I've been reading a lot of the threads here about changing out the factory handguards for the purpose of free floating the barrel. For those of you that have done this, what kind of improvement in accuracy are you seeing? My factory M&P 10 gives me around 1.5 MOA.
Accuracy with free floated barrel?
- Thread starter huthike
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Arik
Member
It's a different. There are too many factors to be able to say that it's an improvement of .5 or 1.
You might see a little or a lot
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
You might see a little or a lot
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millisec
US Veteran
My ML-1 was sub moa (~.5) out of the box. They got that by using a quality match barrel and free floating it. Barrel fluting (does not have) might have improved that a bit more by improving barrel harmonics. Problem with free float is heat. Mine originally had a solid knurled aluminum tube with a bull barrel beneath it up to gas block. By the time you dump 20-30 rounds its to hot to handle. Now I have a 13" Troy Alpha rail and its much better having ventilation and more area to dissipate heat (old was 7" carbine tube). You can take it a step further with guns like JP where they have heat sinks to fit their barrel profiles that fit under rails. Shotguns are not much different when it comes to slugs and accuracy. A popular mod for the Versa Max is to get a stronger carbon fiber/stainless one piece tube so the barrel clamp can be removed (basically free floating it). When you fire with a barrel clamp it twerks the barrel and throws slug accuracy off. Same is true of a rifle with barrel attached handguards.
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I'm kind of curious about this topic as well. I have replaced my stock handguards with a magpul one. It seems as though the heat shield touches the barrel in all sorts of places. I figured it won't be such a big deal as the gas block is a clamping gas block so you are already getting some friction from that alone.
Anywho in the world of functional vs tacticool I too am curious about how much of a difference this makes and is it worth the added cost for the accuracy gain.
This gun is not a heavy barreled bolt action long range 1000 yard gun, no matter how bad the mall ninjas want it to be. However it is a 100-200 yard carbine based rifle that is super light and I believe does have a purpose so realistically what type of before and after accuracy are you guys getting?
Anywho in the world of functional vs tacticool I too am curious about how much of a difference this makes and is it worth the added cost for the accuracy gain.
This gun is not a heavy barreled bolt action long range 1000 yard gun, no matter how bad the mall ninjas want it to be. However it is a 100-200 yard carbine based rifle that is super light and I believe does have a purpose so realistically what type of before and after accuracy are you guys getting?
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ASH556
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I'd say it's not so much of an accuracy gain as a lack of POI shift gain, which, in terms of consistency over multiple shots, will equate to accuracy. When you put a bipod, sandbag, sling, or other pressure/stabilization point against a non-free-floating handguard, it will cause you some shift. The free-floating handguard will solve this in addition to shaving some weight over that boat anchor of a factory gas block.
cb4017
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Depending on the ammo you're shooting 1.5" may be as good as it gets. With match grade ammo my M&P 10 would shoot MOA or better out of the box. I did not notice much, if any, improvement after installing the free floating handguard. With the stock trigger and a 10x scope I'm satisfied with my M&P 10's performance.
If I want to shoot one hole groups I'll break out my custom Remington 700 SPS Tactical.
If I want to shoot one hole groups I'll break out my custom Remington 700 SPS Tactical.
mfd_engine15
Member
Out of the box, I was getting .75" groups at 100 yds and 3" groups at 300 yds. For a non-free float, I was impressed with mine. I used Hornady 165 gr. SST and GMX. Still putting a free float on it.
Same opinion man. I hear to many internet claims about guns "shooting through the same hole" that realistically aren't guns that are going to shoot through the same hole. Bolt action guns with the right hand load will be that consistent.
Don't get me wrong I love my M&P 10. And in my opinion it is a very accurate gun for what it is but it will not give you the same level of accuracy as the guns that are designed to shoot long distance yardage.
