You won't know for sure until you compare with and without touching, all other things removed or kept equal.
I've always thought 'free floating' in an AR is wishful thinking given the gas tube is a permanent fixture touching your barrel. It also depends on how much your handguard can flex, meaning the more the handguard is flexed the more it influences the barrel. The way you hold or rest the barrel translates directly to the barrel. The old clamping handguards are notorious for influencing POI when a sling is used to assist with the shot. If the handguard is flexing onto the barrel then the length of the gas tube will also be a factor. The longer the distance from the receiver to the block, the more leverage is applied to the barrel.
If you want to know how stiff the handguard is squeeze the barrel and handguard together at the mouth of the handguard. If you can see flex then the handguard is too flexible. A shorter and/or 7075 aluminium handguard will help here. I like the SLR Solo range of 7075 handguards.
A thicker/shorter barrel also helps mitigate whip and anything influencing it like the handguard, but in your case this is a variable that is fixed.
The influence of whatever the barrel is touching can be mitigated by having that touch exactly the same each time.
I don't imagine it will be too noticeable in a 1.25+ MOA barrel, unless whatever the barrel is touching is pushing the barrel around.
I've always thought 'free floating' in an AR is wishful thinking given the gas tube is a permanent fixture touching your barrel. It also depends on how much your handguard can flex, meaning the more the handguard is flexed the more it influences the barrel. The way you hold or rest the barrel translates directly to the barrel. The old clamping handguards are notorious for influencing POI when a sling is used to assist with the shot. If the handguard is flexing onto the barrel then the length of the gas tube will also be a factor. The longer the distance from the receiver to the block, the more leverage is applied to the barrel.
If you want to know how stiff the handguard is squeeze the barrel and handguard together at the mouth of the handguard. If you can see flex then the handguard is too flexible. A shorter and/or 7075 aluminium handguard will help here. I like the SLR Solo range of 7075 handguards.
A thicker/shorter barrel also helps mitigate whip and anything influencing it like the handguard, but in your case this is a variable that is fixed.
The influence of whatever the barrel is touching can be mitigated by having that touch exactly the same each time.
I don't imagine it will be too noticeable in a 1.25+ MOA barrel, unless whatever the barrel is touching is pushing the barrel around.