Balancing a 22lb comp rifle

[Shawnba67]

Just read an article by Speedy saying how a muzzle heavy rifle can cause verticle. Referenced a name that used to use 2 scales to wiegh and balnce his rifle. Did not give the front to rear percentages though. Cant imagine you could even get to 50/50 front-rear with a 30" heavy barrel sticking out there!
So anyone know the ideal split? F class if it matters.
percent on front rest
percent on rear bag?
thank you.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Best thing is to not use a full tree trunk barrel- its not needed. Have you seen the groups guys get at 1000yds with a 28” hv dasher barrel in a 17lb gun? Youd be way ahead having the gun balance at the barrel/action joint and weigh 16lbs than be out of balance and weigh 22lbs with 4” of extra barrel. The velocity gained is way far outweighed by an unbalanced rifle.

 

[Puzzaz01]

Best thing is to not use a full tree trunk barrel- its not needed. Have you seen the groups guys get at 1000yds with a 28” hv dasher barrel in a 17lb gun? Youd be way ahead having the gun balance at the barrel/action joint and weigh 16lbs than be out of balance and weigh 22lbs with 4” of extra barrel. The velocity gained is way far outweighed by an unbalanced rifle.

But how does that lighter barrel hold up against a 1.250 in a 20+ string f open match?

Darrin

 

[Dusty Stevens]

But how does that lighter barrel hold up against a 1.250 in a 20+ string f open match?

Darrin

Youd be surprised how many current f-class records are held by a hv barrel

 

[Puzzaz01]

Guess I'm just ole school, 30" 1.250 barrel and keep it at 21lbs 15oz. Lol!!

Darrin

 

[sdean]

Youd be surprised how may current f-class records are held by a hv barrel

I would be very surprised. Where are you getting those stats? Or are you just guessing.
On the 6mm guys maybe. On 284 and up I doubt it.

 

[1shot]

As I'm a sling shooter, this may or may not apply. I shoot all 32" bbls. I use a med. Palma contour with 2" more at the breech end and the other 2" at the muzzle. This puts the weight between my hands and really helps with the rifles ballance. I'm shooting a 284 Shehane, 6.5 GWI and 308 with the above specs. As an aside note, if I ever want to do a set back and re-crown, these dimensions lend themselves to that option.
I hope this helps,

Lloyd

 

[dkhunt14]

I would be very surprised. Where are you getting those stats? Or are you just guessing.
On the 6mm guys maybe. On 284 and up I doubt it.

On my 300 WSM, fire 10 shots for record and 7 sighters in about 5 minutes. 30 inch Heavy Varmint with a brake. The 10 record shots and last three sighters are within 2 minutes. Never saw a point of impact change and set several records like that.

My 17 pound gun has a 40 inch long laminated stock, that helps bring balance to rear. Matt

 

[Shawnba67]

So whatever it wieghs you want it to balance at the action barrel joint? Is that correct?

 

[1shot]

So whatever it wieghs you want it to balance at the action barrel joint? Is that correct?

That’s about where mine is.

 

[sdean]

On my 300 WSM, fire 10 shots for record and 7 sighters in about 5 minutes. 30 inch Heavy Varmint with a brake. The 10 record shots and last three sighters are within 2 minutes. Never saw a point of impact change and set several records like that.

My 17 pound gun has a 40 inch long laminated stock, that helps bring balance to rear. Matt

Doesn't your 300 WSM have a brake on it? Apple's to oranges. No brakes in Fclass. I'm talking Fopen.

 

[dkhunt14]

Doesn't your 300 WSM have a brake on it? Apple's to oranges. No brakes in Fclass. I'm talking Fopen.

A brake doesn't keep the barrel from heating or walking. It is a reference to a barrel shooting accurately like Dusty says. It actually lengthens and makes more weight to the muzzle, but does nothing more then reduce recoil slightly. Our guns are only 17 pounds so that probably evens out the recoil difference between 17 and 22 pounds. Matt

 

[sdean]

A brake doesn't keep the barrel from heating or walking. It is a reference to a barrel shooting accurately like Dusty says. It actually lengthens and makes more weight to the muzzle, but does nothing more then reduce recoil slightly. Our guns are only 17 pounds so that probably evens out the recoil difference between 17 and 22 pounds. Matt

I questioned his stats. Didnt say what would shoot what. Maybe someone will walk the line at BSWN and report how many straight 1.25's .

 

[Dusty Stevens]

I would be very surprised. Where are you getting those stats? Or are you just guessing.
On the 6mm guys maybe. On 284 and up I doubt it.

Im not guessing- im the one that sent them out there. Like matt says they get way hotter in a br match than an f class match with the pause between shots.

 

[group therapy]

I questioned his stats. Didnt say what would shoot what. Maybe someone will walk the line at BSWN and report how many straight 1.25's .

don't know what I don't know, but matts advice is one of the ones you SHOULD listen to on here.not that I'm anyone you should listen to though

 

[Alex Wheeler]

I have got to about 60/40. Seems like the closer to 50/50 you get the better free recoil they shoot...

 

[Steve Jennings]

I like my 1 3/8" X 34" Brux Barrel

 

[Don_Parsons]

I'd weight my F Class FTR if I was at home, but the 10 kg all in 32" Bull Barrel is awesome when it comes to staying on target over a prolonged period of time.

The extra long laminated wood stock with 6" of extended fore-end allows my unit to be slightly weight heavy up front,,, not to much since I like a land cannon that does not kick up at the back after the shoot.

When I luanch my shots down range, "hopefully" the cross hairs remain on the V ring once the smoke clears,,, if this is the case,,, that means I'm perfectly alined.

I normally click right 2 and 1 down at shot 9 or 10 depending on out side temp at the 900 meter mark,,, Old school lefty in a right hand world. Ha.

Don

 

[Scott Harris]

don't know what I don't know, but matts advice is one of the ones you SHOULD listen to on here.not that I'm anyone you should listen to though View attachment 1072357

Don't know what I don't know, but maybe you should get advice from F-Open shooters, since it is an FO question??? BR is not F-Open: different rules and requirements. For one, our weight limit is 22lbs, not 17lbs. Whatever the weight limit is, top competitors are going to build rifles right up to that limit. Second, we don't use brakes. So, it is important to get the rifle up to 22 lbs to minimize recoil on the 7mm & 30 cals. I was just at Raton for 2 solid weeks shooting SOA, Mid-nats, LR-Nats and don't recall seeing any HV barrels on open guns. Regarding balance, a 30" x 1.25" barrel doesn't cause any issues with standard length F-O stocks. We use longer barrels (32-33") and longer stocks on our guns to maintain the balance. Probably the most important reason we use longer barrels is simply to get the weight to 22lbs.

 

[dolek]

Don't know what I don't know, but maybe you should get advice from top F-Open shooters, since it is an FO question??? BR is not F-Open: different rules and requirements. For one, our weight limit is 22lbs, not 17lbs. Whatever the weight limit is, top competitors are going to build rifles right up to that limit. Second, we don't use brakes. So, it is important to get the rifle up to 22 lbs to minimize recoil on the 7mm & 30 cals. I was just at Raton for 2 solid weeks shooting SOA, Mid-nats, LR-Nats and don't recall seeing any HV barrels on open guns. Regarding balance, a 30" x 1.25" barrel doesn't cause any issues with standard length F-O stocks. We use longer barrels (32-33") and longer stocks on our guns to maintain the balance. Probably the most important reason we use longer barrels is simply to get the weight to 22lbs.

Always refreshing to read the first hand knowledge(with no extra fluff),thank you for posting.

I was wondering about the HV barrel on an Open gun thing,I have never witnessed it myself...but that does not mean much. Maybe at the lower levels of competition it is common practice ?