More On Barrel Deflection

Over eight years ago, this blog featured this article on barrel deflection. Recently, it was discovered that this article was linked to post on Reddit. Here is a link to that post. From that post, here are the questions:

"Where are some good resources in avoiding barrel deflection in non free floated systems in order to get consistent groups?
Looking to shoot 300m with my mp15. Would using a grip pod or bipod on my non free floated RIS mess that up?"

These are very pertinent questions!

Since there are two questions, lets deal with them one at a time:

Where are some good resources in avoiding barrel deflection in non free floated systems in order to get consistent groups?

Short answer - there are not going to be many resources for avoiding barrel deflection in a non-free floated system. The problem is that there are a great many difficulties in applying the exact same amount of pressure to the barrel each and every time. And even if one figures a way out to apply consistent pressure, then it is not likely able to be duplicated in a field situation. 

Looking to shoot 300m with my mp15. Would using a grip pod or bipod on my non free floated RIS mess that up?"

Short answer - Yes. The grip pod or bipod will make things difficult. It will be very hard to apply steady amounts of pressure. This was demonstrated in the previous article on this blog. 

A better solution is to rest the rifle on the magazine and shoot from that position, instead. With no (or minimal) external pressure on the barrel, the deflection would be minimal or none. When there are shooters in this author's classes who have AR15 rifles that are not free floated, this is how the issue is addressed. None of these shooters has ever had a great issue in making hits at 300 yards. Shooters of non free floated rifles all make hits out to 300 in these classes using magazine rested positions - with scopes, red dots, and iron sights.