light pama vs. standard palma?

[NickB1075]

Hi, I am currently building a new prone rifle and trying to decide on the barrel. Rifle will be used for mid/long range prone matches. It will be chambered in 6xc, action is Panda bigbore. I am looking for some opinions on barrel contour. I would like to keep it 30" to 32" in a palma contour. I have only run with standard palma 30" with good results but I am always up for something new.

Would a light palma be too light for optimum performance?

Thanks
Nick

 

[mgdietrich]

depends on what stock you are going to use. Remember that a Panda action is 1 lb lighter than a Barnard action- so really you can put that extra weight into the barrel even on a prone gun.

I have 2 prone guns, both panda actions. I use Heavy Palma, don't think you would want to go less than a medium palma for weight unless you really struggle with holding up the rifle.

I have a 1 LV, 2 Heavy Palma, and 1 Medium Palma for barrels all 30" tubes.

 

[FatBoy]

I have both medium and light Palma's. The light palma is in 6br and shoots the same as my 7# HV 6br. The way I look at it now is if there isn't a medium palma on the shelf in the twist I want but there is a light, I just buy the light. The stock relief may look a little odd but if it shoots who cares?

I know a lot of guys talk about balance, etc, but to be honest until I go with a a barrel over 7.5# I can't tell any difference.

 

[NickB1075]

Thanks for the information. I think I will stick with the standard. Or I may try a heavy contour, I just thought the HPalma and HV would be a bit heavy on the sling arm for long strings. I guess I could always get it fluted if that was the case.

Nick

 

[fgregorio]

Might be interesting to know that here in Oz some top shots prefer a light palma, if they are using a barrel tuner. Apparently those barrels become more responsive to barrel tuner adjustments. With the added advantage of keeping the centre of mass of the rifle a touch further to the back.
I use a medium palma fluted with a 5ounce tuner from SIA. You can see it at WWW.shootingindustriesaustralia.com.
For loads, I do a 20 load by 0.1 gr increments ladder test with each of 2 or 3 projectiles. On the same jump. I choose the combination that gets the biggest accuracy node in the velocity range that I'm after (2950fps- 3050 fps). Then I adjust the tuner to change the size of the vertical.
Hope this helps.
Fernando