Should I free float this rifle?

[hutch]

Hi guys/gals, new to this forum. I have a winchester model 70 .243, year 1973. I want to try a few things to improve accuracy. Did the dollar trick on the barrel to see if it will slide between barrel and factory stock ( stock is wood).It won't. You can't even begin to slide it in. Is this normal on this rifle? All that i have read, suggests that the most guns may benefit from free floating the barrel. There is zero gap along the stock and barrel. What do you folks think? Any recommendations?

Thanks, Hutch

[Yotebuster]

I'll give you my 2 cents worth here. If If I was to float the barrel, I would probably bed the action/ Recoil lug etc. Try to get all the shift out of it. Floating it might really help, It has on several of mine, But I also had it bedded as well.

[MagMan]

It couldn't hurt to try. Just shim the barrel up by the recoil lug with some business cards or something. If it looks like it some improvement was gained then I would do it the proper way. If you decide to do it the right way and open up the barrel channel I would take the time to bed it.

It can't hurt to try.

[britz]

If I remember right (many here can tell you for sure), bedding and free floating isn't that expensive. Free floating is easy but I have always had my rifles professionally bedded for @ $70 or so.

I agree with magman.

[LewisH]

I glass bedded and free floated my 1972 M70 .338, and then found it shot best with 8lbs. up pressure on the forend tip.

As we all know, rifles often behave very much like women, i.e., very particular about they do and don't like.

[MagMan]

and then found it shot best with 8lbs. up pressure on the forend tip.

I'm sure I would have burned up many bullets before I figured out it was 8lbs. That or sent it to someone else to figure out.

[LewisH]

I had read somewhere that 8-10lbs was about the right forend up-pressure to try to improve the accuracy of a sporter weight barrel that did not shoot well free-floated.

I hung that weight on the inverted barrel (stock held firmly in large padded vise), and inserted shims between barrel and forend tip to fill the space.

The rifle shot much better with the up-pressure, so I repeated the process, this time filling the space with Devcon Steel, which formed an inch long, 1/2 wide pad after drying and shaping.

As I reported, the old girl groups much better with the forend up-pressure: (1-1 1/2" with Nosler 250gr PTs/ 75gr H4831/ F215s).