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What is your favorite barrel contour and why ?

Anyone that is heavy enough to not string on whatever strings of fire will be common for the gun. To be more specific, I like about a remington varmint contour on my shooters, and heavy sporter on my hunters.
 
I had a 26" medium Palma on my AT, which was nice for the slightly lighter weight, but I've actually come to prefer a heavy Palma now because it balances the rifle better. For me, a heavy Palma strikes the right balance between weight and stiffness (since I shoot suppressed). I'm running a 24" heavy Palma with an Ultra-7 on my AX.
 
Rem Varmint/medium Palma or lighter. Running a Proof Research CF "Sendero" right now. I'm with Supercorndogs; lightest weight possible without wonky accuracy problems. Also like enough meat on the muzzle for threads.
 
Rem varmint/sendero on the gun now. Going to M24 next barrel. Shooting competitions so more weight for reduced recoil, more weight also seems to be a bit more stable in awkward barricade positions.

Heavy palma or M24 seems to be about the right spot, not sure I can bring myself to go full truck axle MTU. Maybe marksman on the lighter end.
 
Rem Varmint/medium Palma or lighter. Running a Proof Research CF "Sendero" right now. I'm with Supercorndogs; lightest weight possible without wonky accuracy problems. Also like enough meat on the muzzle for threads.

Super important for suppressor owners. I had to look around to find a heavy sporter that was .750 at the muzzle for proper shouldering.
 
Super important for suppressor owners. I had to look around to find a heavy sporter that was .750 at the muzzle for proper shouldering.

Hear, hear! I'm waiting (though not so much patiently) for barrel makers to start offering sporter contours with flared/belled muzzle ends for that very purpose. Similar to the Ruger American Ranch: http://www.ruger.com/products/americanRifleRanch/images/top.jpg

I love the light weight of the sporter barrel on my T3 Lite, but I really wish that I didn't have to run a jam nut in order to index the muzzle brake/suppressor mount. The light weight of the barrel is an advantage (obviously) when my fat ass is hauling it around, and because it's a hunting rifle, I'm not likely to get more than 2 shots off before it gets a chance to cool down (unless I'm working up a load for it)... so the typical downside of a light barrel is a non-issue for me in this use case.

There are always CF barrels, which offer the weight of a sporter and the stiffness of a... I dunno, heavy sporter? and have enough muzzle to provide proper can/brake shouldering, but damn they're expensive.
 
Hear, hear! I'm waiting (though not so much patiently) for barrel makers to start offering sporter contours with flared/belled muzzle ends for that very purpose.

I ordered a barrel from Bartlein about 90 days ago. The person I talked to indicated they would make a barrel that way right now.

 
Every barrel contour is made for its own purpose so I think you shouldn't be using a bull barrel for hunting or a sport barrel for benchrest shooting. Of course you can do it if you want but that would eliminate the whole meaning of giving contour to a barrel.
Now if I only have one choice for an "all around" barrel I would have a Medium Palma or Remington Varmint. IMHO this is a good compromise between weight and stiffness.
 
I ordered a barrel from Bartlein about 90 days ago. The person I talked to indicated they would make a barrel that way right now.

Hot damn... I'll have to keep that in mind. Thanks for the heads up!
 
I agree that you should match the barrel to the intended use. I've got a hunting rig with a fluted #4. Some days I wish it were lighter, but it still has enough muzzle to mount a can.


One drawback to a palma contour as I see it is that there is no room to set back. Once it's shot out, it's done. The blanks short 2½ inch breach section doesn't allow for you to lop off the barrel stub and re-chamber.

I've shot out several Hev Palma barrels in my F-TR rifles in the last few yrs, but I've moved away from them and don't plan to go back. On my 6SLR PR build I used a med palma but if I had it to do over again I'd have gone with something closer to a R varmint. When my 6SLR burns out the throat it's done

Granted you may not be able to get back to the the initial precision of that barrel, but you might well be able to get to someting that you could re-purpose. One example of mine is a 32" Heavy palma 308 with about 4700 rounds on it. It won't hold sub .5 MOA vertical at 1000 any more, it's no longer a competition barrel. If it were in a contour with a longer breach I'd lop off 2 inches rechamber it, cut it to 20 or 24 inches, mount a can or a brake and it would still be a useful short barreled 308. As it is, it just takes up space in my barrel rack and occasionally I wonder what to do with it.. As it sits today it's throated to seat 200 Hybrids long so just loping it off to 20 inches and headspacing it for another rifle probalby won't work, so there are really no options for extending its life. These days in a competition rifle I look for a barrel that will make my target weight with a minimum of 4" of 1.250 breach in the blank so I can at least rechamber once and see if it will still shoot.

The other possible drawback to a Med Palma vs a R Varmint (at the same length they are very close in weight) is that the palma contour moves more weight out toward the muzzle. Balance and feel can be personal so it may not be an issue but you may find better balance with a R Varmint type of contour.



One last thing a like about contours with more meat at the breach it that it puts the extra steel there for a heat sink where it's needed most. I've come off the line before with a H Palma that would just about melt your fingerprints after ripping off a 20 shot record string in good conditions. More steel where that heat load is highest has got to be a good thing.

 
MTU. cause I've been taught to keep spare parts for my truck handy. Med Palma is nice but there's something to be said about the stiffer barrels.
 
Bartlein 3b or Proof Sendero Light. I don't build anything that doesn't get used for hunting at some and those two work for mounting a suppressor. Stiff enough for the shooting I do but light enough to make them OK to carry.

I ordered a barrel from Bartlein about 90 days ago. The person I talked to indicated they would make a barrel that way right now.

That's interesting. Might just have to try that! Thanks for the heads-up!

 
depends on when I decide on a guns purpose but nothing less then a Remington varmint contour and usually i do a m40 contour from Schneider. On my ar10 Ballistic advantage barrel is heavy bull? .936...
However, since last year...i've contemplated a light gun design in general...including the barrel...but..you know...its hard to break from habit...not sure how i feel about a long range hunting set up...and the gun be too light.
 
I shoot Savage rifles, and my one and only custom uses a 2001 Savage 10FP action.

I have ended up using the Savage Varmint profile, because replacement stocks and barrels can be configured around that profile. My current configuration employs a McMillan A5 Tactical stock and a Lothar-Walter drop-in .260 Rem barrel, 28", 1:8" twist. Everything fits nice. The rifle was shot a few years in 1000yd F Open, and I like it.

I have a Savage 11VT .308 which will soon be sporting a(n other, like my 11VT .223) Choate Tactical (not the Plaster thing), and another 28" .260 L-W barrel, essentially identical to my existing one. I have a Granddaughter to bring up along on LR.

Greg