Gas block making contact with handguard

[Dt219]

I have been doing load development with my Grendel for a couple weekends now with no good and repeatable results with extreme spreads or groups. Last night I noticed that my clamp on gas block was lightly contacting the guard, I knew it was really close when I built it but I thought I would be safe. I changed it out with a set screw type. Question is how bad could it affect the groups on paper It was barely touching. What have you guys experienced. Thanks

[A5BLASTER]

If it touch's its effecting groups, how bad depends on how hard it hits when the barrel flexes during the shot.

I had fixed this same issue with a friends 224 valkyrie. Went from shooting 5moa average for 5 shots at 100 to shooting just over 1.5 moa for 5 shots at 100 yards.

So it can effect it perrty bad.

[Dt219]

[Klem]

You won't know for sure until you compare with and without touching, all other things removed or kept equal.

I've always thought 'free floating' in an AR is wishful thinking given the gas tube is a permanent fixture touching your barrel. It also depends on how much your handguard can flex, meaning the more the handguard is flexed the more it influences the barrel. The way you hold or rest the barrel translates directly to the barrel. The old clamping handguards are notorious for influencing POI when a sling is used to assist with the shot. If the handguard is flexing onto the barrel then the length of the gas tube will also be a factor. The longer the distance from the receiver to the block, the more leverage is applied to the barrel.

If you want to know how stiff the handguard is squeeze the barrel and handguard together at the mouth of the handguard. If you can see flex then the handguard is too flexible. A shorter and/or 7075 aluminium handguard will help here. I like the SLR Solo range of 7075 handguards.

A thicker/shorter barrel also helps mitigate whip and anything influencing it like the handguard, but in your case this is a variable that is fixed.

The influence of whatever the barrel is touching can be mitigated by having that touch exactly the same each time.

I don't imagine it will be too noticeable in a 1.25+ MOA barrel, unless whatever the barrel is touching is pushing the barrel around.

[Dt219]

[A5BLASTER]

Good question, that I cant give you a answer too.

I hate bipods, have owned a few and none of them have given me the stability I'm looking for, so I use a bag even with my ar's.

If I'm just playing around, maybe banging plates, sure I will use a bipod. But if I want to get serious and lay down a group are take a long range shot on game. I'm breaking out the bags.

[Lemonaid]

Mark and Sam have a series of vids on bi-pod use. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24qt...BdZ3dC&index=5

[Klem]

My two cents...

Bipods are portable rests that are often attached to the rifle during the carry and quickly deployed. They are superior to the alternative, unsupported, especially when you have to hold the gun on the aim, or scope for any length of time.
Rests and bags are superior to bipods because they absorb recoil better and enable the gun to track parallel to the bore axis; i.e. there is less jump. But, bags and rests are less portable in the field.

Loading the bipod is a way of lessening the jump that occurs while the bullet is still in the barrel. If you don't load the bipod the isometrics on the gun is unequal when it goes off. Typically guns are too light to absorb all the recoil so if no other forces are acting on it it will jump around. By loading it you are adding a force that will oppose recoil when it happens. The gun jumps less and that means tighter groups.

The difference is stark and you only have to shoot a few loaded and unloaded to quickly realize how much more stable loading makes it. Easiest is to push up against a parapet or push the legs into the soil like tent pegs - if you have time. You can even load against yourself if you carry a long enough piece of climbing tape (wrap it around yourself and forward to the legs, like a prone version of a two-point sling). Or tape for the legs attached to the front of your shooting mat.

You can carry rests and bags but they need to be light so you are not getting the max value, but it is a compromise. In my day we carried small socks filled with sand and lightweight tripods that came with the H&K PSG1 marksman rifle. It could not be attached to the rifle so it went in your backpack. Could not be used for fleeting shots but it was never designed to be deployed like that. By compromise bags I mean small bean bags filled with filling lighter than sand. Even the synthetic filling from manufacturers is often too heavy. Unstich the seam and pour out the synthetic beads. Refill with the featherlight stuff they put in those horseshoe pillows passengers use on planes. The bag is then heavier than the filling and you can sling it all over your shoulder or clip it to yourself and forget it is there. Sometimes the precision doesn't mandate a bipod but they are convenient. Leaving them on the gun or having a quick release mechanism will also change the weight of carry and ability to shoot off the handguard. For short range AR's, foregrip bipods are a popular compromise between having a foregrip for unsupported, and the ability to shoot supported.

[StoneHendge]

Too add on what Klem said about loading, the natural movement of the rifle during recoil is backwards. This results in force against your shoulder. Given the position of your body when shooting either prone or on a bench, the backwards force causes the front of the rifle to roll up and results in a higher POI since the barrel is moving up while the bullet is still in it. By loading, you are not only stabilizing, you are giving the rifle a little bit of room to move backwards before it rolls up, which results in more consistency. When I neglect to load, my horizontal dispersion isn't usually affected, but my POI goes up about an MOA.

Bipods are also like anything else - you get what you pay for. A cheap Caldwell will get you as far as a cheap barrel or trigger. Harris's are popular, but I think they flex too much and don't like the interface. Shell out for an Atlas or Warne and it's a world of difference. Or a Cyke-Pod if you really want to get serious.