't float arround.

MIKE WISKEY

MOST LIGHT WEIGHT BARRELS WILL GROUP BETTER IF THEY HAVE A LITTLE 'UP' PRESSURE AT THE FOREND (DAMPENS BARREL 'WHIP'). BUT THIS ALSO MAKES THE CENTER OF IMPACT SHIFT WITH ANY CHANGE IN THIS 'UP' PRESSURE (STOCK WARPAGE DUE TO HUMIDITY CHANGE).

scott

I have the super predatormaster in a 243; weighs under 6#'s...it was sent down to "hill country" to be accurized...it is free floated and groups under a 1/2" with some 3 shot groups going a 1/4"'....if you find free floating to be detrimental, you can always shim the barrel and move your shim around to "tune" your rifle