A free-floating barrel is a

firearm A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...

design used in precision

rifle A rifle is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting and higher stopping power, with a gun barrel, barrel that has a helical or spiralling pattern of grooves (rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus o ...

s, particularly match grade

benchrest Benchrest shooting is a shooting sport discipline in which accuracy and precision, high-precision rifles are rested on a table or countertop, benchrather than being carried in the shooter's handswhile shooting at shooting target, paper or steel ...

rifles, to

accurize Accurizing is the process of improving the accuracy and precision of a gun (firearm or airgun). For shooting sport, accuracy is the gun's ability to hit exactly what the shooter is aiming at, and precision is the ability to hit the same place ov ...

the weapon system. With conventional rifles, the

gun barrel A gun barrel is a crucial part of gun-type weapons such as small arms, small firearms, artillery pieces, and air guns. It is the straight shooting tube, usually made of rigid high-strength metal, through which a contained rapid expansion of high ...

rests in contact with the fore-end of the gunstock, sometimes along the whole length. If the stock is wooden, environmental conditions or operational use may warp the wood, which may also cause the barrel to shift its alignment slightly over time, altering the

projectile A projectile is an object that is propelled by the application of an external force and then moves freely under the influence of gravity and air resistance. Although any objects in motion through space are projectiles, they are commonly found ...

external ballistics External ballistics or exterior ballistics is the part of ballistics that deals with the behavior of a projectile in flight. The projectile may be powered or un-powered, guided or unguided, spin or fin stabilized, flying through an atmosphere or ...

and thus the point of impact. Contact between the barrel and the stock affects the

natural frequency Natural frequency, measured in terms of '' eigenfrequency'', is the rate at which an oscillatory system tends to oscillate in the absence of disturbance. A foundational example pertains to simple harmonic oscillators, such as an idealized spring ...

of the barrel, which can reduce accuracy especially when the barrel gets hot with repeated firing. The effect of the stock on the barrel can cause the barrel to vibrate inconsistently from shot to shot, depending on the external forces acting upon the stock at the time of the shot. Such vibrations affect the bullet's

trajectory A trajectory or flight path is the path that an object with mass in motion follows through space as a function of time. In classical mechanics, a trajectory is defined by Hamiltonian mechanics via canonical coordinates; hence, a complete tra ...

, changing the point of impact. A free-floating barrel is one where the barrel and stock do not touch at any point along the barrel's length. The barrel is attached to its receiver, which is attached to the stock, but the barrel does not touch any other gun parts except perhaps the front sight, which is often mounted on the barrel. This minimizes possible variance in mechanical pressure distortions of the barrel alignment, and allows vibration to occur at the

of the barrel consistently and uniformly. Alternatives include using a stock made from composite materials which do not deform as much under temperature or humidity changes, or a wooden stock with a fiberglass contact area (" glass bedding"). Stocks which contact the barrel are still popular for many utility weapons, though most precision rifle designs have adopted free-floating barrels.

References

RifleShooter Mag
{{DEFAULTSORT:Free-Floating Barrel Firearm components