I think i will go with the 22BR.. I have questions??

[skeetlee]

Ok so i have made my pick for my first custom action. I am going with an 8 twist Krieger barrel that is a LV contour, and is an 8 twist. I want to shoot 75gr a-max bullets. My blank is 31' long how long do i need to have my barrel for max velocity and accuracy? Also what dies should i buy? Thanks Lee

 

[mason]

Lee, are you looking for benchrest quality accuracy from this rifle?
If your barrel gets much longer then 26' i think accuracy starts to suffer,barrel whip is very hard to tune..
I have never owned a 22 BR but have had plenty of wildcats in the 22 cal and always had better luck with shorter barrels in the 24' range especially in a light varmint contour.
A reading type s bushing FL die & a Wilson seater should do just fine..Whats your neck size and free bore going to be?

 

[BradY]

It depends on what shooting you want to do. I find the shorter barrel guns are found more on BR rifles, but if you want a varminter then I would go 26' and if you plan on doing long range target shooting, then maybe a tad more. Mine is finished at 27' and puts bullets into the same hole.

Dies I would go for redding, though i do have a set of forster benchrest dies and they are good too. Very well priced.

Powder- varget is your friend, lapua brass and CCI BR4 primers is usually a good start.

 

[skeetlee]

I am going to shoot the 75 and 80gr a-max bullets so i do not know how my smith will throat the barrel. He has asked me to send some bullets in with the barrel and action. I am also hoping to shoot some match bullets in the 6+gr range so he is going to do his best to throat it in the middle,Ithink) he seems to know whats up with this chambering so i am leaving it up to him. Lee

 

[skeetlee]

The light varmint barrel will measure 1.200 at the chamber and almost .900 at the muzzle so i would assume it will be pretty stiff. am i wrong about this? Lee

 

[NorCalMikie]

I've got one at .900 and one with a straight pipe. No problem with barrel flex with either one of them. Both are at 26' long. Neither one of them is a 'pack gun' and both are shot of the bench. You might even get by with a light varmint taper if you don't heat it up but when shooting gets hot and heavy I'de go with a heavier barrel.
My vote would be for a Forster Bushing Bump Die and a body die when the cases start to get snug in the chamber. Neck size then body size 'only' when needed. JMHO. Mike.

 

[Gadget]

Hi,
I have a 22BR 30 inch Hart 1:8 twist tight neck using 30.5 g vv150 80g vld's @ 3200 fps I shoot this in F class open from 300 to 800 mts and she holds her own against all comer's to 600 mts in most conditions, but just starts to drop off at 700 & 800 if the wind picks up.
Graham

 

[RDavies]

Ive had a few different 22BRs now and it is what I use for 90% of my F class shooting, and 99% of my good results. The barrels started out as 30' long, but over the years, numerous rechamberings have shortened them to 25', with another 1' being chopped off this week. As the barrels get shorter, the accuracy has been slightly better, but of course slightly less speed. If I get another barrel to get me going for next year, it will be 30' long, tapering to approx 1.1' at the muzzle. Too heavy a barrel has been causing me some bad accuraccy in other calibers, flexing the action and screwing up the bedding. The LV contour you specified should be good for the Surgeon action you have chosen. Start off at 31' long, and if you shoot the hell out of it, you can rechamber it later on and still have decent length.