Nakihunter - you've pretty much got it covered.
; The biggest benefit of free-floating is having a rifle that will put 5 consecutive shots into the same place. Of course, this is most important for the match shooter, very much less so for the hunter. Some bedded rifles will put all 5 into the same group, cold to hot, but most won't.
; I've fully bedded many rifles and had to remove the forend bedding on some to convert to free-floating, some didn't need it.
; The problem comes mainly from the taper of the chamber portion of the barrel being bedded. As the barel heats, it causes undue stress on the barrel's mating with the stock, throwing shots.
; With plasic and fiberglass stocks, I always free float quite liberally. I like to be able to pull a rig-coated cloth down between the barrel and the stock after a rainy hunt. Too, the plastics seemt o move more than a good wooden or laminated stock and the barrel needs more room in the channet to eliminate the possibility of hitting the stock as it whips. Most BR shooters I knew back in the 70's and 80's left a lot of room between the barrels and stocks for just this whipping reason, although the barrels were large, they just couldn't take the chance of barrel/stock contact. These match shooters also set up their hunting rifles ina similar manner.