Chuckie-poo's crabby and needs a little nap, it appears.
Sorry, Chuck, you lose. Free-floating barrels and bedded actions have been around for a long time, well before the advent of the synthetic stock. It's considerably easier to reduce group sizes by free-floating a barrel and bedding the receiver than it is to find and implement a consistent pressure point on a barrel's node.
My own father taught me that trick in the mid 1970s, and he'd known about it since Gawd knows when.
Now, I certainly think the flimsy synthetic stocks as found on Savage rifles need a bit of help, as delivered they twist like Chubby Checker, especially in the forend area.
As for Tikka, I am still willing to pay top dollar to get my hands on one of the older Tikka 595 Master Sporter rifles, especially in 6.5x55, as every one I've tried has been a sub-MOA gun straight out of the box, even though the barrels are free-floated.
The only reason I don't already have a Tikka 595 Master Sporter is I spent the money on a Remington 700PSS. You know, with the cheapo matte finish, lame-ass HS Precision synthetic stock w/wussy aluminum bedding block, and horrible free-floated barrel - just a disaster waiting to happen in Chuck's esteemed opinion. Funny thing is, the 700PSS shoots 1/2 MOA or better with boring regularity, even crotchety old flatulants like Chuck would have to notice that. As for the washer-style recoil lug, how many of those have been sold and shot over the decades with nary a problem?
Manufacturing techniques for firearms has changed, few shooters are willing to pay the labor to chuck up a billet of forged ordnance steel and machine away every thing that doesn't look like a flat-bottom Mauser 98 action or pre '64 Winchester action. That's life. Surprisingly, the tubular Remington 700/70and cast Ruger 77 actions have done very well for themselves over the years, and will continue to do so.
You want to grouse about something, Chuck, let fly about Accutriggers, crossbolt levergun safeties, tang-mounted levergun safeties, levergun safeties in general, horrendously long barrel throats in Remington rifles, and the necessity (actually, lack thereof) for the newer ShortFat magnums, which don't do anything their predecessors didn't.
Free floating barrels, introduced simply to minimize the labor cost of precisely bedding a barreled action in a gun stock, are now praised as an asset by those who know nothing else. A perfect example of an economy shortcut becoming the new standard.
Sorry, Chuck, you lose. Free-floating barrels and bedded actions have been around for a long time, well before the advent of the synthetic stock. It's considerably easier to reduce group sizes by free-floating a barrel and bedding the receiver than it is to find and implement a consistent pressure point on a barrel's node.
My own father taught me that trick in the mid 1970s, and he'd known about it since Gawd knows when.
Now, I certainly think the flimsy synthetic stocks as found on Savage rifles need a bit of help, as delivered they twist like Chubby Checker, especially in the forend area.
As for Tikka, I am still willing to pay top dollar to get my hands on one of the older Tikka 595 Master Sporter rifles, especially in 6.5x55, as every one I've tried has been a sub-MOA gun straight out of the box, even though the barrels are free-floated.
The only reason I don't already have a Tikka 595 Master Sporter is I spent the money on a Remington 700PSS. You know, with the cheapo matte finish, lame-ass HS Precision synthetic stock w/wussy aluminum bedding block, and horrible free-floated barrel - just a disaster waiting to happen in Chuck's esteemed opinion. Funny thing is, the 700PSS shoots 1/2 MOA or better with boring regularity, even crotchety old flatulants like Chuck would have to notice that. As for the washer-style recoil lug, how many of those have been sold and shot over the decades with nary a problem?
Manufacturing techniques for firearms has changed, few shooters are willing to pay the labor to chuck up a billet of forged ordnance steel and machine away every thing that doesn't look like a flat-bottom Mauser 98 action or pre '64 Winchester action. That's life. Surprisingly, the tubular Remington 700/70and cast Ruger 77 actions have done very well for themselves over the years, and will continue to do so.
You want to grouse about something, Chuck, let fly about Accutriggers, crossbolt levergun safeties, tang-mounted levergun safeties, levergun safeties in general, horrendously long barrel throats in Remington rifles, and the necessity (actually, lack thereof) for the newer ShortFat magnums, which don't do anything their predecessors didn't.