3 grove barrel??

[yeahbuddyprostaff]

I have a 28” 1:10 #5 Lilja barrel going on a .300. I have agonized over all sorts of options an variables on this riffle and thought I had every thing set. Then the gun smith called and dropped this bomb on me. “Three or six grove barrel?” All of my guns are 6. What may I gain or not gain using a 3?

I understand that it may be easier to clean…..I don’t care about that. I am wondering about performance. I typically shoot 210 berger bullets and have had some luck with 200 gr SGK. But this gun has not been fired yet, since it is still in a bunch of pieces..... It is a hunting rifle and I am comfortable shooting to 800 yards.


Thanks

[Michael Eichele]

3 grooves shoot as good as 6 grooves. The theory behing the thre groove is that the lands are twice as wide as the lands in a 6 groove and thoretically increases throat life. It wont offer twice the life butu can offer some percentage more usable life. Most guys shy away from them with smaller calibers due to the jacket displacement of smaller bullets.

[elkaholic]

I had a 3 groove 11 twist Lilja in 300 RUM and it shot great. The most impressive thing was the barrel life which was better than I expected....Rich

[Chas1]

You said all your guns are 6 grooves, are you happy with how they perform? if so then you could go 6. What's your smith think? 6 or 3-you'll hear pro and cons but I haven't seen any concrete evidence that 6 is better than 3 or vise versa. I go with 3 grooves.

[J E Custom]

Originally Posted by elkaholic

I had a 3 groove 11 twist Lilja in 300 RUM and it shot great. The most impressive thing was the barrel life which was better than I expected....Rich

+1

I have used 6 of the 3 grove barrels on small bores (17 CAL AND 224 CAL) And have been
very pleased with them.

I have not used them on larger cal but either 6 or 3 groves should work very well.

J E CUSTOM

[azsugarbear]

Many of us shooting the 270AM and 277AM rifles ran into problems using the longer/heavier .277 wildcat bullets in Lilja 3-groove barrels. After about 350-400 rounds down the tube, these bullets began to break apart before reaching the target. The problem was primarily with the bullets. The 3-groove barrels have a lot of contact with the bullet jacket. The heavier/longer bullets have a lot more bearing surface. When you combine that with a slightly thinner jacket, you get a recipe for disaster. We needed a heavier jacketed bullet (not available yet), or a shorter bullet (lighter) to reduce the bearing surface to solve our problem. The other solution might have been to switch to more grooves in the barrel. A quick search will turn about several threads on this problem that began occuring approx. two years ago.

I should emphasize that this situation with the .270 Allen Magnums was the exception rather than the rule with 3-groove barrels. Other calibers fair very well. It shouldn't be a problem in a 30 cal, unless you start shooting 240 gr. bullets with thin jackets. :-)

[J E Custom]

Originally Posted by azsugarbear

Many of us shooting the 270AM and 277AM rifles ran into problems using the longer/heavier .277 wildcat bullets in Lilja 3-groove barrels. After about 350-400 rounds down the tube, these bullets began to break apart before reaching the target. The problem was primarily with the bullets. The 3-groove barrels have a lot of contact with the bullet jacket. The heavier/longer bullets have a lot more bearing surface. When you combine that with a slightly thinner jacket, you get a recipe for disaster. We needed a heavier jacketed bullet (not available yet), or a shorter bullet (lighter) to reduce the bearing surface to solve our problem. The other solution might have been to switch to more grooves in the barrel. A quick search will turn about several threads on this problem that began occuring approx. two years ago.

I should emphasize that this situation with the .270 Allen Magnums was the exception rather than the rule with 3-groove barrels. Other calibers fair very well. It shouldn't be a problem in a 30 cal, unless you start shooting 240 gr. bullets with thin jackets. :-)

Also wasn't there a problem with twist rates being to fast ?

Some were trying to use fast twist like (1 in 7 or 8) and these are very hard on bullets even in
6 groove barrels at the velocities some of the wildcats achieve.

The best advice I can give is to talk to Dan Lilja and tell him what you are going to expect out
of your rifle (Velocity) and let him recomend the proper twist and groove style that is best.

J E CUSTOM