Josh said it has a 1.25 diameter shank for 5 and then tapers down to just 1 at the muzzle at 26. They all make barrels that shoot and every now and then a barrel gets through that doesnt (for a variety of reasons). I blast it out to anyone who wants globs of information on all things precision rifle related. I didnt ask that question, Mark. And Stuteville isnt the only guy who can do that. Thanks for sharing. There was no mention of creating the rifling; button or hammer forging. Adding a little weight way out at the muzzle, can have a bigger impact than you might expect on how the rifle handles. Thanks, CR. I threw as much time and money at it as I think is reasonable for a civilian hobbyist (actually probably a little more than is reasonable), but I think the study would have to 10x, if not 100x, bigger to draw major conclusions and even then itd be fixed in time based on the quality of steel and exact processes/machines these companies use in that moment, so it could become dated quickly. That doesnt mean theyre the best or most accurate, though. Out of Stock. I run a #6 contour on my 7mag hunting rifle which shoots under a .1 on a regular base. I am honestly probably close to being clinically OCD, and he makes me look like a slob! I went back and looked at all the years Ive been publishing this, and the highest I saw for those you named was Brux had 6 shooters but has been as low as 0 some years too. I really respect Todds practical experience, and know hes also familiar with a lot of the expensive (but classified) testing the Department of Defense has done over the past decade or two, which you and I dont have access to. Order My Barrel. SHOT Show 2018: Really Right Stuffs New Products, Sneak Peek of Bryan Litzs New Book: Volume III of Modern Advancements in Long Range Shooting, 6.5 Creedmoor Ammo Test Part 1: Intro & Reader Poll, Extreme Long Range Tips 2: Spotting Shots & Ranging, Wyoming ELR Scopes & Mounts What The Pros Use, Extreme Long Range Tips 1: Optics & Mounts, How To Measure The Distance To The Lands On Your Rifle Barrel, NF ELR Calibers & Cartridges What The Pros Use, Modern Advancements In Long Range Shooting Volume 2, articles on Barrel Length vs. Muzzle Velocity from RifleShooter.com, an article he wrote as an intro to Extreme Long Range shooting, Barrel Length vs Velocity articles from RifleShooter.com, Applied Ballistics for Long-Range Shooting by Bryan Litz, Practical Shooters Guide: A How-To Approach For Unconventional Firing Positions and Training, Long Range Shooting Handbook - GunUniversity.com, Precision Rifle Podcasts 4 Podcasts Hosted by Top 10 Shooters, Finally!!! There is no mention of the 308 win cartridge used for the various barrels used Would be enlightening to know the kind of Barrels being used for the 308 win cartridge and in which contour/barrel length/manafacturer. Whats interesting is the 6mm BR and 6mm BRA both have the majority of the shooters using a 28 barrel. Wow! While Im sure that plays into this, it may not be the only factor. This year they represented 31.4% of the shooters, which is still twice as many as any other brand. Am I correct in assuming that reaching the target quicker would also increase accuracy at a slightly longer distance; and be more stable to reduce group sizing as well? I havent but one of my OCD friends has. Berger lists some general numbers in their reloading manual for what you can expect per inch, but Ive found those to be such a gross over-simplification that I dont rely on them at all. The Mil-C is also a very good choice, and is what I bought for a new rifle that will arrive any day now. If it was a match-grade barrel, Id expect theyd tell you what it was. I admit there were several surprises in there for me. That was fun to read. These articles are like crack! Unlike other parts like scopes, actions, and chassis where we can compare features or see/feel the difference, most of the differences between a great barrel and a poor one cant be easily compared. According to Bartlein Barrels, a 26" M24 contour barrel weighs in at 6.2 . It seems like at least theoretically you could manipulate powder charge, burn rate, cartridge dimensions, twist rate, etc. Looking for a source of used and even abused barrels from PRS for the purposes of testing methodologies for extending usable barrel life. (View other What The Pros Use articles). The green colors represents the top shooters in the NRL, where the darkest green is the top 10, medium green is 11-25, and light green are 26th to 50th. i wana buy some books to learn more about long range shooting and precision rifle shooting . Someone else might chime in if they know. Its clearly a very capable round in the hands of a good shooter. Thanks, Russ. (Learn about the PRS & NRL.) MPA 223BA Bolt Action Rifle $ - $ view product. 2) in the heavy contour barrel what does 2 length difference do to velocity and accuracy nodes? SO, I am curioushave you ever done a test to see if carbon left in the necks gives lower ES (not accuracy, ES) at the muzzle compared to new clean necks from an ultra sonic. Light Varmint. or the new Nightforces Mill XT reticle. (If someone has the muzzle diameter and weights for 26 barrels in all these, please share them in the comments.) Barrel Contours from left to right: Contour, Fluted, Dimpled, and Standard. The Medium Palma was the lightest contour used, which is kind of funny, because I know hunters who would laugh at me calling a Medium Palma light! But, in the precision rifle game that is about as light as youll see most shooters using. He seemed to have been preparing his whole life to answerthat elusive question, and it wason the tip of his tongue:The barrel and the bullet.Deceptively simple. I appreciate you sharing that specifically. There may be some crossover, but its not as simple as you might think. I kind of stretched my brain just then. So I asked him the million dollar question: Whatis themost important thing when itcomesto precision rifles? Cecil didnt hesitate. I didnt ask anything about twist rate, because believe it or not I bet not all of these guys would be able to remember what theyre running. Out of Stock. The MOAR reticle was the reticle in my first scope, which was the Nightforce NXS 5.5-22. Because I hate that approach soooo much, I gathered a pile of barrels and did a massive research project that was published in Bryan Litzs most recent book. Also, any harmonics or other similar effects that may be present are only amplified by the longer barrel. It may be surprising to hear, but some barrel manufacturers are still using World War era equipment to produce barrels. By restricting caliber, and configuration choices, hes able to buy in bulk, produce in large batches on CNC machines, and then pass on what seems to be an exceptional (and I might even suggest unrivaled) value in the market. Honestly, I was concerned it was getting too long-winded, so thanks! The blank in .308 bore weighs ~6.2 lbs or almost exactly the same as the M24 contour. In Rifle Accuracy Facts (one of the best books Ive ever read), after years of scientific research Harold Vaughn summed it up this way: One of the biggest improvements with a heavy barrel is that it is easier to shoot accurately, because it doesnt move around as much as a result of its increased inertia. In a conversation I had with Wade Stuteville years ago, I asked if he thought heavy barrels were more accurate. Im definitely not a bandwagon kind of guy the opposite in fact. MPA 300 Win Mag BA Bolt Action Rifle $ - $ Personally, I started MOA because I think it is more natural when you speak in yards and inches but after a few years I switched over to mils for a few reasons. Theyve simply done a great job establishing and maintaining their position by continuing to turn out barrels that consistently perform at the highest level, both in these tactical/practical field-style rifle competitions, as well as F-Class and Benchrest, some of the worlds elite military units, and other shooting disciplines. I quantify group sizes, point of impact shift as the barrels heat up, overall barrel stiffness, and even measure how quickly the barrels heat up and cool off. Those are literally the next two articles Ill publish. Barrel Contours; Cut Rifled Barrels; OEM Production Barrels; www.rockcreekbarrels.com. Now Im not saying they dont make good barrels that could be competitive in this sport. It has a 1.25 diameter at the shank for 3.5, and then has a sporter contour that tapers to 0.9 at 26. In fact, I noticed one of their rifles was represented among this group of top shooters, so obviously theyre extremely capable. This article shares the 6XC load data these top-ranked shooters are reloading in their match ammo. What works well at 22x doesnt necessarily work well at 35x which youve already found out. While its certainly satisfying to fire a 10 shot string and look over to see a tiny SD on the LabRadar, how much time should we spend chasing that? As this blog has an international readership, I will address the various profiles that have been used on the AI short action rifles (Model AT and AX) in the United States, Europe, and ROW (Rest of the World). getting a vudoo apparition in xlr element. Palma Contours. to achieve the same launch conditions, from a shorter or longer barrel. What an extended joy in reading this lengthy dissertation. Can you enlighten us on what you mean? Our taperless contours have a straight shank 3 forward of the breach with radius down to a set cylindrical diameter starting 5 forward of the breach. Here is what they have to say about it: The uniformity in our barrels and finish of the bores is second to none. I appreciate the encouragement! Theyd have to cut corners somewhere. Thanks for all the work you put into this website. I tried to make something like that myself a couple different ways, including drawing this stuff up in a CAD program and measuring volumes which took a lot of time, but I never got to a point where I had it all itemized like what you have here. That is largely due to the fact that factors like wind have less time to act on the bullet. I appreciate you chiming in. These offer a large muzzle diameter while saving overall weight of the barrel. The rest of the guys were running barrels from 24 to 28, plus 2 guys running at 23 and 1 guy running at 22. Vectronix rangefinders have an etched reticle in them, which is mil-based. The natural endowments of the county offer horseback riding, fishing and cycling. That seems to corroborate Vaughns point. Hope it comes out soon, and feel free to shoot me an email that gets me headed in the right direction. But Id be guessing if I tried to tell you what those were. MTU 6.43 The Marksman contour was released by Hawk Hill a couple of years ago with this PRS-style of shooting in mind. Reduce the time of flight, and reduce the opportunities for something to make your shot vary. If it is it's from them spinning the barrel while standing it on a belt sander, which is common practice to make it look nice once machining is done. 0. Ionce visitedtheshop ofBenchrestHall of Famer Cecil TuckerandI recognized a uniqueopportunity to learn from a legend. The cool thing is I still dont have to send off my action. In fact, in some of the RifleShooter.com tests you can see muzzle velocity actually went down with the longest barrels, meaning the bullet was starting to slow down in the barrel. I think if you took the top 20 and swapped barrel blanks, theyd all still land in the top 20 or close to it. Im not sure what drove that, but theyre definitely not a dumb decision. One to two miles. This barrel post took me longer than normal, because there was a lot of interesting stuff in there (at least to me). Hawk Hill Custom Barrelsmade a huge leap in 2015, with 26% of the top shooters running them. My ? The muzzle diameter is .975, and the performance of this barrel has been exceptional without being excessively heavy. Order My Barrel. Ha! It means a lot that it was informative, but engaging. Most these guys pretty much say the same thing when I asked them for their best piece of advice. Select Options. I can tell you that youd love Litzs books. In fact, I like the way it organizes the features that I actually use. They are all extremely smart people, who have made high-end composite products featured in F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, B2 Stealth Bomber, and other mission-critical parts for the military and other industries. Snipers Hide is a community of Snipers of all kinds, focusing on long range shooting, accuracy, and ballistics. Essentially the receiver securely clamps around the first six inches of the barrel. Add To Cart. The twist is exact, where as other forms of rifling can have variances due to the process they use. For prefits or contoured blanks, the only aspect of a contour that changes with barrel length variations will be the length between C and E (or A and E for straight tapers). Lots of world-records have been set with button-rifled barrels. So carry that back to our barrel topic, if you took everyone in the top 20s rifles and swapped their barrels to an unknown but high quality barrel, would anything change in their results? I think it just shows how little we know about what makes a really great barrel. Great article! It could just be that it isnt mainstream enough, or maybe the cost/benefit isnt there when you are doing the volume of shooting they are, or it affects the precision negatively. The military has standardized on mils. All Ive ever known is MOA, afraid to switch . Quick view Out of Stock. We have been testing new barrel profile for the AI short actions that can be efficiently finished from 26 down to 16.5. So really neither of those have ever been very popular among this group of shooters. If you can and would, please advise. Cool thing! Its extremely physically demanding. 6.5 Creedmoor Ammo Test Summary: Hit Probability At Long-Range, 6.5 Creedmoor Ammo Test Part 5: Live-Fire Group Sizes & Precision, 6.5 Creedmoor Ammo Test Part 4: Live-Fire Muzzle Velocity Details. 5 shot groups, 5 group aggregate that really performs in the 0.20). That seems eerily uniform, but I guess it must just be the magic combination for those cartridges. Regardless of whether that is true or not, a lot of guys are using their barrels so they must be doing something right! Scott Seigmund Benchmark Barrels is located just North of Seattle Washington, in the Pacific Northwest. That makes about 1/2 lb. Zelemr - Church Ruin. Theyre written with a guy like you in mind! But, how much does that really matter? Made my night! Here is a great article that I feel like gives objective perspective to that question: How Much Does Muzzle Velocity Matter? Since most of these guys see a heavy barrel as a good thing, that shouldnt be too surprising. Oops sorry can anyone move to bolt section or should i repost this there? Ive read it multiple times and still find myself going to pull it off the shelf to reference more than any other book. Thanks for the great info, and for the careful explanation of all of it. More high-end equipment is avialable in mils. This list just doesnt seem to change as much as other gear, but there were a few shifts in 2018 Ill point out below. OTM ships to lower 48 states for a flat rate of $9.99(MAXIMUM OF 20 POUNDS UNDER ONE SHIPPING CHARGE), excluding Hazmat. M24 5.94 One of the guys running this was Dan Jarecke, who ranked 6th overall in the PRS, so its obviously not a bad choice. 1) That seems to fit my experience, and Id personally agree with that theory. That is especially true among the really high-end equipment. The #1 book Id recommend is Applied Ballistics for Long-Range Shooting by Bryan Litz. Options include #1 #2 #3 #4 Sporter contours, specs available on our contours page. The Charlie TARAC is an excellent solution, and I talk about that in the post. Well, youre in luck! It may not display this or other websites correctly. Retired Army Ranger Sniper, RyanCleckner, explains just as the receiver is the main part of the rifle for legal purposes, the barrel is the main part of the rifle for accuracy purposes. Straight Taper/Mach Contours. No action-specific barrels on Impact actions, because the critical dimensions on parts and assembly are virtually identical on all of them. I bet the Mil-XT outsells Tremor3 reticles for Nightforce 3 to 1 by this time next year. I am thinking about replacing the barrel on my RPR with a heavier contour and 22 as I shoot it with a suppressor. Part of the reason for their success is that Bartlein uses some of the most advanced computer-aided manufacturing processes available. Options include Light, Medium and Heavy Palma as well as custom Palma. I do appreciate the thoughtful comments, and you sharing your ideas. Reticle selection There are a lot more choices for advanced reticles in mils than MOA. It seems like so many guys were running heavy M24 and MTU, but if you want anything heavier youd have to jump all the way to a straight cylinder, which may require a custom modification to your stock or chassis. Ive asked him to respond here with the answer, so stay tuned. It was in an article he wrote as an intro to Extreme Long Range shooting, which was mostly intended for monster guns (i.e. I have. I did write what I believe is the most objective comparison to the Mil vs MOA debate. But he theorized that Hawk Hill was still that boutique, small business size where its typically the same guy doing certain operations, and they still had the flexibility to slow down and double-check tooling or be OCD in their inspection process. When I began my testing I quickly realized that I had a real shooter on my hands with multiple powder charge weights shooting in the zeros. You can see that a Straight Taper (a.k.a. Below are the weights for most contours finished to 26. It is appreciated. 6mm BARTLEIN "MTU" Contour Barrel 29" $394.99. is what is better for ELR , MOA or Mills ? You can do everything right to put a shot right on the money at 2000 yards, but if you have a zero that wanders by MOA randomly, cold bore shots are a straight up gamble. It does not take into account tenon or muzzle threading. Fixed Shoulder barrels offer our largest contour selection, from light to our heaviest contours such as MTU or M24 as well as Palmas, Varmints, Sporters, and our Taperless series. Heres a look at what percent of the shooters were using what barrel length for all the cartridges used by more than 3 shooters: You can see again that 26 barrels were very popular across the board. One disclaimer with rifle barrels is all of these custom barrel manufacturers make amazing match-grade barrels that are sure to please even the most demanding shooters. 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