H&R Sportster forearm floating

[ice]

Quickdtoo said he would post this information here but, I guess he forgot.
I found a rubber grommet at Lowes that I like much better than the o rings for floating the forearm on the sportster. It fits perfect.
If anyone is interested here is the product information.

           Hillman

     7/16ODx3/16ID

            3/16T

           139364

         H#881259

[HeltonPrecision]

Im interested in this could you tell me more I have a .17 HMR sportser and Id be very interseted could you tell me how this actually works beings how the screw in the forearm actually goes right into the barrel ? I didnt thing you'd be able to free float it  :eek:

[quickdtoo]

Geez, that rascal sure did forget!  It's heck gettin' old, but I guess it sure beats the alternative!  Sorry, Ice....:oops:

[ice]

When you remove the screw in the forearm then pull the forearm out and away from the barrel, you will see a little square thingy welded to the barrel. It is the barrel lug. It is threaded and accepts your forearm screw.
If you will look at the inside of your forearm, you will see a recessed area where the screw comes through.
This is where you want to place your O ring or grommet. The forearm screw will go through the stock, then through the grommet, then screw into the barrel lug.
This proceedure creates a "space" between the front two thirds of the forearm and the barrel.
Many have used this simple trick to increase the accuracy of their Sportsters, including myself.

ps: No problem Quickdtoo.

[corey]

I haven't tried the rubber washer thing yet, but by looking at it the screw doesn't look long enough. It looks like it just barely goes into the barrel lug. And was there a noticeable differece in group size after this?

[MSP Ret]

Corey, those forearm screws come in different lengths from NEF depending on which forearm is on and which length it needs. I have 2 different lengths on my forearms. Actuually the threads are different in some of the Toppers (H&R) and Pardners (NEF) also!!!....<><.... :grin:

[RipOne]

ICE:  If I use that grommet, will the current screw still work ?

[scruffy]

I have both my sporsters "floated" like ice described, and both use the factory screw.  At the very front of the forend where the forend once came up and touched the barrel I now have an 1/8" gap.

Accuracy from both rifles both improved a little when the rifle was sandbagged on the hinge pin, but not much.  The big improvement came when shooting off a harris (type 1a2-br) bipod.  With the forend touching the barrel any torque from my shooting form twisting against the bipod was transfered to the barrel changing the harmonics.  With the forend floated and the forearms ability now to twist a little freely and absorb my shooting form imperfections, my groups from a bipod dropped around .25".  

I have to assume that floating the barrel would have an effect in off hand shooting as floating the barrel would transfer less twisting caused by the way you hold the rifle making the harmonics more consistant.

I made my "oring" out of a 3/16"ID rubber vacume cap.  I cut it down to the thickness I wanted and installed it and haven't messed with it since.  The rubber holds the screw in the forend when I remove the forend to disassemble the rifle for cleaning (like after a rain) and the rubber absorbs some of the twisting, torqing, and vibrations from the forend.

I also tried putting a peice of rubber between the front end of the forend and barrel to create a pressure point.  My 22 mag didn't like that one bit when shooting off a bipod, group sized sored.  Removed the pressure point, returned to "floated", and it groups very tight again.

later,
scruffy

[Nightrain52]

It sounds as if you are a person that likes to tinker the H&R-NEF. rifles are a tinkerers dream come true. It's still amazing even with the price increases lately that someone can build a rimfire or a centerfire rifle in the price range they are selling.  :money:

[RipOne]

SCRUFFY:  Thanks - I'm off to get the grommet ....... need more money in the sock before getting new scope ( Current has plex and a large dot - bad deal there ).