Gunsmithing Krieger Offering 5R Rifling

[Jig Stick]

Im in the market for a new barrel for my 300winmag. Ive had great luck with Krieger barrels, and its what im currently shooting. Its a 26in 1:10 twist #17 heavy varmint contour. I was researching the whole 5R shit and havent really made up my mind. But i was browsing the Krieger website just now and noticed that at the bottom of the page they wrote that they have noticed NO DIFFERENCE in performance between their regular 4 groove rifling and 5R rifling. So if Krieger, a respected barrel maker isnt seeing a difference, is all this talk about 5R rifling being "better than sliced bread" a bunch of BS / marketing crap?

 

[Anchor Zero Six]

Re: Krieger Offering 5R Rifling

IMO different scools of thought. Kreiger also has a very detailed barrel break in reccomendation where in constrast lots of others clean a new barrel shoot it for zero and clean it prior to storage skipping the clean shoot, clean shoot, clean shoot method Kreig suggests.

I love Kreigs but I think they still have alot of 1960's highpower and benchrest thoughts on some subjects.

Accuracy may be about equal as all Kreigers are but 5R has an added benifit of reducing fouling. Something tells me the folks there are not running their rifles in the same manner as most here are. The notion of perceived advantages of 5R as they describe are propbably on the mark for how they are shooting and maintaining the rifles being compared. Lots of us here stopped the cleanning routine of our fathers a long time ago. Myself I only run a rod down the tube about every 300 rounds otherwise I just pull a snake with some clp on it after shooting. To me 5R advantage is in reducing fouling and allowing more rounds between rod cleanning.

But yeah there are tons of threads about 5R with folks loving and hating it. In the big picture if two barrels cost the same and one is 5R and the other isnt, I'll take the 5R. If it was an added hundred bucks to the cost I would skip it.

 

[mheckman]

Re: Krieger Offering 5R Rifling

I think performance wise they're pretty much neck and neck. In my opinion 5R barrels clean easier then traditional rifling but that doesn't have anything do with performance. The accuracy comes in the rifling process in which excellent barrels can be made with either cut or button rifling. I have never heard anyone claim that 5R is king and all others are second rate.

 

[9H_Cracka]

Re: Krieger Offering 5R Rifling

Given the quantity of barrels they sell and make and the caliber of shooters that shoot them, they have plenty of feedback and data from which to make this statement.

I have a 5R tight bore and groove Palma barrel sitting on the shelf for when my 4 groove finally goes. I am considering selling it and just replacing it with another 4 groove.

No sense changing things that ain't broke.

 

[Sparky1950]

Re: Krieger Offering 5R Rifling

Most custom barrels I have owned foul little and clean easily. 5R may have advantages in certain applications (I like mine), but once you get to 1/2-5/8MOA (which is doable with either), the advantages have to be perceived elsewhere. Most 5R barrels I have seen are on capable rifles used by capable shooters. That has to have some bearing..JMHO

 

[Frank Green]

Re: Krieger Offering 5R Rifling

In terms of accuracy and barrel life for the most part the number and or style of grooves/rifling I tell guys has no real bearing.

Some say if you want hardcore accuracy you want conventional style rifling. I agree with this to an extent. For the most part I don't see a difference accuracy wise. I do though tell customers if your shooting short jacket 6mm bullets like the 65-70gr. bullets you want conventional rifling. They don't shoot as good in the 5R. They'll shoot around 1/3moa but you won't get it really any better than that. The short range guys are shooting groups in the .1xx's. The 5R won't give you that. Why? I feel it's because of the short bearing surface of those short bullets but if you shoot a long jacket 6mm bullet like a 95 to 115's I see no accuracy difference.

Some say the 5R style cleans easier. I also agree with this to an extent. From a carbon fouling stand point I feel the 5R will/might clean easier. From a copper fouling stand point I don't see a difference.

I do feel that the 5R style will help combat against bullet failure. Bullets fail for different reasons. One is the bullet could have a defect in it or because of a real thin jacket etc...the odd number grooves and the angle on the sides of the 5R lands will help to distort the bullet less. Bullet failure is more of a problem for a long range shooter than a short range shooter.

My guns have either conventional 4 groove or 5 groove and 5R style rifled barrels. We've made everything from 3 groove thru 12 groove barrels. We have capability of doing anything from 2 to 24 groove barrels (tooling still plays a part). I've shot 2 groove thru 6 groove barrels up to .338 cal. but like I said before for the most part no real difference in accuracy or barrel life.

All my tactical guns have 5R, short range bench gun has conventional 5 groove, all long range guns are 5R. My restored '03 Springfield has conventional 4 groove as well as the Remington Model 30 Express I'm restoring will be 4 groove. All of my guns shoot just fine!

We can also do left hand twist! Does left hand twist make a difference. Some say yes but I say not really to real little if anything. The gun does torque the opposite direction. That I notice. Some bench shooters say they're gun rides the bags better etc...

In the end it really comes down to just having a good barrel and what you believe in at times.

Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels