Free Floating Stutzens?

[techman]

I am taking down my CF2 to Restore the woodwork and I will almost certainly find a raised part of the stock about 4" from the end of the wood that touches the barrel.
Questions;
Are there free floating stutzens.
Should I remove this and free float.
Should I leave well alone.

 

[BuckarooUK]

Obvious question - how well does it shoot & is it accurate?

 

[Muir]

I like that question! How well does it shoot??

I had fellow come into my shop one day dsaying how upset he was that SAKO left a little bit of wood in the barrel channel about 3" behind the foreend tip. "How careless!" He went on to say that it was probably the reason his 7mm Mag hadn't grouped better than an inch for threee shots. So, he told me, he told me he took it out. He was very proud of himself.

About two weeks later he came in and showed me some 2.5 MOA targets, saying that his SAKO had a problem. It wouldn't shoot! I gave him SAKO's US importer's address and told him to see if he could order that bit of wood from their parts department.

If it shoots, leave it.~Muir

 

[ecoman]

I seem to recall that Mannlicher Stutzens are freefloaters.

So what's going on then ? Seven year itch on curiosity so see if something which already works can be 'improved' ?.

AS my reloading mentor said. "If it ain't bust - don't fix it "

 

[Hales Smut]

Just like ecoman says : don't try to fix something , what isn't broken .

 

[BuckarooUK]

I like stutzens - i just really like the way they look. I even want to buy one, but everytime people mention them a hoard of others scream how innacurate they are.

A certain well known loud mouth in the BDS training dept spent 20 mins slagging them off knowing that a guy had one on our level 1 course. Poor guy was a nervous wreck when it came to the shooting test. Whilst i don't value his opinion, that and the other bad stories does make me loathe to part with the money.

 

[8x57]

A friend of mine had a CF2 stutzen in .308win some years ago. He became disapointed with the accuracy he was getting. He was advised to simply remove the metal nosecap/ barrel band and the improvement was amazing. It didn't cost him anything to try it and if it didn't work it was just a matter of replacing it.

 

[Stand Buck]

A certain well known loud mouth in the BDS training dept spent 20 mins slagging them off knowing that a guy had one on our level 1 course.

Who was that then?

 

[techman]

Thanks for replies chaps.

ecoman/hales, Just curiosity really. The rifle is giving around 1MOA off a shooting bag, but just had thoughts of how i might improve this while the stock was off.

8x7, I will have a few shots at the target with the barrel band removed and let you all know the result.

 

[Heym SR20]

Craig Boddington, in Accurate Rifles recounts how he had a Mannlicher Schetzen that was a lovely rifle but never shot well until he put a bit of packing (two or three business cards thick) between the stock and the barrel about half way along - ie where a normal forend tip would be - then easily shot sub 1 inch groups. He suggests light barrel sporters often shoot much better with some positive pressure on the barrel than purely free floating.