308 Match barrel choice.

Cpt.Flan

Cpt.Flan

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HI gents!

I have another project in mind. My Rem LTR 20" based custom ( AI chassis etc... ) served me well but it needs a new barrel now.

Looking for a match grade .308 blank barrel.

Was thinking to cut it down to 24-26". What should I put in there? I have the machinist and armorer needed for the job.

PLEASE KEEP IT ON A BARREL CHOICE AND WHY.

Material?
Brand?
Twist? I was interested in the Broughton 5C in 1/11?
Crown?
Length?

Will most likely shoot my usual load ( 175g Sierra MK ).


Thank you!!!
 
"...and armorer..." And what?
What kind of matches, assuming the rifle is for match shooting. Ted Galliard is Canadian and has been winning big time matches, Stateside.
 
My personal preference is Krieger (-followed by other cut rifle) / with no preference between cm or ss although the later is probably less expensive in terms of finish. I would not twist faster than 1:12 for bullets under 180gr as that rate will stabilize pretty much everything under that weight/length. There are those that believe that twist rates should be kept to the minimum required to reduce the torque factor, and possibly also impact on velocity? It is my understanding the that there is no accuracy advantage to the "R"/canted rifling...but they possibly clean easier? I have all mine cut with a target crown. Longer ranges favor length to for velocity gain.
 
The winners circle in F class FTR are using 32" 1/11 twist H Palma or light straight taper, and Berger 185 to 200gr
Bartlien 5r
and other custom barrels
most using Lapua Palma brass srp
 
The make of the barrel matters the least! Pick your bullet and then your twist etc. Obviously Kreigers shoot great but from a barrel fitters point of view they are the worst. They have every problem a barrel could have, from a machinist's point of view, but still shoot great so I think that proves something that they have figured out!

All the barrel makers you hear about use the same tooling, steel and methods, there are virtually no "Bad" barrels these days. The reamer and the guy that uses it has a big impact on how it shoots. There are a lot of bad reamers around these days that do not cut to size. If you know you are going to wear through a few barrels buy your own reamer to cut the chamber you need. As long as the guy doing the work knows what he is doing the brass will be interchangeable to a new barrel.
 
Krieger, Bartlein, McLennen, Broughton, Tru-Flite, Galliard not in any particular order. Just about any match barrel out there these days will shoot. If I was shooting 175 gr bullets, I would likely go with a 30 inch SS barrel with 1:11 twist with an 11 degree crown and heavy Palma profile.
 
Which ever has the shortest wait time from krieger/bartlein/broughton/tru-flite/shilen ect ect. I'd opt for a heavy palma 30 inch barrel with a 12 twist for 168 hybrids.
 
Call around to various canadian distributors and pick the one that offers one of the top brands at the best possible price with the twist and material you prefer to shoot. By the sounds of it, a 26 inch, SS, 1-10 or 1-11 twist will suite you needs. It you find it too long, you can always have it cut down (24 to 20 inches). Galliard/McLennon would be my pick for an all-canadian approach. But a Rock Creek or Bartlein or Krieger come highly recommended and can be had by a few canadian distributors (Peter Dobson at Hirsch Precision). Best of luck with.
 
Shilen, Krieger and McGowen are brands I can offer.

Have competed happily with Gaillards in years past. Even shot a Douglas with good results.

On the upside as Ian said above, barrels from quality manfs pretty much all shoot the same. Delivery time will be all over the map.

Just installed 2 Kriegers and they ran very true and straight on the lathe but we have seen pretty much every brand and it is a good thing customers only see the finished rifle.

On the downside, be great if someone would find that mysterious and magical final 5% that puts the barrel into Hummer category and make it the norm. But if that happened, we would be waiting a lifetime for a barrel :)

Jerry
 
Friend of mine just ordered a 308 barrel from Gaillard and he recommended to him a twist of 1:14 for 168 gr bullets. This is strange since it seems to me to be at the other extreme versus what most here says. I have a Savage model 12 with 1:10 twist and shoots very well with 168.
 
When we used to shoot issue ammo in matches we used 14 twist. The thinking was that if the bullet is less than perfect you don't want to spin it any faster than needed. With the good bullets we have now I wouldn't go slower than 13 for 155's.
 
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