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M40 Barrel Contour

Re: M40 Barrel Contour

Will,
The original barrels were made by Douglass and they still make them to spec, I think. I would start with them and also check out the usual suspects. Chandlers, Shinck, Mike Lau, etc. I will keep my eyes open.
 
Re: M40 Barrel Contour

They were Rem HV contour. Douglass made the replacements I think and are far more likely to have and give the specs than Rem I would guess. They were Rem barrels to start with. Gary Schneider will likley know as well as he has worked with them so much.
 
Re: M40 Barrel Contour

1shot2kill ... schneider currently is making the M40 contract barrel that they supply to the Marines for their builds, but this is the A1-A3 contour and not the original M40 contour ... they are very different. Is this what you mean?
 
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Re: M40 Barrel Contour

@eodcam,

As far as I know the original issue M40's used a heavy barrel made by Remington, which then became the 700 Varmint Special. If you can get access to an early Varmint Special and take the measurements, that would be great. I have an early Remington 700 Varmint Special in my safe in the USA, but it will be a long time before I will see it again.
 
Re: M40 Barrel Contour

not mine,but if you are doing a vietnam era m40 build. a good barrel may be ebay# 200876170161 the seller is a good guy also. i was able to buy a m40 redfield 40x base and rings from him a few years agfor my green redfield. he has sold some nice usmc sniper scopes over the years
 
Re: M40 Barrel Contour

Thanks for the input men...I had eodcam post this thread for me as I was down range at the time and was unable to do it myself.
I should have been a little more detailed in what I was needing for him to post (My bad brother!lol)
Im currently in the build process of a Vietnam Era M40 and I have everything authentic for the build except for a barrel.
I've placed numerous calls into Remington's Custom shop with no answer and no return call.
Remington was the original builder of the M40 as well as the barrel maker. Later to be contracted out to several different companies....to include Douglas.
I recently talked to Stan Taylor at Douglas and they are more than willing to cut me a blank or a finished barrel. Although, they don't have the specs....the only spec I have is the .850 at the muzzle measurement which I got out of Senich's book. He said they have a contour thats close to that but he needs all the measurements in order to be sure.
According to Senich's One Round War, He states that Remington documentation listed it as a "Varmint Weight"...or "Medium Weight" barrel. 24" with 1/10 twist.

So, with all that said. What I am in need of is the measurement spec sheet in order for them to cut me one.....Sorry about the long winded post...but just thought I should clarify.....This is the Final piece to my puzzle.
Thanks again!!!
 
Re: M40 Barrel Contour

Here are a couple of more sources to try:
Texas Iron Brigade Armory
Hart
GAP
Chandlers Iron Brigade Armory
American Precision Arms [Jered's a rifle genius, so...]
USMC Scout-Sniper Association

Odds are, given an hour (or two) with a phone, you'll be able to get the info you need by talking to one, or several of the above folks. And if they don't know, or are too busy to talk to you, just start with a list of the better know custom barrel makers, & get to punching digits. SniperCountry.com Hot Links

Maybe once you find out the specs, you'd be kind enough to post them. I know my curiosity, at least, is piqued.
 
Re: M40 Barrel Contour

nomore606
Do you have a particular POC? Because I as I stated above....I just spent a half hour with Stan Taylor from Douglas and he states they have no such spec's...I've got two other contacts to make and I will also be at SHOT next week so I should be able to get it squared away there.
Everyone seems to have spec's for A1's,A3's and A5's but not on the VN 40. Nor Hart, Col. C, or Schneider.
Just thought I'd reach out here and check....Thanks men.

That and specific gun builder(s) not to be mentioned, are unwilling to release spec sheets for purposes of contractual liability......ie, basically the want you to have them build you a gun vs. giving business to someone else...Understandable I suppose.
 
Re: M40 Barrel Contour

uncivilized...absolutely, if and when I land them, I will postem'. Thanks!
 
Re: M40 Barrel Contour

The M40's were basically just Remington 700 Varmint Specials with no checkering on the stock and an oil finish. They used the standard Remington Varmint barrel contour. What most barrel makers now have listed as their M40/M24 barrel contour is actually the M40A1, M40A3 and M40A5 barrel contour which is basically a #7 Douglas contour. Also known as the M40A1 or USMC contour. Please be specific if you order a stock from us because if you order one cut for an M40 barrel contour it will be for the standard Remington Varmint barrel contour.
P.S. If you are wondering what happened to the M40A2 and M40A4 these designations were already in use pertaining to 106mm recoilless rifles from the Korean War area.
 
Re: M40 Barrel Contour

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Milo8541</div><div class="ubbcode-body">nomore606
Do you have a particular POC? Because I as I stated above....I just spent a half hour with Stan Taylor from Douglas and he states they have no such spec's...I've got two other contacts to make and I will also be at SHOT next week so I should be able to get it squared away there.
Everyone seems to have spec's for A1's,A3's and A5's but not on the VN 40. Nor Hart, Col. C, or Schneider.
Just thought I'd reach out here and check....Thanks men.

That and specific gun builder(s) not to be mentioned, are unwilling to release spec sheets for purposes of contractual liability......ie, basically the want you to have them build you a gun vs. giving business to someone else...Understandable I suppose.</div></div>

Call Mike at Texas Brigade Armory. He is a subject matter expert on those rifles
 
Has anyone been able to get these specs... being in Australia... I will need to get a local barrel-maker to contour a barrel for me and I would like to have specs to hand to them to ensure the least amount of aggravation for both of us... thanks!
 
24 inch Rem var contour, .830" at the muzzle (flat crown), 1.25"@ breach (1 - 10 twist).

found the above spec's, but would be keen to see if someone can confirm this from a second source.
That twist rate sounds suspect to me, however is probably less important that getting the rest accurate?
 
Brian ... as soon as I get my Remington M40 repro back from my gunsmith, I will measure and post specs. I can tell you that the barrel did/does indeed have a 1-10 twist rate.
 
I just located a C-series Remington 700 BDL Varmint... C-series would make it a late-80's manufacture... all original... for a good price... was considering getting it just to get the barrel profile... does anyone know if Remington changed the Varmint barrel contour significantly between the 60's and 80's... thanks!
 
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I agree with Brain and Frank, Remington varmint contour, but I believe the M700 sniper/USMC M40 came before the varmint series or they were under developement at the same time. 24 inch Rem varmint contour, .830" at the muzzle (flat crown), 1.20 or 25"@ breach (believe Douglas's Remington varmint is 1.20 and most definitely a 1/10 twist with a flat crown.
 
The biggest issue I have seen is that the barrel is moved too far forward when cut and threaded... the Remington 700 Varmint drops quickly from the 1.25" at the recoil lug through a bell curve to a smaller diameter... most smiths or barrel contours leave a much longer flat in front of the recoil lug compared to a factory install... not sure that made sense...
 
From the original ones from the '60's that I've seen they are standard Rem. Varmint type contours. One barrel had a .820 muzzle diameter and the other one had like .835. Both were 1-10 twist.

I've seen factory Rem. varmint type contours measure from .820 to as big as .850 but I feel the .850 was out of the ordinary. We do a standard .830".

Original barrels were C.M. steel as well. Not S.S.

I don't know why the original M40 barrels were 1-10 twist, when the standard for 7.62 Nato is 1-12 which is the same industry standard for .308win. They probably went with 1-10 because that is the standard twist rate for .30-06 which going into Vietnam was still being used. Most likely if Douglas produced the original barrels for the .30-06 guns being used at the time they just used the same button to make the M40 barrels. Or the other reason is the military just wanted to stay with the 1-10 twist.

Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels
 
From the original ones from the '60's that I've seen they are standard Rem. Varmint type contours. One barrel had a .820 muzzle diameter and the other one had like .835. Both were 1-10 twist.

I've seen factory Rem. varmint type contours measure from .820 to as big as .850 but I feel the .850 was out of the ordinary. We do a standard .830".

Original barrels were C.M. steel as well. Not S.S.

I don't know why the original M40 barrels were 1-10 twist, when the standard for 7.62 Nato is 1-12 which is the same industry standard for .308win. They probably went with 1-10 because that is the standard twist rate for .30-06 which going into Vietnam was still being used. Most likely if Douglas produced the original barrels for the .30-06 guns being used at the time they just used the same button to make the M40 barrels. Or the other reason is the military just wanted to stay with the 1-10 twist.

Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels

1-10 twist possibly to use heavier bullets? Army M24 is 1-11.25 vs USMC M40A1-A3 is 1-12. Doesn't seem to be any standard set.
 
1-10 twist possibly to use heavier bullets? Army M24 is 1-11.25 vs USMC M40A1-A3 is 1-12. Doesn't seem to be any standard set.

I would say maybe o.k. the 1-10 twist for heavier bullets but a 1-12 shooting conventional match bullets will stabilize up to 190gr. bullets. The only need for a 1-10 is if your shooting like 200's, 208's, 210's. Doubt they had any factory loaded 200gr. + weight bullets back in the 60's and even now a days I don't know of any factory loaded 200gr+ match type bullets for .308win.

Make sure which M24 weapon system your looking at also. The M24 in .308win. might be spec. at 11.25 twist barrels but the M24 weapon system with .300 win. mag. barrels is 1-10 twist.

A ton of variables and options that could be used.

Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels
 
I would say maybe o.k. the 1-10 twist for heavier bullets but a 1-12 shooting conventional match bullets will stabilize up to 190gr. bullets. The only need for a 1-10 is if your shooting like 200's, 208's, 210's. Doubt they had any factory loaded 200gr. + weight bullets back in the 60's and even now a days I don't know of any factory loaded 200gr+ match type bullets for .308win.

Make sure which M24 weapon system your looking at also. The M24 in .308win. might be spec. at 11.25 twist barrels but the M24 weapon system with .300 win. mag. barrels is 1-10 twist.

A ton of variables and options that could be used.

Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels


Agreed. Also, let's not forget the original M40 was pretty much an off the shelf rifle put together by Remington for the Marines. So if 1-10 twist .308 barrels were what was being sold by Remington at the time, this is what they probably just grabbed and went with. This would be my guess on how the 1-10 twist was settled on.