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I noticed my 358 wasn't grouping quite like i wanted it to. I had a thought as i was laying the plastic stevens stock in the rest and bags.
When fired, can the flexy stock affect bullet path?
My gut instinct says the bullet's out of the barrel before the stock actually really reacts in the firing process.... but maybe someone here knows better?
Just wondering...
I have two Stevens 200 and they both shoot great when shot properly and not put undue force at the fore end tip. If you are using a sling tightly I could possibly see problems by letting the stock touch the barrel. I would be more inclined to blame bedding screw torque or the load itself for group size. (barrel vibrations)
Yes the fore stock will move but keeping your bags or rest away from the fore end tip of the stock should be all that is required to eliminate stock and barrel flexing.
[QUOTE=Carphunter;149024] When fired, can the flexy stock affect bullet path? [QUOTE]
Yes it can. Yes the bullet is moving fast, but there is otherthings going on, that are moving just as fast if not faster than the bullet is traveling.
It is not to say that the stock can shoot small groups, it just takes a lot more consintration, effort, and luck, to do it. The problem with the cheap plastic stock is the flex under the action, everyone is tring to put a band-aid fix, by reinforcing the forarms and this is not where the problem lies. You may have intentianly flencheddo to the heavy recoil of the round, causing problems on the target. One other thing is there may be things going on that you may not realize, such as wind changes, light changes, changes in mirrage, and so one that will also change the point where a bullet impacts the target.
Ya.. i had my suspicions.
I know everything else... wind, load deviation, etc... but knowing how much this stock flexes... i was just wondering.
I'm thinking about taking this rifle down to pieces again, and putting a diff stock on it, trying to build a detach mag for it...and even reprofiling the barrel (I made it heavy enough to do a lot of load development, but it's heavier than i want for hunting).
If I'm going to do all this... I'll restock it too.
I keep hearing about how terrible the flex is in the plastic stocks. Well, the one I have must have been made from a different plastic because it is pretty stiff. My rifle is a former 7 mag flat back converted to 7 mauser and it is sub MOA off the bench with a front bag. I have tried to flex the forestock enough to touch the barrel and it takes a good bit of twist to move it enough to cause a problem. I can see where a bipod or very taught sling might move it but even then it would take a lot of force. Because I hunt often getting rained or snowed on I can't see any reason to change out this stock. If you are concerned try to flex your stock by hand and see what you have before indescrimenantly going off and spending money without checking.
El Lobo
Mine takes very little effort for the leading edge of the stock to add pressure on the barrel. Just the weight of the rifle on the bipod will cause interference.
I already know it's a limp noodle. I can flex the stock by hand into the barrel. I also can see while it's in my Boonie Packer sling, that the sling will pull the stock into the barrel.Quote:
Originally Posted by ellobo
In my experimenting, gonna see if that type of contact is affecting the gun much. But...my reason for this original post has more to do with the more longitudinal flex down the long axis of the gun when fired.