So just how much difference does a free float front end make on these?

[copemech]

Has anyone done any before and after's on this?

 

[LlindeX]

In my very humble opinion:
If you're an exceptionally good shot, you plan on shooting competition, and/or your primary usage will be shooting further than 250 yards and you load your own custom ammunition, then you would probably see benefit from the free float forend. If your needs, or purposes, don't meet these criteria, then putting a freefloat forend on an M&P10 is a lot of hassle to go through for very little gain. Lots of people seem to be getting sub MOA performance out of their M&P10's without a freefloat. Can you really shoot better than that? Do you have a need to do so? If yes, then by all means do it. If not, then Note: in addition to the expense of purchasing the forend; to install it, you're also going to have the expense of removing your factory gas block and replaceing it with a low pro one. Secondly, S&W seems to be using a goodly amount of Loctite on these guns. Quite a few owners have had a tough time removing their factory flash hiders, and barrel nuts in order to do so. Just something to consider.

 

[MistWolf]

Haven't removed the barrel nut, but my flash hider came off real easy.

Another advantage to a FF tube is that it will let you sling up tight or rest the forearm on something without a shift in POI

 

[Kilibreaux]

Has anyone done any before and after's on this?

I would suspect any "before and afters" would have to be done at extreme range with custom made ammo "fitted" to the chamber in order to tell the difference between a free-float versus traditional handguard.

The reason is because the pressure placed on a traditional handguard tends to be transmitted by cantilever into the receiver. Add to this the massively thick barrel between receiver and FSB and the "pressure" of a support on the handguard is negated.

I have a custom built LR-308 16" and the barrel is quite massive along the distance between receiver and gas block.

"Free floating" is more about when you have long-for-thickness barrels that can and do "flex" under loading, and also tend to display irregular harmonics during firing...meaning the muzzle "whips" in a random pattern that cannot be predicted.

AR-15 pattern rifles with their modern THICK barrels from receiver to FSB are not terribly bothered by their own weight resting on a hand or support.

The REAL reason to consider a free float tube...or more practically, an aluminum forearm is HEAT! Aluminum can accept more heat than any plastic and even metal lined hand guards still contact the barrel with plastic and are subject to melting and even catching fire. An Aluminum forearm will never catch fire from heat transferred from the barrel.

 

[MistWolf]

By the time the shooter heats plastic handguards to the point they catch fire, they are abusing the rifle. At that point, the aluminum handguards will cause the shooter serious burns even with gloves.

Not everyone is using barrel profiles so thick the rifle is too heavy to carry. Even so, there's a reason the benchrest crowd free floats the stocks of their rifles, even with the thickest of barrel profiles. Pressure on the barrel doesn't just flex the upper, it flexes the barrel as well.

A free float handguard may not be required by every AR shooter or for every configuration of AR but they offer advantages. If resting a typical AR carbine on a barricade, it can cause a shift in point of impact. If the shooter puts a lot of pressure on the vertical foregrip of their duty carbine during an adrenalin rush, it can shift the the POI over 4 MOA. A free float tube lets a shooter load a bipod properly without shifting POI.

A free float tube on an AR has it's uses and not just for a narrow range of applications

 

[Arizona_Mike]

I've floated mine and I will let you know when I get a chance to do 200 and 300 yd shooting with mine at the range.

I can tell you from my range trip Sunday that when my floated Colt AR with standard carbine medium taper started shooting strange in the scope I noticed that my rail had slipped off the sand bag and my bare barrel was sitting on the sand bag. I can also tell you that I have seen significant improvement floating and pillar bedding most of my bolt rifles.

Mike