Ruger gunsite scout observation with a follow up question

[zachomega]

I've owned a gunsite scout since they pretty much came out.

It met the criteria of a rifle I was looking for at a price point I could swing and from a company I trust.

I know there are a lot of Cooper/scout rifle people. I'm not one of them. I just happen to own a scout rifle.

That said, I watch a lot of YouTube. I was watching the nutnfancy review of this gun. His not so glowing review aside (he is correct on a lot of his points in my opinion) he pointed out that the gun he was using had this unusual metallic noise when he worked the bolt.

I dry fired my rifle and a long low metallic noise followed.

Clearly it is an oscillation of some sort. What on earth? How could a low ringing like that NOT affect accuracy? I just don't see it.

People complain that the accuracy is poor on this rifle (2 moa typically). Some attribute it to the shorter barrels. But I'm wondering how this oscillation plays into that?

I've also seen some reports of people bedding the barrel of their rifle in addition to the stock. Not specific to the scout rifle. Just bedding their rifles barrels in general.

Have we been tricked into thinking a free floating barrel is superior to bedding the barrel? The gun companies win by saving on this timely step and we think they are doing is a favor?

Any insight on how I should proceed would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to go down the rabbit hole of trying to squeeze a little more accuracy at a lot more cost when other rifles are better out of the box.

-Zach

[gghbi]

If you want to see if accuracy improves with a supported barrel, you could temporarily shim it to see what effect it has. Off the top of my head, I think you would start at the front end of the stock, but you can google the subject to get better ideas.

[knight0334]

Shorter barrels tend to be stiffer, which assists with accuracy. The benefits of a long barrel for accuracy are only a longer sight radius and additional velocity. (velocity assists accuracy at longer ranges, especially near the sonic barrier which often destabilizes projectiles - moving that point further out than slower platforms)


Given two different length barrels of the same profile, and cartridges loaded to give the same velocity from their respective barrel - the shorter barrel will inherently give better accuracy because of the harmonics of the barrel.

Example:
#1 - 18" long 1" dia .308 with cartridges loaded to give 2700fps with a 150gr bullet
#2 - 24" long 1" dia .308 with cartridges loaded to give 2700fps with a 150gr bullet


#1 will will have an inherent accuracy over #2 because the muzzle will deflect less and the barrel will twist less than the longer barrel.


What doesn't help the Gunsite Scout is the crap on the barrel. The rail, the front sight, and the muzzle break all can attribute to distortions in how the barrel reacts due to the harmonics. Even empty or plugged holes in the barrel(for sights, rails, etc) can factor in because that portion of that barrel will react differently from "clean" portions of the barrel.