I am a fan of free-floating - none of my rifles are anything but, and own several Ruger 77 OM- all of which now shoot 1.25 MOA or less with most any loads, bedded and free-floated. But then I'm a gunsmith. I have never found a rifle that did not shoot consistently better over 5 rounds free-floated than it did with fore-end pressure- but it could happen, I suppose. It might shoot tighter 3 shot groups, but 5 or 10 rounds would spread out.... The arguement could well be made about the value of 3 rounds vs more in hunting situations. In fact, I myself chose to go with consistent 5/10/20 round 1.25 groups, vs, 5 inch groups- 5 rounds, the first 3 of which would cloverleaf, pre- free-floating the bbl. in a Ruger 77 '06. I killed a caribou at @ 200 yards just a few days ago with it. I favor consistency over anal tight, within reason, and this 17 inch bbl rifle is good to 400 yards if I do my part.
WTF are you thinking of messing with something that shoots this kind of group- factory or not - ? This sub MOA mania is way out of control. Good enough is good enough! At least for most hunting situations. And abything 1.5 MOA is certainly good enough for most opf us- the rifle is better than we can hold....
The best shooting rifle I ever had was a factory standard RU 77V in .25-06, with handloads. It had considerable fore-end pressure which I never relieved, not knowing squat about guns at the time. I probably would, now... It didn't shoot factory loads worth a crap, but that $19.95 Lee Loader did wonders with neck-sized cases - and the caribou feared....
