What barrel to buy

[fotohunt]

Hello all,
I am getting into mid and long range shooting. I currently have an excellent prone stock, and a rem 700 action (blueprinted) with standard boltface. My question is this. I am wanting to order a new barrel, but am wondering what I should order. I want something in the 28-30" range, 30 cal for a .308, and preferably a 1-12" twist. My only problem is weight. I would like a palma taper, but not sure whether to go with medium palma or heavy palma. Gun will be for 300-1000 yard use. My smith suggested I go with a 28" finish length, and I guess my question is would I gain that much velocity by going with a 30". Opinions please. Thanks,

-Darrell

 

[FroggyOne2]

Medium palma is what most prone shooters use. I don't know whom your smith is, does he shoot prone palma rifles? Most palma shooters are using between 30 - 32 inch barrels. Some overseas are using even up to a 34 inch barrel.

If you choose to use the shorter 28 inch barrel, may I suggest to you then that you use a bloop tube for the longer sight radius. Every barrel is different when it comes to how fast the bullet will go. If you have a fast barrel, then you will not be hurt by the shorter barrel, but if it is a unusually slower barrel, then it may hurt you in getting right velocity for a 1000 yards. It is hit and miss, I think that I understand what your smith is saying to you though. I am thinking that he is thinking of better balance of the rifle for you.

For me at least, a medium palma taper at 30 inches has balanced very well.

As for barrel makers, I use Rock Creek, they have been very good to me. So I guess that I will stick with them. Others I have heard lately that truly seem to shine are Benchmark, Brux, Krieger and Bartlein. So take your pick. If call Rock Creek, tell em Randy sent ya to em.

 

[Erud]

I have 30" Bartlein Medium Palma contour barrels on my Palma and Any rifles. The barrels are excellent - extremely accurate and don't foul hardly at all. That said, when they are ready for new barrels, I will be ordering the same thing in either Light Palma contour, or Medium Palma with flutes. The Medium's are a little too front heavy on my rifles and cause me left arm fatigue fairly quickly. I can still shoot them fine, but after a full day with them my left wrist/forearm is burned out and will be sore for a couple of days. It's not enough of a problem for me to want to re-barrel before they are due, but will definitely do it next time around. My main rifle is a 6mm spacegun with 26" bartlein and I feel like I could fall asleep in prone with that gun. I hope to better match the balance to that one next time around.

Of course this is just my personal experience and will vary for you depending on rifle, position, body geometry, etc.

Good luck,
Erik

 

[spclark]

Medium Palma balances better with lighter actions. If you're going to shoot iron sights the 30" barrel length is kind of a standard if you'll be shooting 155's. If heavier, the shorter 28" will work but a 1:11 or even 1:10 twist might be better for many of the heavier bullets, particularly the newer hybrids from Berger. You ought to inquire of your gunsmith what choices he offers on reamer profiles for 308 too before trusting your new barrel to him. There was a thread here not too long ago where several contemporary reamer patterns were made available.

My newest Palma rifle has a Bartlein 5R 1:12 29" on it chambered with the 2011 Palma Team profile & it shoots Berger's 155 Hybrid exceptionally well, right at 2,975 fps with the load I settled on.

 

[fotohunt]

Thank you for the info gentlemen. I am setting it up for any any, so I wanted the longest possible. I don't plan on shooting international, so I don't think I will be shooting 155's.

-Darrell