barrel groove ?

[PJ]

Guys,
I was thinking about this. Does it make a difference in the number of grooves a barrel as to accuracy? What about 3 groove or 4 groove. Barrel will be for a .223 varmint rig. Thank you for any info.

 

[Travelor]

Given a quality barrel, I really do not think it makes any difference. There is some argument for odd number, some thinking that it works better to have non-opposing lands.

I have a Krieger 4 groove barrel in 223 Rem and it shoots in the .2's so I would not hesitate again to bet a 4 groove Krieger.

 

[PJ]

Travelor,
The reason i ask is i went to san gabriel br school. They were talking about grooves and it made sense. I think they said alot of people used 4 groove. Before that i never thought about grooves numbers making a difference.

 

[Forum Boss]

I believe barrels with fewer grooves tend to clean easier. Also, we've seen evidence that even # configs may have different bullet prefs than odd # land/groove configs.

The reason is that, with an even number of grooves, a groove is opposing a groove, offering a larger effective bore diam. to the bullet. By comparison a three groove, for example, has a land opposing a groove.

3, 4, 5, and 6 grooves can all be extremely accurate. I personally prefer 3-grooves for varmint barrels since they clean-up so easily.

Right now the Krieger 4-groove is probably the favorite in short-range benchrest.

 

[Donald]

I have a 3 groove PacNor in 6BR and it cleans quite well. I recently asked Chris at PacNor about another barrel and the question of number of grooves came up. He basically said that the 3 groove probably will last longer due to the extra width of the grooves resisting wash out and should clean easier for the same reason. Other than that he had no recomendations as to number of grooves. Personally I like the 3 groove for the only reason that I think the bullet contacts the grooves better. I always shoot with a bit of jam. Kind of like a 3 legged stool. It tends to line up better....I think.