I have a standard 10/22 Carbine with the barrel band and an XS peep. I get good accuracy unslung at 25 meters but once I sling up with light tension, the POI goes right and down several inches and it is more a pattern then a group. I removed the barrel band and guess what (no change in sight adjustment)? The slung groups are relatively tight and are slightly to left of the POA but the unslung are 2.5 to 3.5 inches low and right 2 to 3 inches. Go figure.
Any thoughts
If it shoots better with out the barrel band, leave it off.
The cause might be in the bedding,
Accurate results are the goal.
Is your sling attached to the barrel band? If it is, then drill an new hole for a sling stud and try with the barrel band on.
With a sling attached to the band, you may be putting pressure on the barrel indirectly through the band.
Every .22 rifle I've owned with a barrel band has shot better from sling-supported positions with the band removed.
Some of them I've also had to relieve the barrel channel on the stock.
Gotta remember that at a $125-$225 price point that the typical Marlin/Savage/Ruger .22 autoloader is selling at, there's not a lot of refined hand-tuning that goes into these. Extrude some plastic into the vague shape of a stock, MIM a receiver or cut it from a block of aluminum, pin a barrel onto it and call it good.
That being said, my Marlin 795 that I bought about 3 years ago is quite nice now after relieving the barrel channel and putting just a skosh bit of upwards pressure on the barrel at the very end of the stock fore-end.
I placed a sling stud 1.5 inches behind the barrel band.
My concern and problem is the different POI when slung versus unslung and the horrible groups unslung. Most offhand shooting is unslung including Appleseed. It seems a free floated barrel is the opposite of what the rifle needs.
Quote from: Flashman on May 30, 2012, 10:22:21 PM
It seems a free floated barrel is the opposite of what the rifle needs.
That may be the case. Stick some card stock under the action and shoot, then slip some cork or cloth into the barrel channel and shoot again. I have one 10-22 that could care less how tight the stock is, feed it CCI 40 gr mini mags and it's 1 moa. I have another 10-22 that needs the action screw tight and the barrel fully bedded. My Marlin wants pressure on the tip of the stock, my Stevens wants the right grip on the trigger hand to shoot well.
Funny things these rimfire rifles.
YHJ
The nice thing about putting in your own front sling stud, you can put where needed for maximum support.
You want to be able to slide your support hand all the way to the sling swivel for best support. I like a low position, with the length of my arms, and the short of a standard 10-22 stock, the stud should be about as close to the end of the forarm as possible with out cracking the stock.