what is the difference between the budget hunting rifle and precision rifle.

bonan

Member
Rating - 100%
50   0   0
Location
Vancouver
I just saw a old man was shooting his Rem 783 with submoa.(about 0.7) while his son was shooting a bull barrel Rem 700 with about 1moa. He told me there is no difference between heavy or pencil barrel in term of accuracy as long as you don't shoot too fast, while the heavy barrel was the biggest reason why I was planning to buy a savage 10 for my first precision rifle but now I start thinkging should I buy a chassis for my savage 11 or savage 10. I am new to firearm so I need your guys opinions. Thanks
 
Hi Bonan,

Basically that sounds right however if you need to send multiple rounds down range in minutes like in a precision match then you don't have much of a chance with a pencil barrel. Sure first few shots will have a tight group but after 5th or 6th your group will open so bad and it would take a long time to cool the barrel.
 
And maybe it is the shooters? With his 308 Model 70, and same loads, my groups can be half the size of those shot by my son. Almost always gets his deer, though.
 
A precision rifle should be capable of a lot better than .7 moa for 5 shot groups(more like 0.2). I was shooting 3 shot sub moa groups at 100 yards with my browning a-bolt the other day. most guns can do that.
 
Welcome to the insanity!

1) if you have a chance to go to a precision rifle shoot you will not see any hunting weight barrels because a) they would get way too hot and b) because it is a lot harder to tune a "flexible" system.

2) Precision rifles start with the barrel- if you get a chance to look in a barrel with a bore scope you will see tooling marks and other nasties in a budget barrel. A precision barrel will be hand-lapped smooth and shiny.

3) precision rifles are chambered in a more deliberate way and typically for a specific bullet class. Budget hunting rifles will be chambered to within the SAAMI specs- but these are very wide. One area here is throat length- sometimes budget rifles have a VERY long throat and wide neck. Precision rifles are chambered sometimes to a specific neck brass thickness (a turned-neck)... Precision chambers are very deliberate in the exact dimensions.

4) Lastly- to get precision you will have to manually work up the rifle's favorite load. Plinking with American Eagle is fine, but to shoot bug holes at any significant distance (and 100 yards isn't...) consider the need to work up a custom load.

I can't tell you what you should do BUT... most modern rifles with hand-loads are capable of very good accuracy. If a rifle has a good barrel and chamber job it normally can be bedded and have a load worked up that will make it shoot well under moa. My advice would be to find a good used precision rifle on the EE... you will have a good action and trigger to start with and even if the barrel is on its way out for accuracy it will be good enough to learn on before you re-barrel it with some super-match custom chambered tube...
 
I think that theoretically, a skinny barrel should perform as consistently as a heavy barrel, but for me, they do not. I have several 0.60 - 0.63 MD barrels that will agg in the .5MOA zone .... but with same caliber 0.75 - 0.82 MD barrels on the same actions and in the same stocks ... most will yeild fairly consistent sub .5 MOA (5 shot) groups. There seem to be a few possible explanations. First, that the skinny barrels are more sensitive to heat variation? Second that range of vibration/whip may be greater? Third, that torque roll and recoil is more challenging to control with less weight? Perhaps by being more patient with barrel cooling I might get better results from skinny barrels, but that does not fit my shooting regime.
EDIT: Just add that the barrels I am referencing are all cut with the same reamer...most barrels are Krieger with a few Bartleins. I have multiple builds in 6 Dasher, 6.5 X 47L, 260 Rem, 30 BR, and 308 Win.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom