I'm well premature on this as i've still got a couple thousand rounds to go before my barrel will give up but I'd like to get my ducks in a row.
What I have now is a Remington 700 LTR (20" barrel Remington Varmint Contour I believe) in 308. It has been recrowned and threaded 5/8x24 for my Holland Radial Muzzle Brake or my Thunderbeast 30P-1. I've dropped it into an AICS chassis with Viperskins and an Atlas Bipod on a Spigot Adapter. And last but not least its running an S&B 5-25x56 PMII on Seekins x-high 1.26" rings with a badger 20MOA rail.
I'm very happy with this rifle. Its an honest half minute gun. I can get it into the .25 to .3 range with 5 shots often but I have to do all sorts of tricks. Mainly make sure that my POI isn't the same as my POA and really knuckle down and aim small. I find that usually when I go out to shoot groups my groups open up to 1MOA or bigger real quick once I lose my original POA.
That being said I'm not much a fan of group shooting. I like to ring steel to 1K and enjoy stretching it beyond that by little amounts when I get the opportunity. I like light recoil and being able to spot my own shots. Last but not least I like having a fairly compact platform that is easy to get around with.
Anyway that all being said. I'm looking for the next chapter in this rifles life. I've considered a bolt knob (or almost anything to take the rough spot on the sides of mine that tear up my fingers during dry fire practice and give me a little more length) but I don't think I want to do that until I get the action trued as I'll probably go with a one piece bolt from PTG at that point in time.
So then that moves me onto a new barrel. Cause that is when the action will get trued. I've decided, upon reading many reviews, that there are quite a few great barrel makers out there. I've read a lot about Kreiger, Bartlein, Lothar Walther, Lilja, Hart, Pac-Nor and I'm sure others that I'm forgetting. Many of these names make a very fine high quality product. My not selecting any one of them isn't the least of a slight on their products. However, that being said I've decided that my next barrel will be made by Bartlein.
They seem to have more technology on their side when it comes to doing these things. While I know that is not always the best way to get the best product, throwing a lot of technology and skill at a problem to come up with the best solution I can is my way of thinking. Others have come up with better solutions using less technically savvy methods and I am sure that the rest of the field I mentioned can well do just that. However, with that being said Bartlein's philosophy matches with mine and I'm taking that as my reason. I had to go with such a flimsy reason because after reading all of the comments and reviews I quickly ended up with 3 or 4 tied at the top of the heap then it just comes down to gut feel. I'm sure that Bartlein will be an excellent choice based on what I've read.
Ok. Now with that being said I have a few selections to make:
1)Barrel length -
I am quite happy with my 308 at 20" especially when I use it with my 9" long Thunderbeast 30P-1. The short barrel makes it a much more convenient platform to carry around in general. Once there is a 9" extension on it its much less easy to carry. Actually I find it a bit of a pain and thus I always take the can off for transport. Perhaps I should leave it on more to see if I can grow used to it. The main thing that pushes me toward longer barrel length is to get a flatter shooting weapon. The lengths I'm currently considering are 22", 24", and 26".
My current weighting of them at the moment is 24" > 26" > 22"
2)Barrel Contour -
My favorites are Remington Varmint or Medium Palma. Are there any reasons that I should talk myself out of these options?
3)Caliber -
I'm going back and forth with a few here. Remington 260, 6.5 Creedmoore, Perhaps some of the 6mm options? I'm looking for available materials, high BC's, and great wind performance. This is one area where I'm really looking for some good insight. I believe based on the last calculation that I did comparing a 26" barreled Rem 260 shooting an 140g AMax would beat my 175SMK load by 3 inches per 1 mile an hour at 1000 yards. Thats quite significant. Perhaps I'm running things wrong. For comparison sake my rifle provides 2561 fps without the suppressor and 2586 fps with the suppressor using a 175grain SMK. The 260 data that I'm getting is mostly all from handloadersnest.com and I'd MUCH prefer real data from real guns with tactical match type thinking. Most of the stuff on handloadersnest are aimed toward hunting bullets.
4)Bullet -
When discussing caliber I'd really appreciate it if you could provide your preferred bullet and how it performs in your setup. What would be most helpful to me would be barrel length, and make, caliber, bullet, powder, and MV. Any abbreviated or expanded information such as this would still yet be greatly appreciated.
5)Smith -
I've got a smith who has done pretty good work for me in the past. I'd like to use him again to do this work as he's local, seems knowledgeable, and when I spend time around him with the rifle it won't be a point of resentment for him. However that being said I don't know the questions to ask to make sure that I get the job done the way I want. If I knew the right questions and the right answers I could then find out if I want to go with the convenience of him or if I want to go with the wait time and have it sent off to GAP. If I was to send it off to GAP I wonder if it has to fit into one of their named rifles on their site or what in order for them to put their name on it. I'm sure I could call GAP but I don't want to bother them until I've gotten more figured out on what intelligent questions to ask.
I'm assuming that the barrel will have quite a bit of lead time so I was hoping that I could get some of these things figured out and order the barrel then once I've chosen who is going to do the work I can send all the pieces to them. If thats not how this works then please forgive me and lemme know. I've never dealt with a smith outside of my home area so I'm not up on what it takes to ship a rifle and what not but I'm sure its not that hard... Sounds like you guys do it all the time. Last but not least.... I've also just considered scrapping this whole idea and just getting an AI AE MKIII or an AW in a similar configuration. That way I don't have to get new barrels ordered and then have a bunch of work done to match them up. I just call in and one shows up on my doorstep that I can install myself. Gotta admit that does have some appeal. But I've never had the chance to shoot a real AI and I have concerns about the 2 stage trigger and bolt mechanics and what not. Would love to meet up if someone has a real AI I could fondle and shoot for a bit.
Thank you oh so very much for anyone who has actually read through my thoughts and comments this far. I hope it was at least interesting to you and that you can provide some insight.
~Brett
What I have now is a Remington 700 LTR (20" barrel Remington Varmint Contour I believe) in 308. It has been recrowned and threaded 5/8x24 for my Holland Radial Muzzle Brake or my Thunderbeast 30P-1. I've dropped it into an AICS chassis with Viperskins and an Atlas Bipod on a Spigot Adapter. And last but not least its running an S&B 5-25x56 PMII on Seekins x-high 1.26" rings with a badger 20MOA rail.
I'm very happy with this rifle. Its an honest half minute gun. I can get it into the .25 to .3 range with 5 shots often but I have to do all sorts of tricks. Mainly make sure that my POI isn't the same as my POA and really knuckle down and aim small. I find that usually when I go out to shoot groups my groups open up to 1MOA or bigger real quick once I lose my original POA.
That being said I'm not much a fan of group shooting. I like to ring steel to 1K and enjoy stretching it beyond that by little amounts when I get the opportunity. I like light recoil and being able to spot my own shots. Last but not least I like having a fairly compact platform that is easy to get around with.Anyway that all being said. I'm looking for the next chapter in this rifles life. I've considered a bolt knob (or almost anything to take the rough spot on the sides of mine that tear up my fingers during dry fire practice and give me a little more length) but I don't think I want to do that until I get the action trued as I'll probably go with a one piece bolt from PTG at that point in time.
So then that moves me onto a new barrel. Cause that is when the action will get trued. I've decided, upon reading many reviews, that there are quite a few great barrel makers out there. I've read a lot about Kreiger, Bartlein, Lothar Walther, Lilja, Hart, Pac-Nor and I'm sure others that I'm forgetting. Many of these names make a very fine high quality product. My not selecting any one of them isn't the least of a slight on their products. However, that being said I've decided that my next barrel will be made by Bartlein.
They seem to have more technology on their side when it comes to doing these things. While I know that is not always the best way to get the best product, throwing a lot of technology and skill at a problem to come up with the best solution I can is my way of thinking. Others have come up with better solutions using less technically savvy methods and I am sure that the rest of the field I mentioned can well do just that. However, with that being said Bartlein's philosophy matches with mine and I'm taking that as my reason. I had to go with such a flimsy reason because after reading all of the comments and reviews I quickly ended up with 3 or 4 tied at the top of the heap then it just comes down to gut feel. I'm sure that Bartlein will be an excellent choice based on what I've read.
Ok. Now with that being said I have a few selections to make:
1)Barrel length -
I am quite happy with my 308 at 20" especially when I use it with my 9" long Thunderbeast 30P-1. The short barrel makes it a much more convenient platform to carry around in general. Once there is a 9" extension on it its much less easy to carry. Actually I find it a bit of a pain and thus I always take the can off for transport. Perhaps I should leave it on more to see if I can grow used to it. The main thing that pushes me toward longer barrel length is to get a flatter shooting weapon. The lengths I'm currently considering are 22", 24", and 26".
My current weighting of them at the moment is 24" > 26" > 22"
2)Barrel Contour -
My favorites are Remington Varmint or Medium Palma. Are there any reasons that I should talk myself out of these options?
3)Caliber -
I'm going back and forth with a few here. Remington 260, 6.5 Creedmoore, Perhaps some of the 6mm options? I'm looking for available materials, high BC's, and great wind performance. This is one area where I'm really looking for some good insight. I believe based on the last calculation that I did comparing a 26" barreled Rem 260 shooting an 140g AMax would beat my 175SMK load by 3 inches per 1 mile an hour at 1000 yards. Thats quite significant. Perhaps I'm running things wrong. For comparison sake my rifle provides 2561 fps without the suppressor and 2586 fps with the suppressor using a 175grain SMK. The 260 data that I'm getting is mostly all from handloadersnest.com and I'd MUCH prefer real data from real guns with tactical match type thinking. Most of the stuff on handloadersnest are aimed toward hunting bullets.
4)Bullet -
When discussing caliber I'd really appreciate it if you could provide your preferred bullet and how it performs in your setup. What would be most helpful to me would be barrel length, and make, caliber, bullet, powder, and MV. Any abbreviated or expanded information such as this would still yet be greatly appreciated.
5)Smith -
I've got a smith who has done pretty good work for me in the past. I'd like to use him again to do this work as he's local, seems knowledgeable, and when I spend time around him with the rifle it won't be a point of resentment for him. However that being said I don't know the questions to ask to make sure that I get the job done the way I want. If I knew the right questions and the right answers I could then find out if I want to go with the convenience of him or if I want to go with the wait time and have it sent off to GAP. If I was to send it off to GAP I wonder if it has to fit into one of their named rifles on their site or what in order for them to put their name on it. I'm sure I could call GAP but I don't want to bother them until I've gotten more figured out on what intelligent questions to ask.
I'm assuming that the barrel will have quite a bit of lead time so I was hoping that I could get some of these things figured out and order the barrel then once I've chosen who is going to do the work I can send all the pieces to them. If thats not how this works then please forgive me and lemme know. I've never dealt with a smith outside of my home area so I'm not up on what it takes to ship a rifle and what not but I'm sure its not that hard... Sounds like you guys do it all the time. Last but not least.... I've also just considered scrapping this whole idea and just getting an AI AE MKIII or an AW in a similar configuration. That way I don't have to get new barrels ordered and then have a bunch of work done to match them up. I just call in and one shows up on my doorstep that I can install myself. Gotta admit that does have some appeal. But I've never had the chance to shoot a real AI and I have concerns about the 2 stage trigger and bolt mechanics and what not. Would love to meet up if someone has a real AI I could fondle and shoot for a bit.
Thank you oh so very much for anyone who has actually read through my thoughts and comments this far. I hope it was at least interesting to you and that you can provide some insight.
~Brett
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