Quote Originally Posted by Rapidnick View Post
I am used to a free floating barrel on my Rapids and I have run a HW100 with the clamp removed and it was fine as the barrel is located pretty firmly in the action.. Will it work? The answer is 'I don't know' but barrel clamps can get disturbed or knocked and as stated by Jon, removing it and testing is a zero-risk strategy so you might just as well do it.

A few minutes work and nil financial outlay has to be worth while. In any event if it isn't the clamp is will probably end up being diagnosed as the barrel itself which will cost you a few bob to get fixed. It is certainly also worth checking that the two parts of the action have not become loose. One of the major criticisms of the HW100 is that the block is in two parts bolted together with not particularly heavy duty 4mm hex bolts. They shouldn't be loose but again always worth checking when you have the action out of the stock.
Thank you for this helpful response and your input.

There is only one single angled grub screw holding the barrel into the action. One bolt holds the stock against the action and the bolt through the barrel band holds the fore-stock against the cylinder. I can see that the testing of the barrel without the band holds little risk and it would be worth testing the issue while the gun is shooting like a shotgun.

If my gun were to come back from the gunsmith and fund to be shooting absolutely accurately, then there would be (to my mind) less value in testing the gun in this way. I am working on the assumption that all parts of any design have a specific purpose and removing any of them can presage and unwanted effect. I did check for the integrity and tightness of the bolts holding the two parts of the action together and they seemed to be as tight as required.

Whatever may lie behind the gun failing to produce the accuracy to which I am used to seeing; I am inclined to agree with you that the issue lies within the barrel in some manner. I am prepared for the costs involved and I will try to look after my gun differently if it can prevent the same thing. For now, I have to wait and see what the gunsmith can achieve.