been shooting a 308 in 100,200,300 yard for score matches. Thinking about ordering a new barrel in 30br. Would appreciate some help from you guys that have been shooting 30br for awhile. What chamber dimensions, twist, barrel length, bullets, dies, what barrel manufacturer, powder. Anything that you think would help me out getting a jump for next spring.
Help with ordering a 30 br barrel
- Thread starter Wjesswheel
- Start date
madmixerman
Gold $$ Contributor
I use 330 neck diameter, 17 twist, 21"&24", 118 gr. bullets(custom bullet makers) . I have a Bartlein &Krieger barrels .I also use Whidden dies &H4198 powder.
A Krieger barrel is the way to go. Robinett reamer with ZERO free bore. 24" finished length barrel is the longest I would go otherwise the rifle becomes nose heavy. Order a 17-twist and you can shoot anything up to 125 grain bullets.
I've had great success with 17 twist 3 groove Lilja barrels with my 109.6 Gr. 7 ogive bullets and H4198.
Is the .330 neck a no turn neck?
Brad Johnson
Silver $$ Contributor
no u got to neck turn, .010 is what i turn mine to with a .330 neck loaded round is .328 gives me .002 clearance
There are plenty of good custom barrel makers out there, Krieger, Brux, Bartlein, Lederer all have barrel blanks sitting in my cupboard waiting to be fit to rifles.
17 and 18 twist are most common, I like 17.
For a 30BR, a .330 neck is common, most neck turn their brass anywhere from .0098 to .0100 (I prefer .0100, but it just barely gets a 100% cleanup on blue box Lapua).
The BEST bullets are going to be custom hand made in the 110-120gr range. Talk to the gunsmith about the freebore and the bulletmaker about the bullets ogive to make sure you can use a particualr bullet in conjunction with your freebore.
H4198 is the most popular powder for the 30BR, but N130 is also good (what I use) and I know that LT-30 is gaining in popularity with a lot of shooters as well.
Barrel length should be dependent on rifle balance, I prefer to get as much barrel as possible without sacrificing balance. Also, a little extra barrel will give you the space to set it back in the event it is a real hummer and you start to chew up the throat.
Best of luck!
Josh
17 and 18 twist are most common, I like 17.
For a 30BR, a .330 neck is common, most neck turn their brass anywhere from .0098 to .0100 (I prefer .0100, but it just barely gets a 100% cleanup on blue box Lapua).
The BEST bullets are going to be custom hand made in the 110-120gr range. Talk to the gunsmith about the freebore and the bulletmaker about the bullets ogive to make sure you can use a particualr bullet in conjunction with your freebore.
H4198 is the most popular powder for the 30BR, but N130 is also good (what I use) and I know that LT-30 is gaining in popularity with a lot of shooters as well.
Barrel length should be dependent on rifle balance, I prefer to get as much barrel as possible without sacrificing balance. Also, a little extra barrel will give you the space to set it back in the event it is a real hummer and you start to chew up the throat.
Best of luck!
Josh
Anywhere between 33.9 to 35.2 for 4198. Just start at 33.9 and go up 3/10 at a time. 30BR is easy to tune.
Don't get stuck on one barrel maker. Krieger without a doubt is the most popular, but in reality buying a new blank is just a crap shoot. Don't let anyone tell you different. I have probably 50 barrels from 10 different makers. Most people will tell you that a cut rifle barrel is the way to go, but that's just an opinion. This whole game we play is all about opinions. Everybody has opinions on the best action, the best barrel, the best scope, the best trigger, I can go on and on. Each thing has it's strong points and weak points. THE BEST IS WHATEVER WORKS FOR YOU. You can have the best components in the world, but if the gun is not tuned right your not going to do squat. And even if it's tuned right you have to be able to read the conditions and have the crosshairs on the right spot when you pull the trigger. There is a lot of stuff going on all at once that your trying to figure out and then get it to the target where you think it's going to end up. I've won the most match's with Lilja's and Harts than anything else, and those are button barrels. I've won match's with Kriegers, Rock Creeks, and Bartleins and those are all single point cut barrels. Like I said whatever brand you buy, you don't know how it's going to shoot until you play around with it and then still it might be great, good, mediocre or just plain suck. As far as bullets go, a barrel is just like a person, it likes and dislikes certain things. Once in a while you will get a barrel that will shoot any brand of bullet, weight, ect., ect, ect, that you throw at it. Same with powder. I have 2 barrels that simply refuse to shoot H4198. Put N130 in the thing and it's a different animal. This whole damn game that we play is all about experimentation. My 200 & 300 yard dedicated rifle only took less than 30 rounds to come up with a killer load. I wish I was a good enough shooter to wring it's full potential out of the rifle and the load. I mean I've won a number of matches with it last year, but I'm a mediocre shooter at best.
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Barrels an bullets is the name of the game if you don't have both you might as well shoot in the back yard.
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