AF barrels are "Free Floated"?
I have been asked if AF rifles have a free floated barrel.
The answer is no. While they do not have a barrel band that does not make them “Free Floating”. Free floated barrels are isolated from the stock of a gun to avoid any deviation of the stock, or in an airguns case the airtube, has on the barrels accuracy. Basically the only parts of the barrel and action touching the stock is the receiver in a free floated rifle.
The airforce guns are unique due to them securing the barrel via 2 bushings directly to the stock of the rifle. It is not attached to a receiver at the rear of the barrel like a traditional guns but directly to the stock. It is this attachment to the stock that keeps them from being considered a free floated barrel.
So while the AF guns are very accurate it is important to remember the barrels are not true “Free Floated” and careful handling of the stock is a must for accuracy.
Here is a “Free Floated” Rapid barrel
Here are picts of AF barrels with bushings installed.
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So is this barrel “Free floated” and if so how is it different then any other barrel with a barrel band 1.5″ from the muzzle?
IIRC there was a guy that cut grooves in the bushings and added orings to it so it would not touch the frame
Mans got a point Marge..
what if u considered the bushing area as the reciver then i guess it would be free floating
the breech end of the barrel has no effect on the rest of it being floated
consider that the AR has a barrel extension that the bolt locks and unlocks within…a far higher impulse harmonic than the slight but cushioned movement of the AF breech as it taps the top hat.
another point is the hammers are frame riding versus the lower friction barrel riding striker Leupy offers
the term free float refers only to the barrel not making contact with the stock on a conventional weapon
given the unconventional nature of the AF design it could best be referred to as a semi free float system as at least on the 24″ barrels more floats than doesn’t.
it is hard to call it a true free float system
then again neither is the Barret M82A1 in my opinion
I’ve got a few parts to make for fellow members but if I’m still in the tinkering mood I think i’ll give it a go …..I’m thinking that the single bushing should be about 2/3’s the length as the two factory bushing locations… 🙄
From Wiki…..
Lama,
Not to mention the bolt riding up and down on the barrel and all the other hardware it is surrounded with.
It is a unique set up. Just look at the SS 12″ barrel set up. How much is supposedly floated? An inch and a half? 😀
I thought about that as well….then got lazy 😛
When I first read it I though it was an obvious no.
However it is a bit weird, since there isn’t a true action/receiver area. Valve, barrel, trigger, and scope mount are all in different spots. So it doesn’t even have the right layout to have a free floating barrel by the standard definition.
I still say it is a no, but it is definitely different than most of the other guns that aren’t.
I know this has been brought up before but I wonder if a single longer bushing would help with the frames influence on accuracy of the barrel???
River,
AF barrels attach directly to the stock in 2 locations. A front location and rear location.
The front location is even akin to a barrel band.
Sam ❓
Depends for example on my 16″ barrel there is no bushing holding the barrel to the shroud. On a longer barrel and longer shroud a bushing can be used to align the shroud and moderator.
It is all an alignment game. When you install a barrel to a bushing you want a tight fit. When you install a bushing to the frame you want a nice close fit. But since both are held in with set screws it will be close enough but not always perfectly concentric.
No matter what kind of moderator you install or screw on to the frame there is no guarantee the frame itself internally is perfectly straight from one end to another. Nor that the barrel being held in with set screws has not deviated a cunts hair. Or that the bore of the barrel is perfectly centered in the barrel that is being held by the bushings. All tolerances will add up but at the end of the day what is important is that the pellet can exit the shroud without clipping.
We have all heard how barrels bores are not perfectly centered on the blank and yet we use the OD of the barrel to attach bushing to the ID of the frame and when installed the ID (bore) of the barrel is not always perfectly centered in the frame.
So yes sometimes we have to rotate and tweak a bit to get all the holes lined up. We have been doing it successfully for years and will continue to do so.
WOK:
in most regards the AF barrels are free floated, the problem is the design of the frame itself.
what I have been considering is cutting the frame behind the power wheel window and threading externally for the an M16 barrel nut then fitting the barrel up with a “bushing” similar in profile to the M16 barrel extension.
The advantages are many…
first off it would be a true free float
second one could install free float AR15 match hanguard tubes or rail systems
third…it would be a very rapidly dismountable system, just spin the forend tube off the threaded frame and you could slide out the barrel/forend tube for transit as well as swapping out spacers, hammers, springs and the like.
could make for a compact system with no need for allen wrenches particularly if one inserts a compression washer in the forend tube.
Now some may question the rigidity of a hand dismountable barrel mounting system but it has been used many times over the decades on a wide variety of high end target rifles as well as systems such as the Armalite AR7 which was not a great slouch in accuracy regardless of the asthetics. I have also used hand tite forend tubes on dedicated .22LR AR builds with no negative results on accuracy so I do feel its doable within the AF line as well
been considering doing this to one of my junker frames to see how it pans out as kind of a beta test before I go off and build a custom frame for my 9mm
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like i said WOK if you looked at the bushing end as a reciever then u could possibly say it is floated thats if u were using a longer barrel im not trying to start an arguement just another perspective the barrel band at the end does connect it to the rest of a gun does anything hold the front of a 24in barrel on a condor like i said just a theory on it just think of the flex we get now just by holding the gun a little tight i wonder how bad it would be if u made a bushing that held the baffel tight at the muzzle end of a 24in barrel