I got a new (to me) barrel in and was doing some swapping and found I had one forearm that fit really tight. Another forearm I have is so loose, when you break open the action the barrel is free to wobble back and forth. When I investigated the reason why it was so tight was because the distance from the barrel lug to the receiver was shorter with this barrel in place. I started thinking how this might affect accuracy. I have read in the FAQ's and different accuracy threads about "free-floating" the forearm with an o-ring and forearm screw tension and such but this is not upward pressure but outward pressure.
Has anybody done any testing or had any experience with accuracy differences between tight and loose forearms? Seems like this may be another accuracy variable that I have not seen addressed here. (Maybe it has and I have missed it? Where's Quick?)
I know that I have read about this making the action tighter especially on a new gun that is stiff to open. Usually it is a complaint which is remedied by sanding the wood on back of the forearm, re-installing and testing until the action opens smoothly.