# Does barrel resting on stock really cause accuracy issues?



## *DoubleThreat* (Nov 1, 2009)

So i took my rifle to the range and it was all over the place. Noticed the front of the stock was pushing against the barrel up front pretty bad, no way can you slide a dollar up front. Took it home and removed a ton of material so you can now slide a dollar front to action with no issues. Never had this issue and have not been back to shoot again but i hope this is my fix. Im pretty gun savy so ive seen scope and copper fouling cause these kinda things but never the stock, just curious. It is a synthetic stock on remington 700 and the scope was just mounted and all screws were torqued and mounted to spec


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## RB II (Feb 26, 2009)

Yes, the stock putting pressure on the barrel can/will cause erratic accuracy.

Reason is that the pressure is different at each shot. Different amount and in a different location. May only seem to be minor, but it will cause erratic results. This is not really different than resting on the actual barrel, different amounts/location of pressure on the barrel.

If the stock is highly flexible, then even removing material to afford some paper thickness clearance when not on a bag or rest can/will cause differences in accuracy when it is on the bag/rest.

Any outside influences applied to a barrel will cause the accuracy to change, and that includes over heating of the barrel.

Recommend resting the stock near the receiver on your next trip. That will eliminate a lot of that "touching" as the stock is more rigid the closer to the receiver.


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## *DoubleThreat* (Nov 1, 2009)

So ive had the gun forever and never had these problems, only thing i can think of is this time i put my bipod on the swivel sling up front instead of like u say resting more back towards the action, ill go shoot again this weekend and see how it acts


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## RB II (Feb 26, 2009)

I can't say for sure that the barrel is touching the stock, just that if/when it does it can make for erratic accuracy. Could be the ammo, could be a fouled barrel, could be a loose stock......a bunch of could be. I recently had a rifle I have shot a good bit do similar, the stock bolts had somehow become loose and it was a 223 rifle. So it can happen. I tightened the bolts and finished reloading for that rifle. It shot pretty well. 
I would add that the Remington synthetic stocks (no brand actually, IMO) are not very rigid and I don't trust them to not touch the barrel. So I don't shoot that rifle off of a tripod for that reason.


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## mrsh978 (Apr 24, 2006)

The rem factory are pos. They flex very easily- especially in the action area- to the point of flexing the action.


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## Chase4556 (Aug 26, 2008)

It’s all about consistency. Believe some rifles were made with a pressure point in the fire end of the stock, for some reason I want to say weatherby used to or still does this. The difference is it was consistent and didn’t change.

Resting the tip of your forend on a window sill can cause contact/pressure in varying degrees. Then of course resting the barrel on a surface causes weird things.

My ruger American predator had a pretty flimsy stock. It would sometimes make contact so I got in there with some sand paper around a socket and widened it out. Then scuffed up the voids and filled it with epoxy. This stiffened everything up and added a bit of weight. Worked really well. I can now load my bipod and it still won’t flex and make contact.


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## THA (Jan 5, 2016)

every gun is different and reacts to bbl pressure points differently. Example, Ruger 10-22. I have a Clark mod and Jimmy puts a pressure point on end of stock to contact barrel. Super accurate. He did a lot of testing on this. I had a factory one and it would not shoot worth a ****. Put a piece of thick paper under barrel near end of stock and tightened up grouping. Works on some and not on others. You got to just play with it. This applies to any gun. They have a personality and you just have to find it for best accuracy. Then you gotta find the right ammo.


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## *DoubleThreat* (Nov 1, 2009)

For now im shootin factory hornady 50gr but i plan on loadin some 52gr berger to play with


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## Wolfie#2 (May 8, 2017)

I have a Savage 111with a plastic stock I bought 15 yrs ago. Never been a tack driver. First round will be dead on but will start tracking toward 10 o'clock the more you shoot outta it. Noticed after about a year and maybe a couple hundred rounds the blueing (or whatever coating the barrel has) was worn off right @ the tip of the stock. Covered the bare spots with magic marker and it wore off again. Noticed the front end of the stock was very weak. and I could push it and make it touch the barrel with very little resistance. Mind you, one of the first things I checked when I first noticed the accuracy problem was to see if was free floating, and I could slide a dollar bill all the way to the action. The fore end flexes with each shot and hitting the barrel and as the barrel heats up the problem gets worse. Thad is what is causing the problem with MY rifle. Now, it has never been a problem while hunting cause it is the first shot that should count and I have never had a problem with the first round or 2. Savage said they would replace the stock but I don't want another plastic stock. Next gun project will be a Boyd's laminated stock for this rifle.


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## RANCH (Apr 6, 2021)

Barrel is supposed to be free floating....if something is touching the Barrel example said stock ....it will affect the barrel harmonics


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## RANCH (Apr 6, 2021)

THA said:


> every gun is different and reacts to bbl pressure points differently. Example, Ruger 10-22. I have a Clark mod and Jimmy puts a pressure point on end of stock to contact barrel. Super accurate. He did a lot of testing on this. I had a factory one and it would not shoot worth a ****. Put a piece of thick paper under barrel near end of stock and tightened up grouping. Works on some and not on others. You got to just play with it. This applies to any gun. They have a personality and you just have to find it for best accuracy. Then you gotta find the right ammo.


I believe that's what this does in a sense except you can move this to different spots on your barrel to improve accuracy.....I think , I think this also plays with the barrel harmonics to help improve accuracy


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## *DoubleThreat* (Nov 1, 2009)

Little update, so i floated the stock now i can run a bill down to action and bedded the recoil lug with glass. So the factory hornady 50 vmax shoots decent, say 1” moa but the 55 gr are terrible as in more like 3”moa. Did some research and these were 1/14 which you would think would do very well in 50 and 55 but it didnt. I loaded up some berger 52gr flat base and dang the improvement. Now im happy, you can cover a dime no joke. Time to see what it does to fur. On a side note we measured the action to give us a starting point and what we found is the factory hornady sits almost 40k off the jam so mayb they dont like the jump, i put the berger at 10k. Who knows but im happy now, except for the fact i got 200 rnds of hornady 55 that are worthless in this gun


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## Sgrem (Oct 5, 2005)

Man that is so cool. Sounds like you have it dialed in. Thanks for sharing ....

Put em up for sale here in the classifieds. Bet they go quick....


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## RANCH (Apr 6, 2021)

*DoubleThreat* said:


> Little update, so i floated the stock now i can run a bill down to action and bedded the recoil lug with glass. So the factory hornady 50 vmax shoots decent, say 1” moa but the 55 gr are terrible as in more like 3”moa. Did some research and these were 1/14 which you would think would do very well in 50 and 55 but it didnt. I loaded up some berger 52gr flat base and dang the improvement. Now im happy, you can cover a dime no joke. Time to see what it does to fur. On a side note we measured the action to give us a starting point and what we found is the factory hornady sits almost 40k off the jam so mayb they dont like the jump, i put the berger at 10k. Who knows but im happy now, except for the fact i got 200 rnds of hornady 55 that are worthless in this gun



Use the worthless rounds as clean out rounds after you clean the gun fire one or two to burn out all the oil or leftover gunk from cleaning.......

Also could sell them ....


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## RB II (Feb 26, 2009)

Yep, twist rate is the MOST overlooked detail of any rifle, especially if you are trying to push the limits of bullet size and accuracy. People wonder why the 6.5 Creedmore shoots so well, they have 1/8 twist which allows them to stabilize heavier bullets....but that also affords better accuracy in the mid size for caliber bullets.


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## *DoubleThreat* (Nov 1, 2009)

My bud just ordered a bergara in 22-250 with a 1/9 twist, think were gonna try the 60 bergers but he can go way heavier. May see if the 55vmax shoots in his gun. The vmax are hard to beat on varmints


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## RANCH (Apr 6, 2021)

I love the Vmax and they love me 🤣


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## Sgrem (Oct 5, 2005)

I use those vmax in my 204. They are devastating. I have never ever found an exit wound on everything from bull frogs, rabbits, turkeys, coyotes, all the way to deer. They turn insides into a big pool of jello.


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## RB II (Feb 26, 2009)

My Rem 700 .223 Varmint 1/12 twist rifle loves the 55 Vmax, but won't stabilize a 62 grain bullet. Also loves the 55 Sierra Game Kings, target below.


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## [email protected] (Jul 12, 2006)

Guys , I’m an old goat. But some things never change. A lot of good info here on barrel harmonics. Once you figure this out , next is bullet selection. Most pick a bullet and they are determined their rifle will shoot it. If you notice for instance 22 match bullets. Makers have both 52 and 53 grain bullets. Difference is one is boat tail the other a flat base. Notice the difference in bearing surfaces. Your rifle will prefer a lot of brass touching the rifling’s or not much at all. Once you figure out which design your rifle likes, you are on your way to better accuracy.


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## rfd (10 mo ago)

I fully float all rifle bbls. Period.


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