Of course it is attached but it is not rigidly attached at each point. It wiggles. Now, because it was not a premium rifle (hence the plastic parts)things didn't always act as they were intended. Also, as I recall, all the little studs were spotwelded onto the barrel so I doubt the engineers were too worried about stresses. I once had to retro-fit a rib to a 600 from which the rib had been removed and the studs ground off. I made up some studs, drilled and tapped the barrel for them, and put the rib one so it would look original. The job wasn't worth doing but the owner was a nice guy and I hadn't yet learned that the primary objective was to make money!It has to attach to the barrel at some point or else it would fall off n'est ce pas?