Okay, so I have come to a bit of a mental stalemate in determining a barrel setup for a new rifle I am building, and am curious what decision the wise Hide members would make...
I am planning to build a 223 on a Bighorn TL-3 and dropping it into a Manners T4A w/ mini-chassis. Bighorn is already on order, and the T4A will be on order shortly after I determine my barrel setup. My plan for the rifle is to be used as a target/bench/fun rifle while still maintaining the future capability to switch barrels without having to send out the rifle for any 'smithing work. My local range is only 300 yards, so I am building it in 223 Rem first, and leaving myself the capability to just order another bolt head and barrel in the future.
Here's my dilemma: I am torn between going with Southern Precision Rifle's Bugnut system, or using Bighorn's new 12-point barrel nut. With EITHER system, I am currently planning on having Greg @ SPR do the chambering work on a Bartlein barrel finished at 20-22".
Option 1:
Bartlein 1:7.7 twist, 5R rifling, Rem. Varmint or M24 profile, using Greg's Bugnut.
Option 2:
Bartlein 1:7.7 twist, 5R Rifling, Savage Small Shank Varmint or Target profile, using Bighorn's 12-point nut.
The cost for either option comes out to roughly the same amount. $335 (Barrel) + $180/160 (chambering bugnut/savage) + $40 (bugnut/bighorn nut).
The only real difference is that with the Bugnut I am pretty sure I will have to remove the scope rail on the TL-3 to give me access to removing the nut, whereas I don't think this is necessary with the Bighorn nut. This still isn't that much of a big deal to me, because I don't even anticipate using it as a switch barrel setup for at least a year or so. I do like that I can use standard contours with Greg's Bugnut and it is a very low profile design.
Any opinions or advice? Also, what do people think about finishing a M24 or Savage Target contour at 20-22"? Will this just look ridiculous? I mainly shoot from a bench and prone, would not be used for hunting. No PRS or action shooting at this time, but would maybe like to try it out at some point (nothing near me locally, but I foresee a move in my near future). The reason for keeping it to 20-22" is again because my local range is only 300 yards and it is convenient for storage/transportation to keep the rifle at the "handy" length.
I am planning to build a 223 on a Bighorn TL-3 and dropping it into a Manners T4A w/ mini-chassis. Bighorn is already on order, and the T4A will be on order shortly after I determine my barrel setup. My plan for the rifle is to be used as a target/bench/fun rifle while still maintaining the future capability to switch barrels without having to send out the rifle for any 'smithing work. My local range is only 300 yards, so I am building it in 223 Rem first, and leaving myself the capability to just order another bolt head and barrel in the future.
Here's my dilemma: I am torn between going with Southern Precision Rifle's Bugnut system, or using Bighorn's new 12-point barrel nut. With EITHER system, I am currently planning on having Greg @ SPR do the chambering work on a Bartlein barrel finished at 20-22".
Option 1:
Bartlein 1:7.7 twist, 5R rifling, Rem. Varmint or M24 profile, using Greg's Bugnut.
Option 2:
Bartlein 1:7.7 twist, 5R Rifling, Savage Small Shank Varmint or Target profile, using Bighorn's 12-point nut.
The cost for either option comes out to roughly the same amount. $335 (Barrel) + $180/160 (chambering bugnut/savage) + $40 (bugnut/bighorn nut).
The only real difference is that with the Bugnut I am pretty sure I will have to remove the scope rail on the TL-3 to give me access to removing the nut, whereas I don't think this is necessary with the Bighorn nut. This still isn't that much of a big deal to me, because I don't even anticipate using it as a switch barrel setup for at least a year or so. I do like that I can use standard contours with Greg's Bugnut and it is a very low profile design.
Any opinions or advice? Also, what do people think about finishing a M24 or Savage Target contour at 20-22"? Will this just look ridiculous? I mainly shoot from a bench and prone, would not be used for hunting. No PRS or action shooting at this time, but would maybe like to try it out at some point (nothing near me locally, but I foresee a move in my near future). The reason for keeping it to 20-22" is again because my local range is only 300 yards and it is convenient for storage/transportation to keep the rifle at the "handy" length.