308 barrel choices ...

Otokiak

Otokiak

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
92   0   0
Location
Leduc, AB
I have a REmington 700 .308 rifle and put it in an AICS stock, had the bolt enlarged, trigger adjusted and am now thinking of maybe changing out the barrel and have a muzzle brake installed. What is the twist in my stock barrel?

Suggestions on types of barrels?(heavy, fluted, etc)
Suggestions on barrel manufacturer?(gaillard, etc)

I"m tryna make an AI clone and am learning how to re-load and wish to learn to shoot damn FAR as I live in a wide open area of Canada and can reach out great distances after learning and practicing. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Cheers my fellow CGNer's,

Otokiak
Rankin Inlet, NU
CANADA

JasonAICS5.jpg
[/IMG]
 
When your done frying up the original barrel you can rebarrel with another quality ( there are many US and Canadian) barrel but do it in 260 Rem or 7-08, they will get you out there with better bullets and less recoil, these are both based on the 308 case so nothing else gets modifyed.
bigbull
 
Well, here's my way of thinking. There's no point putting a super long barrel on a rifle whose stock was designed to be compact. Otherwise, it's just a waste. If you're going .308 Win. I'd be inclined to go with a M24/ Douglas #7 profile with a length of no more than 22" and a barrel twist rate around 11:1. Decent velocity and fairly compact to carry, especially if you have the AICS 2.0 stock.

Just my $.02.
 
"...the twist in my stock barrel?..." That's not a standard 700 barrel, but Remington uses 1 in 10 and 1 in 12 rifling.
Put a patch on your cleaning jag, run it into the chamber until it hits the barrel, then mark the rod at the chamber and on top of the rod near the handle. Push the rod through the barrel until the handle mark makes a complete turn. Mark the rod at the chamber again. Measure between the marks. That's your twist.
Don't do anything else to your rifle until you've shot it and worked up a load.
"...live in a wide open area..." You still have to know exactly what is behind your back stop out to about 3 miles.
 
It should have a 1:12 barrel.

Wait until you run that barrel out of threads.

2bad4u2

That twist that you quoted 11:1 is 11 turns in 1 inch. That should be 1:11
 
RePete said:
It should have a 1:12 barrel.

Wait until you run that barrel out of threads.

2bad4u2

That twist that you quoted 11:1 is 11 turns in 1 inch. That should be 1:11
Click to expand...

No, it's a new fast twist barrel that just came out. It's reportedly good for stabilizing 800 gr. VLD's....;)
 
Go for a .30 Cal McPhee 26.5" Stainless Steel 1 in 11.3" twist pipe...............I run one in the AMTU contour and couldn't be happier withs it's performance.

My barrel loves 168gr, 175gr, and 178gr bullets................

SKBY.
 
I have a Mike Rock 5R 22" fluted barrel in M24 contour and it is the cat's ass. I would highly recommend one of Mike's barrels. Outstanding reputation worldwide for single point cut rifled barrels.
 
I agree Mike Rock barrels are excellent, but we should probably be looking at supporting Canadian barrel makers so they don't start closing up shop.............with all the U.S. Export permit restrictions regarding firearms parts, it would be stupid of us to neglect the Canadian Barrels makers and solely rely on U.S. made barrels.................you never know, one day they might say No more..............;)

Just my $0.02 worth.........

SKBY.
 
If you are going to shoot mid-weight bullets exclusively, the slower twists will work fine. If you find that you like heavier bullets better you might prefer a 1:10. I have a 28" Kreieger 1:8 on my .308, and I'll never go back to a slow twist barrel in my small bores. The fast barrels shoot mid-weight bullets as well as the slow twist barrels, and they shoot well with heavy bullets, where the slow twist barrels will not. There are those who say you loose velocity when shooting with a fast twist barrel, but my .308 kicks 200 gr MK's out chronographed at 2700 fps with no pressure issues. That's pretty fast for a .308.

There are many great barrel makers out there now - I had a .224 1:7 Gaillard chambered for .222 that was just stupid accurate. Lately I have been sold on cut rifling as the best solution which is why I use Krieger now, but I believe the Ron Smith barrel on my .375 is also cut rifled. I don't have any experience with Mike Rock's barrels, but it sounds as if they are worth a look.


Edited to add -
There is a section on Krieger's web page that talks about the advantage of carbon steel over stainless in cold temperatures. That might be useful information for our Nunavut friends.
 
Last edited:
Anybody heard of Bartlein Barrels? They claim they can carry any twist rate to .0001 of an inch. There will be one going on my .308 target rifle this year.
 
maynard said:
Anybody heard of Bartlein Barrels? They claim they can carry any twist rate to .0001 of an inch. There will be one going on my .308 target rifle this year.
Click to expand...

Bartlein Barrels are rumored to be "the next big thing" in barrels. I've got a couple of friends in the US using them in their tactical rigs and love them. They both switched from Rock Creek barrels. Thus far, no complaints from either. They really like them.

However, when pushed about differences between the Bartlein and Rock Creek, they can't come up with much. Both barrels perform very very well for them.

Also, something else to think about, the Bartlein's took forever to get. HUGE waiting period when they purchased theirs.

Good luck with the one you thread on. Please post a report once your up and running.:D
 
I defy anyone to prove that the best of ANY barrel maker is better than another. There are one-hole guns with nearly every make of barrel out there, but as a consumer I became sick of the crap-shoot with some makers producing a greater than acceptable percentage of mediocre barrels. You end up wasting money on the barrel and then on the install as well. I believe McPhee makes the best 30 cal barrels going, but I also add that he prefers to do the install himself, so he is low volume, VERY high quality. You get the best of barrels and the best of 'smithing as well.

I personally think Krieger have the best reputation for consistent high quality; I have my own opinion and bias for them having greater life with their cryo treating as well. In the end, the *best* Bartlein, Rock, Gaillard or McPhee et al are going to produce equal results with the right load and the right shooter.
 
I have a Rock Creek 5R barrel on my 300 Win Mag and althought I haven't worked up the best load for it yet it is performing very well, just over 0.5 moa. This barrel took me over a year to get so be prepared to wait, mabey order it now!

Ivo
 
I would go with a 260. or 243 with a 1/7 or 8 twist....still will feed from your mag and you will not need a brake and will be a flatter shooting round
 
I'm thinking of something fluted and able to be threaded for a muzzle brake ... and I'll use it for long distance target shooting as well as hunting the animals up here ... :?

Otokiak
Rankin Inlet, NU
CANADA

P.S. I'm also learning how to re-load ... still learning ... ;)
 
I wouldn't bother with a muzzle break for any .308 Win class cartridge. The weight of the stock, action and heavy bull barrel is more than sufficient to tame most felt recoil. Adding a break is just going to make the rifle loud, and your hunting buddies won't be happy with you because of the hearing loss! :)
 
Muzzle brakes have advantages and unfortunately many disadvantages. Just be aware that they make hearing protection a MUST in hunting situations. I wouldn't want to have to choose between someday hearing my grandkids and becoming white bear food. If you are shooting from prone there will be dirt and plant life everywhere with each shot. And no one will want to shoot next to you (all my non-magnum friends are wusses). I don't hunt with mine so I quite enjoy the brake, especially when the dirt and plant life goes everywhere.

There are some recommendations here that you go to a smaller bore (.260 or .243 etc.) If you can see more than one rifle in your future then I would support your sticking to .308. There are numerous advantages to using that round. (Cost of .30 cal projectiles is good, reasonable range, good barrel life, better bear stopper). If this rifle is it for the imaginable future then I would consider going smaller and faster. It is much easier to do a lot of shooting with a smaller round.

The .308 can do long range target, med and large game; while a nice .243 WSM would be an excellent hunting gun with the med to small game (and easy to carry). I would try to throw in something really small as well just to keep the number of shots-per-week high while not costing you too much or becoming too exhausting to shoot (yes, even just a good air rifle..or .22LR).

Back to the brakes.. Having a threaded brake to some extent adds another variable to the repeatability equation that can cause problems. I am not personally aware of any rifles designed to be used with and without the brake. (anyone?) Obviously, many are threaded. My manual tells me my barrel was not designed to be fired with the brake removed so be careful what you model your barrel after. You would need to spend a lot of time at the range building up a hunting round on top of a good range round to satisfy the influence of the brake removal. hassle. For repeatability I need to make sure mine always stays in the same place each time I clean it. That is enough hassle for me.

Enjoy!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom