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Accuracy vs barrel contour for a varmint gun

Plumsask

Hey everyone,

I'm looking at having another 6mm AI Barrel done up, the one I currently use for deer and coyotes is deadly accurate and I get great speed from it, it is 26" with a .800" dia. At the muzzle. Maybe someone can answer this question, what do I stand to lose by going to a lighter contour? I prefer not to decrease barrel length due to any decrease in velocity. Any recommendations?

Ultimately looking for weight reduction without sacrifice of accuracy
 
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The biggest disadvantage to a lighter contour barrel is heat! It will got hotter quicker than a heavy barrel. The heavy barrel will also be stiffer than a light barrel. My 25-06 sporter Barrel gets hot after about 3-4 rounds and then it starts to walk around. If you plan to shoot a lot I would stay with the heavy barrel. I have a 308 that’s a Remington varmint contour. I personally would go no lees than that.
 
My number 5 contours are very accurate in calibers up to 7 mag shooting very small groups. #4's seem to be hit and miss for the bug hole groups we look for. I run muzzle breaks on everything.
 
I agree with Josh Butler comments. I'm an avid ground hog hunter and have several rifles for this purpose. In addition to the issues Josh mentioned, I find the heavier rifles easier to control and shoot off my shooting sticks.

I have a few rifles with sporter weight contours, albeit Douglas and Hart custom barrels, that shoot as tight as my heavier contour rifles at least from a cold barrel. But as the barrel heats the heavies win out every time.
 
Plumsask said:
Hey everyone,

I'm looking at having another 6mm AI Barrel done up, the one I currently use for deer and coyotes is deadly accurate and I get great speed from it, it is 26" with a .800" dia. At the muzzle. Maybe someone can answer this question, what do I stand to lose by going to a lighter contour? I prefer not to decrease barrel length due to any decrease in velocity. Any recommendations?

Ultimately looking for weight reduction without sacrifice of accuracy
Click to expand...

Deer and Coyotes, I myself don’t see where any barrel heat would be an issue.
The two mentioned quarries, I am more of wanting to know where that first shot cold bore is every time. Maybe other places in the country have, herds of stampeding deer and large packs of coyotes call for lots of shooting to keep ones self safe.
Sure you can shoot for groups, but on the OP’s end, I would spread the shots out a fair amount of time when searching for a load.
I have a thin barreled 25-06, took me close to a year for me to be satisfied and happy. A good bedding job will keep your sanity. A pressure point may or may not be of use.
Barsness or Pierce had an article some years back. Take your favorite rifle to the range every time you go. Use the same target every time. One shot cold bore and that’s it. Do that for a year, if you get one that shoots a TRUE 1”, consider you have won the lottery.

Be aware that that heavy barrel, you may think is fairly soft recoiling rifle, may turn to be fairly abusive when lightened up.
 
sw282 said:
lt's been proven that FLUTING helps with cooling and weight. lt makes a barrel stiffer too
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That is if the fluting does not induce any machining stress to the barrel.

I worked for 6-1/2 years for an AR-15 manufacture and had accuracy issues with some of the 20” and 24” SS heavy fluted varmint barrels that would be sent back. As an experiment the company owners and I did are own accuracy test to confirm these claims, so they sent a couple of the bad barrels to get the cryo treated, and upon retesting, it corrected the accuracy issue with those barrels. When the company owners switched to different barrel supplier, the accuracy issues went away.
 
Long strings of fire and barrel heat will not be a concern for me, in all the coyote hunting I've done there was maybe one instance where I emptied the magazine of 4 rounds.

Thanks everyone for all the replies and input.

Ave
 
Unless you have more than five coyotes approach you at once - you will just be carrying extra weight. If you are shooting from a position you can drive up reasonably close to - as I do - the heavy barrel has no downside.
 
sw282 said:
lt's been proven that FLUTING helps with cooling and weight. lt makes a barrel stiffer too
Click to expand...
That has been argued a lot but never proven! I've been reading precision shooting since the early '70s, and still have most of them. (I worked in a factory, had really a good job running a machine, and some of them walked off. Really pissed me off then and still does a little. I guess it was my fault for leaving them out, but my thinking was to get someone else involved. Fluteing is very controversial. I've read articles that advocated it but I've also read (from what I considered more knowledgeable people) for a lOOOOOOOng time
 
I believe you will be better served by using a normal barrel contour. It is my belief that fluteing is unreal. In other words they get you to spend a bunch of extra money when the science is unfounded. In my opinion it is Voodu. (pardon the pun from the .22 action)
 
For my varmint rifle, (ok, 2 rifles) i use standard sporter rifles.
One is a Stevens 200 rebarreled with a 24" E.R. Shaw in 250 Savage.
My second is a Ruger 77 MKII in 257 Roberts.

I'm not sitting on a prarrie dog village in PA.
Ground hogs, coyotes, using 90gr Sierra BlitzKings.
Deer get either Nosler Ballistic Tips or Berger VLD-H.
 
searcher said:
Unless you have more than five coyotes approach you at once - you will just be carrying extra weight. If you are shooting from a position you can drive up reasonably close to - as I do - the heavy barrel has no downside.
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I managed to shoot my first triple last winter when I had a pack of 6 come running in hard and fast. Packs of 6-7 aren't unheard of where we hunt here in Southern Saskatchewan. I'd say of the stands we make, over half require a walk of over 300 yards and there one place I go to every year where I walk a mile and and a mile out.

Ave
 
Fluting is cosmetic. It probably won't make a barrel shoot better and it might make it shoot worse.

As far as.weight reduction. Minimal at best. Maybe a few ounces. Not seen any fluting that would cut a pound.

As far as stiffness the caveat to that is for the same weight barrel. Don't think it is much though.

Don't see many competitive shooters using fluted barrels. If they were better they surely would. Some barrel manufacturers won't flute a barrel. Some won't flute after the barrel is bored. Cut barrels seem to handle fluting better than button rifled.

I won't get one fluted and I have researched it thoroughly

Always that tradeoff. Even when you take the long string of shots out of the equation a heavier rifle is just easier to settle in for the long shot. Where that sweet spot is I am not sure. I would guess in the 9 to 10 pound range. But I still hunt with a 7.5 # rifle. Gets the job done and I can carry it all day.
 
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Isn’t it interesting that you never see a fluted barrel in most competitive disciplines?

Harold Vaughn found in his "Rifle Accuracy Facts" book that the best barrel for accuracy was heavy and FLEXIBLE. Why? Because a flexible barrel less efficiently transmits the torque from the action to the barrel and induced less disruption to the bore. Heavy because the extra mass is harder to disturb.

A fluted barrel is stiffer than another barrel of the same *weight* because of where the mass is located. But a fluted barrel is NOT stiffer than a barrel of the same diameter and taper. It is less stiff.

Fluting increases the surface area and will help with cooling to a small degree. But the heat must get to the surface first. Remember, it's not the surface temperature of the barrel we care about-- it's the bore and chamber temperature. Stainless steel is a pretty poor conductor of heat. (24.9 W/m.K compared to 44.5 for 4150 Chromoly).

So fluting really only helps cool the barrel AFTER you've already got it so hot it is damaging the barrel.

I would suggest the following approach to barrel contour selection:
1) Choose the barrel *length* you need for the rifle, considering the shooting range and utility of manuever. If it's a walking rifle, maybe 20" is fine and you don't need 26"? Is 150fps going to make a huge difference in your application?
2) Choose the profile based on the *weight* you can handle for the application, which includes firing schedule. If you plan to P-dog shoot, you'll need the most meat near the action that you can handle. Taper from there based on your preference. Even still you might need to trade out rifles. But if it's a Coyote rifle and you're talking 3-5 shots max? A light sporter barrel might be perfectly fine.

A precisely made light sporter will outshoot a poorly made heavy barrel. Finishing and precision are more important than profile.
 
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