Bull Barrel for Browning BAR in 300 Win Mag?

8500$, delivery is when they can fit it in, as military orders are taking priority. Delivery to your local FFL dealer.
Thats a little less than a Voere, and way less than a WA2000 if you can find one.
 
Well, if I was desperate for accurate and reliable 300WM in Bar I would buy bunch of them, develop precision handloads for all of them and I am sure at least one would be more accurate than others say well under MOA. Then selling the rest at a small loss would still keep my total expenses well under $1500 or so. It's just that easy....
 
Kanaima said:
I've done some looking on line so the first thing I need to say is: Please don't flame me or start ranting about being able to hit an animal with the first shot so why do you need...or any of the other off topic comments that seem prevelant with this question! I have a vision for this rifle and I'd like to see if it's doable.

I'm looking to pick up a Browning BAR in 300 Win Mag as a long range precision rifle. It appears about 20% of these rifles are not "accurate". Apparently Browning considers 5" groups at 100 yds as acceptable. There is also some discussion about the barrels overheating when rapid shooting. So...are aftermarket precision barrels available for the 300 win mag? I recall seeing pictures of a military unit using BARS as long range tactical rifles. I believe they had bull barrels and hi capacity magazines. I want one. Any comments?
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Not sure of your reasoning for hanging a heavy bull barrel on a BAR. I owned a Safari grade BAR Mk. II (with BOSS) in .338 Win. Mag and with tinkering it did 3 shot groups averaging 0.75 MOA on centers ... likely better than what your realistic expectations are. A friend still has his but we were unable to get it shooting better than 1 to 1.3 MOA. My guess is a heavier barrel is not what is needed...just getting one that is trued and more accurate.

And by the way, the .338 would be my preference, not the 300WM...perhaps the 300WSM...and not a heavy bull barrel.
Would I want anything different? Yeah...a .338 Lapua bolt action Sako would be ... tasty.
 
keep up with your questions Bro, you had a idea, you only ask if possible or not, some answer were OK, some were HARD but at the end, it's all about you if you want it or not...
with steel, aluminium, wood etc... you can do what ever you whant, as long as you can supply the $$$$
Some laugh at the rifle i'am about to finish but, they will be disapointed to see the final product as it work fine lolll
it's all about respect, nothing else


Kanaima said:
I've done some looking on line so the first thing I need to say is: Please don't flame me or start ranting about being able to hit an animal with the first shot so why do you need...or any of the other off topic comments that seem prevelant with this question! I have a vision for this rifle and I'd like to see if it's doable.

I'm looking to pick up a Browning BAR in 300 Win Mag as a long range precision rifle. It appears about 20% of these rifles are not "accurate". Apparently Browning considers 5" groups at 100 yds as acceptable. There is also some discussion about the barrels overheating when rapid shooting. So...are aftermarket precision barrels available for the 300 win mag? I recall seeing pictures of a military unit using BARS as long range tactical rifles. I believe they had bull barrels and hi capacity magazines. I want one. Any comments?
Click to expand...
 
autocrash said:
Ohh kay.... So no more bolt lock up in the barrel... I suppose it makes fitting the barrel easier, but the receiver was not designed for that load... so now you have all the energy pushing back on the bolt being transferred to a "carbon steel shank"

Good plan.
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I'm with all of the people who have agreed with Guntech about the impracticality of this project. However, I don't believe that the concern about blowing the receiver is necessarily justified. In fact, the method of "sleeving" the locking lug areas is actually something that has been done for decades with rifles whose bolts lock directly into lugs machined into the barrel. The most common version of this was with the old Australian Sportco Target rifles. In those rifles, the barrel itself was only friction fit into the receiver. The bolt locked directly into the barrel shank, with no stress on the receiver. In such a system, the rifle could theoretically be fired with total safety without the receiver. How did target shooters change barrels on those rifles (and some of them are still going after decades)? They did what amounted to chopping off the factory barrel before the chamber, then boring the remnant out and threading a new barrel to screw into it. This way, the bolt still locked up against the original lugs from the original barrel (and not the receiver), and barrels could be swapped and rechambered. Once this "sleeve" was done, swapping barrels on these rifles became as "easy" as swapping barrels on conventional rifles because the old barrel could now simply be unscrewed and a new barrel screwed in.

This system requires serious gunsmithing work but it is workable and as strong as the original. Just ask any Canadian and Australian target shooters who used Sportcos for decades.

Having said this, it is obvious that much more than this would be required to put a heavy barrel on a BAR, including all of the custom machining and remanufacturing of various parts. I don't fault this guy for dreaming because this is where advances come from. On the other hand, the given that the .300 Winchester Magnum is one of the most widely used long range sniper cartridges by various countries of the world, and there is no well known semi-auto sniper rifle in this cartridge, should tell you something about the feasibility of this kind of project with current design and technological limitations.
 
p-17 said:
They did what amounted to chopping off the factory barrel before the chamber, then boring the remnant out and threading a new barrel to screw into it. This way, the bolt still locked up against the original lugs from the original barrel (and not the receiver), and barrels could be swapped and rechambered. Once this "sleeve" was done, swapping barrels on these rifles became as "easy" as swapping barrels on conventional rifles because the old barrel could now simply be unscrewed and a new barrel screwed in.
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First, I didn't know that was done... sounds like a hell of a lot of work, but a fairly reasonable way to replace the barrel. That being said, I would have concerns over the strength/thickness of that threaded area... (Guess it depends on the original barrel diameter, if there is lots of 'meat' there for threading and strength that'd work)

Second, they don't mention if that is what's being done... if it is, good on them - Although for the price, I would rather see them machine locking lugs into a new barrel for me...

My impression is they were changing the lockup to a "steel shank" rather than something attached to the barrel, thus transferring forces to the receiver (which may or may not work anyway)

Hey, I've never taken apart a BAR...

Thanks for the info P-17! (Learn something new every day, right...)

(And I still think there are better platforms on which to build a semi-auto .300 WM)

Matt
 
p-17 said:
In fact, the method of "sleeving" the locking lug areas is actually something that has been done for decades with rifles whose bolts lock directly into lugs machined into the barrel. The most common version of this was with the old Australian Sportco Target rifles. In those rifles, the barrel itself was only friction fit into the receiver. The bolt locked directly into the barrel shank, with no stress on the receiver.
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P-17, I removed quite a few barrels from Sportco 44 rifles, converted some of them to 223, 223AI, 243W and even one into 225Win but not even one barrel was friction fit into the receiver, they were all threaded like any regular Ruger 77 or Savage 110.
 
Even easier might be to get an H&K 2000 from one of the supporting dealers here who has them, and convert it from the sporting variant to the sniper variant. Mind you, not as nice looking as the BAR.
 
gunrunner, my mistake. The Sportco barrel was indeed threaded into the receiver. However, that does not change the point I was making. This is because regardless of how the barrel and receiver fit together, the receiver on Sportco rifles was not stressed upon firing because, to quote Frank DeHaas:

The bolt head has three solid locking lugs spaced evenly around its front end and these lugs engage in matching locking recesses in the breech of the barrel. Thus, the bolt is locked to the barrel rather than the receiver.

The point I was making is that with such a setup, it is feasible for a gunsmith to change barrels without having to re-machine new locking lug recesses into each new barrel. However, it takes work to cut off, bore out and thread the back end of the old barrel for this purpose, and it probably wouldn't be worth doing this for a BAR.
 
Almost anything can be done with an unlimited budget. Almost no one has such a budget, especially when less expensive options are almost certainly available. Unless you want to create an expensive white elephant, listen...
 
Max Owner said:
In my mind it's not what you post, but how you post it.
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I was very specific about how I posted because it seems about half the posters on this forum (and a lot of other firearms forums) are "The glass is half empty" types. And I was very specific that I was NOT interested in why it couldn't be done, because it can be done. Absolutely no disrespect to any of the obviously very knowledgable people on this forum but I'm not interested in hearing why and how it can't be done. It really is that simple.
 
TedB said:
Dennis, I feel for you. It always amazes me how many people ask a question but don't want to hear the answer.
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It really amazes me how many people don't read the question before they answer. I asked a very specific question that was not answered by a number of the people who felt a need to respond. This is one of the banes of the internet. People feel compelled to respond, regardless of whether they are answering the question or not. I personally find it quite bizarre and nowhere is it more prevelent than on firearm sites, well, except maybe politacal forums, Seriously, look at any lengthy thread and I bet between 1/3rd to 1/2 of the replies could be trashed. And the guilty parties are usually the same people, time after time. I do want to hear an answer TedB, to my question!
 
Many members answered you question BUT you didn't like their responses. It appears you looking more for validation than opinions( atleast it looks that way to me).
 
I'll try one more time.

What would it take to put an aftermarket bull barrel on a Browning BAR. The Facts: It can be done. If any of you Gunsmith's have a price please let me know. I get that it is going to be expensive. I get that there are obstacles. I get that it is unconventional. I get that some of you think it's stupid. I get that some of you think it's a waste of money.

But all I'm asking for is an answer to that question.
 
Kanaima said:
I'll try one more time.

What would it take to put an aftermarket bull barrel on a Browning BAR. The Facts: It can be done. If any of you Gunsmith's have a price please let me know. I get that it is going to be expensive. I get that there are obstacles. I get that it is unconventional. I get that some of you think it's stupid. I get that some of you think it's a waste of money.

But all I'm asking for is an answer to that question.
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I have had lots of guns built or rebarreld. The answer to your question is time and lots of money.
Just call Rick at Alberta Tactical rifle and you will get a much better idea just how much this project would cost.

Have you ever thought about importing a higher end semi from the states? I bet it would be much faster. cheaper and more accurate.
 
Kanaima said:
I'll try one more time.

What would it take to put an aftermarket bull barrel on a Browning BAR. The Facts: It can be done. If any of you Gunsmith's have a price please let me know. I get that it is going to be expensive. I get that there are obstacles. I get that it is unconventional. I get that some of you think it's stupid. I get that some of you think it's a waste of money.

But all I'm asking for is an answer to that question.
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your best bet is to find a smith who specialises in brownings ( no idea who that would be , i've never broken mine )

another option would be to phone browning themselves and ask if they can build you something resembling a heavy barrelled bar .

possibly your biggest challenge is find a magazine that has more than 3 rounds capacity in canada.
 
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