Need barrel suggestions for LGI's group buy, and question on current rig

[MrOneEyedBoh]

Im looking for some pointers on which barrel to go with. I shoot 175gr SMKs and the max I would shoot would be 1000ish. I dont think 175s can be pushed much further... Im new to shooting so learning on the way. Ive shot out to 1061yds using FGMM before. The reason I want a new barrel is to accommodate their request for a new barrel when they do theur Rem700 accur-izing. Im guessing the 11.25 twist is correct? Any and all help here is appreciated. I would also like to know which companies are worth going with as well. Im sure its like anything out there, similar with optics. Its all in what you prefer, but Im sure there are some goto guys out there, manufacture wise on barrels.

Also suggestions on which crown, they offer True 11* Tgt crown or Recessed 11* Hunter Crown

AND

Which profile to go with. I know thats preference too, they offer fluting and I may get it while its in there. So maybe the Varmint profiles would be great for this?

I currently have a Shillen barrel in Varmint profile.



On second though... What can be done to my current rifle to make it that much more accurate? It seems pretty good to me still. Maybe 1000 MAX rounds down the pipe. Any other types of truing that can be done? Its in an AICS and its been bedded as well.

 

[biner626]

M24 profile Bartlein 1:11 from Grizzly Industrial is what I put on mine. 24" Would be a good overall length.
Bugholes.com is also well respected. I got my wife's Krieger barrel from them.

 

[Frank Green]

The style of crown makes no difference in accuracy etc...what's important is that at the bore edge the crown is free of burrs, nicks etc....I've got sporter crowns on my sporter guns, 11 degree target and stepped recess on my target guns and even have used flat style crowns. I prefer the 11 degree or stepped recess on my heavier barrel/target type guns.

A 1-12 twist will stabilize up to a conventional 190gr. bullet at .308win. velocities. The 11.25 is the most popular. Most of my .30cal. guns in .30-06 or .308win. have a 11.25 twist and I shoot mostly 155gr. bullets and some 175's.

Contour is personal preference and I would say what kinda gun your building will dictate that the most.

Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels

 

[SuburbanHick]

You will have a very hard time finding a better barrel than a bartlein.....that being said there are a few that are close in my personal opinion...

I run the Remington heavy varmint contour or the MTU.... but I'm also 6'2 240+ lbs and im use to carrying a Barrett or a 240L...my deer rifle is 14+ lbs....but I can also shoot 600 yards with it ( its only a 308)

What it boils down to is that you need to build the rifle for what you want and what you will do with it

 

[MrOneEyedBoh]

Thanks fellas.
Aren't varmint barrels inherently more accurate due to their stout profile? If so then when fluting one, does it decrease it dramatically or enough to notice?


Would it be beneficial at all to go with a higher twist barrel versus the 11.25? Is a high twist barrel better to have then not need it ( I'd be shooting 175s, but who knows I may go up to a higher grain bullet )

 

[SuburbanHick]

your just hitting all the points....
they tend to be more accurate becuase they can deal with heat bette than a thinner barrel... its really not because they are "better and more accurate", its that they just walk less... fluting does 2 things makes a barrel lighter and adds eye candy...

i dont own one fluted barrel or bolt... it just crates problems in my opinion and its an added expense.. it doesnt stiffen the barrel nor does it really help with cooling that much...

1-10 twist is for longer bullets.... if you dont plan on going over 175gr 1-11.25 works great... if you plan on going over 175... with the 1-10....

what i did while going through all of this was i called the bartlein... i prob called ab our 20 times over a year talking about various things... and if you think about it who would know more about twist rates??

 

[Frank Green]

The faster twist with what your shooting isn't going to give you anything extra in terms of accuracy. Sometimes a really fast twist can work against you. A faster twist with poorer quality ammo or ammo that has a lot of run out the faster twist will amplify the run out/poor quality and your groups can actually be worse.

The old saying is a heavier barrel shoots better than a light one you have to take with a grain of salt and to me it applies to button barrels more than cut barrels. Why? The straighter the barrel blank and the more stress free the blank is the more forgiving the barrel is going to be and in some cases regardless of the contour. A barrel blank which has a bow in it and or combination of a lot of stress as it heats up the barrel will want to walk and your groups will change where they print/string on the target. Button rifling induces a lot of stress into the blank. That's why they have to restress relieve the blank after rifling. They have no way of checking for any residual stress after stress relieving. Then when the barrel blank gets contoured or secondary machine work done like fluting, cutting and crowning etc...the secondary machining can relieve the stress and cause the bore sizes to change/go sour and or the barrel to bow. When this happens you cannot get the barrel to go back. As the barrel heats up from shooting and you see the groups walk and when you let it cool and the barrel starts back where it did when you first started shooting this is because the steel has a memory.

I rebuilt/built my wife a old Browning Sako Safari sporter rifle for deer hunting. Originally .243win. The new barrel is now .260 Rem. We duplicated the contour and the barrel has a .600 muzzle at 22". That gun will shoot 1/3 moa all day long. My tactial rifle has a mod. Rem. Varmint contour with a .875 muzzle and longer breech length and shoots no better.

Fluting to me just does a couple of things. Barrel might cool a little faster as it gives the barrel more surface area for the air to hit it. It will reduce weight and to some it looks cool. Does nothing for accuracy in my book.

Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels

 

[biner626]

Frank is the guru for barrels. One would be wise to listen to his advice.
In my opinion, if you must have flutes, go with a thicker contour.

 

[MrOneEyedBoh]

Thanks man. I didn't think it would add accuracy, but I though it would hinder it for whatever reason...

I would think that fluting could cause some issues with being heated during the fluting process from the tooling removing material. Unless the coolant would work so well that it would eliminate that

 

[pawprint2]

If you're really looking at the 175's, you may also want to consider the following:This rifle carried Brad Sauve to a 2004 U.S. Nat’l F-Class win in TR (Target Rifle) Class. It features a McMillan A-2 tactical stock with saddle cheek piece, plus Badger Ordnance rings, bases, trigger guard, and floorplate. The barrel is a Schneider heavy target contour with a 1:11.25″ twist, optimized for 175gr SMKs.

 

[MrOneEyedBoh]

Hmm interesting. What makes it optimized

 

[AdamP]

I settled on a 26" Rem Varmint Contour Bartlein Barrel for my .260 Rem. Best choice of my life. The barrel before that was the same just in 308 with 11.25. Bottom line is buy a bartlein and run with it.

Adam P
LWRCi

 

[Aimsmall55]

Got 4 bartleins... Won't go back. Love em

 

[Ultraman550]

I have a new 31" Bartlein Medium Palma 1:10 that is 5.6 lbs (I'm 98% sure). Decent weight but not ridiculous. I'm going to cut it down to 28 or 26 so I dont know how much weight that'll shave off but after calling Bartelin, LRI and Butch's reloading (where I bought my barrel the cheapest) and asking about the Rem Sendero/Varmint contours they said it was pretty close. I'll be shooting suppressed and the 175, 178 and 180's.