Thinking of a re barrel job

[pickpick]

I've made a sell or two of some other rifles and I'm thinking of getting this rifle(.308 Rem VLS) trued and re barreled with a 20" 10twist barrel, one countour smaller than the Remington varmint that is on it and fluted. I only shoot steel and paper with it and take it to a 600 yard F-T/R match, every fourth Saturday. I'm hoping to run 155 sierra palmas through it at around 2900fps or so. I will keep the same bottom metal, and up grade to a Manners stock on down the line. Does that sound like a good plan? Thanks for any advice.

 

[Pusher591]

Re: Thinking of a re barrel job

Sounds good, but if you shoot 155's mainly then why not go with a 1-12 twist?

It would stabilize the 168's and 175's also if you choose to shoot them later but from what I understand the 155's would really shine with the 1-12.

 

[Notso]

Re: Thinking of a re barrel job

If you're looking at shooting 155's, I don't think you want the 20" barrel. 155s need to be pretty fast before you see the benefits, and a 20" is going to struggle to get them fast enough to work well. I think there's a few here that shoot 155s out of a 20" effectively, but I don't think they're the norm.

 

[Pusher591]

Re: Thinking of a re barrel job

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Notso</div><div class="ubbcode-body">If you're looking at shooting 155's, I don't think you want the 20" barrel. 155s need to be pretty fast before you see the benefits, and a 20" is going to struggle to get them fast enough to work well. I think there's a few here that shoot 155s out of a 20" effectively, but I don't think they're the norm. </div></div>

+1, didn't even think about that.

 

[TonyAngel]

Re: Thinking of a re barrel job

How fast do you need to push a 155 to see the benefits? I'm shooting a 22" Krieger with a 1:12 twist and I'm getting 2800 fps with a charge of 45gr of RL15.

 

[SavageStag]

Re: Thinking of a re barrel job

Another thing to think about, that smaller contour barrel is going to heat up faster. I would think you would want heavier for F-Class. Good luck which ever way you go.

 

[Pusher591]

Re: Thinking of a re barrel job

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TonyAngel</div><div class="ubbcode-body">How fast do you need to push a 155 to see the benefits? I'm shooting a 22" Krieger with a 1:12 twist and I'm getting 2800 fps with a charge of 45gr of RL15.</div></div>

I have heard you should try to push them around 2900fps or faster to see them really perform "the best". They have a great BC, similar to the 175 but less weight. The faster you can send them accurately is going to be the best.

 

[littlerascal56]

Re: Thinking of a re barrel job

I had to push 155 Scenars to 2900+ to get good accuracy in my TRG. I would also recommend a 1:12 barrell for that bullet. Savage builds their Palma rifle with a 1:13 twist and long barrel just for this reason.

I shoot 1:12 for my 168's.

 

[cooper623]

Re: Thinking of a re barrel job

just curious, why do you want to drop it one contour size and flute it? If all you do is target shoot and do some f class matches then why not go with a heavy unfluted barrel as this will be stiffer. Unless your just doing it for looks in which case i understand, although i refuse to let myself get flutes on my rifles because it takes away from the stiffness (fluted barrels are stiffer than other barrels from the same WEIGHT since you can get a thicker diameter for a given weight with fluting but not stiffer than a heavier barrel) they do look awesome.

 

[nmmi9100]

Re: Thinking of a re barrel job

For your application, I'd go with a Medium or Heavy Palma contour, no flutes and 24-26 inches. 308 doesn't have a lot of gas to start with so you need barrel length to get all you can. Shot an F-class 600 this past weekend and as one would suspect, there were mostly 6.5mm and 6mm shooters. I was first place in F/TR and also LAST place in F/TR. Only 308/223 shooter. We had a 15 to 20 mph variable fishtail wind that was tough to read. Get all the velocity you can.

Flutes also induce stresses in the barrel. Avoid them unless you have a specific need to make weight for a particular competition class.

-David
Edgewood, NM

 

[pickpick]

Re: Thinking of a re barrel job

I don't have any specific need for the flutes, just thinking of weight. Which is really not much of a concern either. I was thinking a medium palma for my other option. The thinking for my 10 twist is, I have found a load that works very well in my DPMS LR308 with a 10tw eighteen inch barrel, using 155's over varget. I'm hoping to get as good or better results out of bolt gun. And, if the 155's don't work I can always go to 175's. As for the 20" length, I had the 26" barrel, that came on the rifle, cut down to 20 and threaded for my Cyclone K. I love the handiness of the short barrel. It ruined me on long barrels. I can deal with the loss of some velocity compared to how handy it is to haul it out around in the truck, or take it to the farm and not have a truck axle to deal with. And with the suppressor on, the muzzle is not half way to the 100 yard target. Thanks for the advice, I'll take note of it all.

 

[Notso]

Re: Thinking of a re barrel job

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TonyAngel</div><div class="ubbcode-body">How fast do you need to push a 155 to see the benefits? I'm shooting a 22" Krieger with a 1:12 twist and I'm getting 2800 fps with a charge of 45gr of RL15. </div></div>
As others have said - high 28s to 2900s or better is optimum. I tried both 155 Scenars and SMKs and maxed them both out at about 2780-2800 before I got pressure signs in my 20" (47.7 Varget in Lapua). And I had shitty accuracy through the whole range of workups. But as I said, some have had luck at lower MVs, just not all that many.

 

[dar1246]

Re: Thinking of a re barrel job

My 308s that is shot in the FTR F-Class is a 13 twist barrel. I shoot 155s at 3050fps in a 30" barrel. I would think you should get around 2900 fps. I have 2 18" 308s and hoping for 2900fps with the 155s.

 

[Notso]

Re: Thinking of a re barrel job

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: dar</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have 2 18" 308s and hoping for 2900fps with the 155s. </div></div>

Wow, thats ambitious. I'm not saying you can't get there, but good luck with that.