Omega Barrel Floating
 

I have a couple quick questions on suitable materials to use for floating a barrel that I hope you guys can help me with. Sabotloader, if you would chime in on this I would greatly appreciate it.

I shoot a TC Omega Z5, which has one of the infamous pastic stocks. The forearm runs flush with the barrel for the full length of the forearm and it drives me insane.

I did a search on "omega torque" (originally thought the problem was inconsistent lbs/in in my action screws) and resurrected this jewel of a thread by sabotloader http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/blac...-weakness.html. Quick fix #1 explains that free floating the barrel may provide some consistency in POI and you also mentioned that you used Teflon shims cut from your wife's cutting board for your shims to float the barrel.

I have two questions:

First - In hindsight, have the Teflon shims performed satisfactorily? I would like to float the barrel of my Omega and I was wondering if Teflon worked okay or if I should use a metal shim?

Second - Is it okay to float the barrel without bedding the action? Must these two procedures be performed at the same time or can I go ahead and float the barrel now and bed the action later on when I have more time allowance?

Shims are a temporary solution. The better solution is to sand the barrel channel. Take a 1" dowel rod and wrap it with 120 grit sandpaper (I stapled the sandpaper to the dowel rod). Run it back and forth from the first lug toward the muzzle end with even pressure. With the buttstock against the floor or table, refasten your barreled action to the stock and run the dollar bill test (make sure you are not resting the stock against anything when you do this). Note where you feel resistance (if any), and go back to sanding those particular spots by hand (w/o dowel rod). Just be careful not to sand too much. Repeat until you can run the dollar bill with no felt resistance. Then, place the gun in a gun rest or lay it in some manner where there is pressure on the forend of the stock, and the run the dollar bill test again. You will likely encounter resistance. This is fine. The point is to demonstrate that, when shooting, you should have the gun resting as far back towards the breech as possible.

Most of this I learned from messaging with Sabotloader, so (hopefully) I'll save him a little typing time here. :)

You don't need to bed the action at the same time. I have not yet bed my action and I'm not sure I will. I find that with a muzzleloader I'm apt to remove the barreled action from the stock much more often than I would a centerfire rifle.

I think NATO covered pretty much what would think and say...

The shims worked well and I did use them through one hunting season, but the can tend to increase the stress on the rear walls of the two recoil pockets.

Certainly...

I do think that you might look at a method to re-inforce the rear walls of the recoil lug pockets at some point.

Thanks, 7.62. I appreciate the advice.

I'm going to go ahead and sand the barrel channel as you suggested now that know I may not need to bed the action.

One follow-up question if you don't mind - Would you suggest I use shims along with sanding the barrel channel or is sanding the barrel channel alone sufficient?

Thanks again.

Ah, thanks sabotloader. I just saw your response. I will definitley look into this.

I feel that sanding and using shims is redundant. Thom2 did it, but it doesn't make sense to me. If you sand the barrel channel out and it passes the dollar bill test (i.e. there is no resistance from the stock), then I see no purpose for using shims. The goal is to float the barrel. If there's no resistance, the barrel is floated. Why did Thom2 use shims then? Beats me. I think because he did the shims first, and it did not pass the dollar bill test, so he also had to sand. At that point I would have just sanded until I didn't need the shims any longer.

I am going to fill the void between the lug pockets tonight with some J-B Weld putty and will report back on how well it does (I am hoping it will bond to the stock). That will reinforce the rear of the front pocket but not the rear. I am not sure how the rear of the rear pocket can be reinforced, but I will take a look at it tonight.

Did I say "rear" enough times to confuse you??? :D

Drop in a little bit of Weld behind the second pocket also - just enough to make a bit of a wedge to re-inforce that back wall also. I think you could shape it like so <| against the back of the rear pocket.... Just a suggestion..

Sorry for the keyboard drawing but the best I could do on the spur of the moment - probablly makes no sense to you - but I understand it...:confused0024:

mike

Thanks, Mike. I just don't have the gun in front of me now, so I can't recall how much room there is to spare between the rear pocket and where the action slips through.

To float a ML barrel is to leave a heavy barrel without much support. You may or may not find it necessary to bed part of your stock.

http://www.huntingnet.com/forum/blac...der-omega.html

My suggestion is to invest in a laminated TH stock.

how is the laminate TH? Have you ever compared it to the regular laminate? I find the regular laminate to a be a little too wide at the forearm, no narrow at the grip, and too low at the comb. I'm going to get an Omega and I'm trying to decide whether to get the TH or the regular laminate stock and I haven't came across a laminate TH that I can feel out yet.

I have never handled a synthetic stock Omega. My .45 has a TH laminate and my .50 had a TH laminate. I hear of problems with the synthetic stock ones but I have not had any problems with my TH laminates. The TH just fits me great and I have switched over most of my guns to them. I think you would like the TH laminate. Keep looking, maybe one will appear and you can try it out.

The TH Omega stocks have a higher comb than the standard stocks. IMO, standard stock = iron sights. TH stock = scope. I have the standard stock and I had to add a comb riser to it to get a proper cheek weld when using a scope.

My original Omega came with a laminate stock and they are built completely different than the composite stock. The lug pockets are much deeper and really capture the action. There is no stock flex at all and the barrel channel set and solid.

The TH composite is still not as strong as the Laminate either thumbhole or straight but it is much better than the straight composite. In the TH the lug pockets are reinforced front and back and once you get the barrel floated if it needs to be it is great stock.

I pitched my grey laminate in favor of the TH composite. The stock swith reduced the weight of the almost 12 ounces and for myself that was the goal. I really do prefer composite stocks to wood stocks anyway as out hunting conditions can really be bad and the composites do not move as much or wear as easy in the weather extremes of Idaho.

The thumbhole does have a higher roll over on the stock so getting on a scope is not a problem at all. I have done nothing to my composite thumbhole other than put it one the gun...

As mentioned earlier in the thread, I got around to using the J-B Weld epoxy putty last night and put it in the space between the lug pockets. Worked like a charm. That stuff is hard as a rock and it ain’t going anywhere. Sorry, I forgot to take pics. If you use this to reinforce the lug pockets, take heed to the advice to keep your fingers wet, and know that the working time is only 3 minutes, probably less. The package says 3-5 minutes, but I found that after working it into the space between the lug pockets, that I didn’t have time to work the leftover putty into the space behind the rear lug pocket, so I will have to get more (I mixed it all at one time since I didn’t know how much it would take to fill the void, and figured I would have time to work any leftover behind the rear lug). My advice is to cut approx ¾ of the putty stick and work it between the pockets, and then work the remaining ¼ into the space behind the rear pocket.

Whenever I get around to picking up more J-B Weld, I am thinking about using the thinnest amount in the fronts of the actual lug pockets themselves. This should eliminate the wiggle room that is there. I’m a bit nervous about trying that, given how fast the stuff begins to set.

When I bought my Z5 TH Omega. There was a paper stuck between the barrel and stock running the length of the fron portion of the stock that said "free floated barrel" on it. I guess the paper was there to demonstrate this. Does this mean it has already been floated? Also, do they all come like that? I thought I was missing something when reading these posts about floating barrel/action. If any one has heard of some of them sold already floated let me know. I assume that is what I have (a factory floated barrel). But I don't know a lot about this type of thing. Thanks.

Buckhunter - They are supposed to be. Run a dollar bill test the length of your barrel up to the first lug. If you feel resistance, you know that your barrel isn't completely freefloated.