Interesting to see their barrel block and polymer ball used to tune the rifle, without the heavy tuner on the end of the barrel. Seems like it mimics the mid-barrel tuner in ARA, but without the tuner. I wonder if you can tune a barrel with only a mid-barrel tuner in ARA successfully? More than one way to skin a cat I guess...
I think it's more like a throwback to the barrel channel pads of cork or elastomer since it rides in the barrel channel of the chassis. My 1930's Dubiel build on a Springfield Model 1922 MI had a cork pad under the barrel at the front of the forearm, and the practice was still around when my 1970's Tanner was built with a blue elastomer pad in the same type of location. Of course the ability to move the block/ball along the channel provides a more variable tuning function than the fixed position pads. It will be interesting to see if the 22 Max arrives with an "Anschutz Prescription" or a specified method for determining the optimal position of the device... or will the Anschutz engineers leave the exploration of their new rabbit hole entirely to the shooter?!
