Gentlemen - I am going to build a Tactical / F (F) class rifle in 308 Win. I just phoned Robertson Stocks about the Barnard "S" repeater actions. According to the them the "S" type has a Remington style magazine cutout and will work with the V-Bull, H-S or Bardger bottom metal with AI magazines.
Has anyone had any gunsmithing or actual experience with these combinations?
Also if I want a safety it must be the type that is in front of the trigger, like the Jewell. Is this a potential problem in Tactical shooting?
Thanks for your help, Jay
Regardless of whose stock you use, for pure F class the Barnard action would probably work well, especially in a single shot configuration.
For anything truly Tactical I can think of quite a number of actions better suited for the job.
The Barnards are NOT really Tactical friendly for many reasons in my opinion.
1, They have a tight tolerance action specifically designed for Benchrest and F Class shooting, so any debris that gets in the action will cause problems, Tactical shooting means shooting in less than sterile conditions so this IS an issue to consider. I had Nesika increase some of their tolerances and modify several of their standard designs for the tactical rifles I build on their actions, there will be further modifications yet once we produce our own actions to further prevent this and some other issues that true tactical shooters contend with.
2, Feeding issues will cost you points or even matches, regardless of the action. Go with an action that is designed to be mag fed, not an action that has been modified a accept a generic mag system. After a ton of dickin around with Brads 2 Barnards they feed "most" of the time, for varmit work this is acceptable, for Tactical competition work it is not, you need something bomb proof if you have any plan to win. Most conversions use AI mags there is a reason for this, they work. Unless Barnard has added feed rails since the last 1s I built on, this still could be an issue.
3, To have any cartridge not 100% supported in the chamber means added agravation for reliable feeding of reloaded ammo, the Barnards use a flat back barrel, and a slightly recessed bolt face. I was advised by Barnard to chamfer the chambers a few mm to help make feeding more reliable, or even possible, this causes rings around the brass just ahead of the extractor groove on the casing.
4, To have a safety that is ahead of the trigger may be ok for Benchrest or F Class shooting but will likely get your rifle disqualified in most Tactical matches as being a safety concern, no pun intended. Shooting with gloves on with this style of safety could also be an issue.
You need to decide on what type of shooting you plan to focus on primarily, then pick the parts that will do the best job for that purpose. Each manufacturer of actions and stocks have some positive aspects as well as some negative aspects. Trying to get the right balance is the hard part.
In my own situation with the 50 cal actions I currently build, they are extremely tight tolerance and probably the stongest action on the market, but they are very slow to operate and very suseptable to malfunction from getting dirty so must be kept surgically clean, but the rifles are also surgically accurate. Would I want to take 1 to battle where my life was at stake? Not a chance!! Having been involved in a "police action" long ago and far away, know what sorts of conditions exist on a battle field a "precision rifle" is a real detriment to health.
