The Winchester XPR Extreme rifle is a step forward in design and manufacturing, bringing you a high-performance hunting rifle at an extremely affordable price from a name you know and trust. The heart of accuracy in any rifle is found in the barrel – the better the barrel, the better the accuracy. XPR barrels begin as a piece of solid chromoly steel bar stock. It's carefully drilled and then precisely button-rifled to produce outstanding accuracy. The button-rifling process also serves to burnish the interior surface of the barrel so each of the lands and grooves has a smoother finish. In turn, this burnishing serves to increase velocity while decreasing bullet jacket fouling. Every XPR barrel is also thermally stress-relieved to ensure straight and true accuracy. The barrel is fully free-floating to eliminate accuracy robbing pressure points where it might come in contact with the stock. This is especially important when the rifle might be subjected to variations in temperature or humidity. By floating the barrel, it is allowed to freely vibrate at its own frequency during the passage of each bullet.