custom barrel advice

[jimsbriar]

So as I walk my way through building my 260 rem on a savage action, I have come to a stoppping point and need a little advice. keeping in mind that I want to build a long range hunting rifle, that could also be a decent bench rifle what would you guys recommend for barrel specs.?

I am leaning towards a 24-26 inch stainless steel mcgowen barrel, but beyond that, its all greek.

barrel? thinking is will be mcgowen (open to other suggestions)
barrel length?: 24-26

BUT

which contour?
fluting?
crown type?

thanks in advance

 

[FEENIX]

jimsbriar,

Welcome to LRH and enjoy!

Please don't take no offense ... since you put long range hunting rifle and bench shooting rifle, you might want to expand a little bit ...

What are you going to hunt and at what range(s)?

Are you going to compete?

Weight consideration?

Prefit barrel? DIY or gunsmith?

Just a few things to add on so others can provide you with a sound advice.

Be prepared, we have lots of guys here that are always willing and able to share their experiences and advice.

Good luck!

Ed

 

[jimsbriar]

no offese taken. this is all new to me!

I want to build a long range hunting rifle in 260 rem. that being said it needs to be a reasonably comfortable rifle to hike with (8-9lbs? maybe a bit more?), but fully capable of taking shots out past 500 yards with reliable accuracy.

This will not be a bench rifle, but I do want a finished product capable of giving me 1/2" MOA with 130 gr. accubonds or SSTs or similar

as for a DIY, yes, I plan to build the rifle myself start to finish on a savage action. I am quite comfortable doing all this work. but, I do not want to make a mistake selecting the wrong barrel for my application.

so, this is where I need some good advice from those that have been there.

barrel manufacturer?:
contour?:
crown type?:
AND, any other suggestions you may have!!!

hope this additional info helps.

thanks everyone!!

 

[elkaholic]

Welcome to the forum! For what you are considering, a Sendero contour at 26" should serve you very well. This will put you in the 9 lb. area. If you want a little lighter but still have some meat in the barrel, you could go with a 5 or 6 contour. If you go online to any of the good barrel makers, you can find specs on various weights. I have a 4 groove Krieger in a Sendero on my new build which shoots sub .1 moa. I have also had Lilja, and Bartlein barrels which are very good and there are several other good ones out there. It is very important that the action/barrel fit is square or this can negate a good barrel. As far as crown, there are several options which are primarily personal preference. Fluting will save you around 1/2 lb. on a Sendero contour of 26" and cools a little better than standard. They also look rather cool! Good luck with your build.......Rich

 

[sniperjwt]

I would go with a 26" varmint contour which for savage is 1.062 down to .800 at the muzzle. That will put your barrel at 4lbs so you will have another 4-5lbs to play with in your stock, and scope.
Do not overlook putting in a aftermarket recoil lug. Which one does not really matter as long as its not the factory one.
The barrel... well ask 20 people and you will get 19 different answers on what they like. The fact is if they make barrels they are good at it and know what they are doing. Odds are pretty good if a company consistantly made bad barrels they would not be around for long because you know hunters and shooters if we have something good we tell people about it. If we bought something bad and it does not work as expected we tell everyone we know to stay away from it.
I have a McGowen in 6br and it shoots great. I have it in a Boyds thumbhole that has not been bedded and it still shoots under .5 moa out to 300 (thats as far as i have shot it so far) I have another one in a fast twist 22-250 that shoots great as well. I liked them so much i just recently bought another one in 6.5x47 lapua.
As far as crown type if i were buying one for hunting purposes i would go with the recesed crown. If it will be a bench gun then i go with the 11 degree target crown.
If you are sure that you will never try to shoot any bullets over 130g then i would go with the 9 twist however if you ever want to shoot up to the 140 you will need the 8 twist.
Also spend the $100 and get another trigger unless you can work the factory one down to a light enough weight with no creep. We all know a bad trigger can make a .5 moa gun a 2 moa gun real easy.
Choose a good stock and bed at minumum the recoil lug. Plenty of DIY videos online of how to do it if you have never done it before.
Hope some of this helps. I am a fan of taking a old savage action and making a new gun out of it. I have several guns that i have done this to and they all shoot as good as some that people spend thousands of $$ on. Good luck and keep us updated on how it comes out.

 

[clemens]

sniperswt- I have a savage model 10 in .308 that is a inline feed. you mentioned Barrel and action being square when DIY, How would one solve that prob if not having it done by a smith. I find cheap model 110's and 111's that would make great platforms for a build of some kind and would love to build my own. when diy is one just taking a chanced on things being as square as can be or is there a trick to it. Really hate to put a barrel on and have it shoot around corners cause something was off. seen a build done on a different forum and looked real simple other then price of tools etc.. make the price a whole lot easier on the wife's ears

 

[elkaholic]

sniperswt- I have a savage model 10 in .308 that is a inline feed. you mentioned Barrel and action being square when DIY, How would one solve that prob if not having it done by a smith. I find cheap model 110's and 111's that would make great platforms for a build of some kind and would love to build my own. when diy is one just taking a chanced on things being as square as can be or is there a trick to it. Really hate to put a barrel on and have it shoot around corners cause something was off. seen a build done on a different forum and looked real simple other then price of tools etc.. make the price a whole lot easier on the wife's ears

The good thing about Savage is the floating bolt face does a lot of squaring on its on. That doesn't mean that you don't need to do anything else though....rich

 

[WildRose]

So as I walk my way through building my 260 rem on a savage action, I have come to a stoppping point and need a little advice. keeping in mind that I want to build a long range hunting rifle, that could also be a decent bench rifle what would you guys recommend for barrel specs.?

I am leaning towards a 24-26 inch stainless steel mcgowen barrel, but beyond that, its all greek.

barrel? thinking is will be mcgowen (open to other suggestions)
barrel length?: 24-26

BUT

which contour?
fluting?
crown type?

thanks in advance

I would say with those goals 26-28" and no lighter than the Sendero contour.

As to makers man there's a half dozen great barrel makers out there or more. Lilja, Benchmark, Bruton, Krieger, Hart, Shilen.... . and on and on.

If you check around there are wholesalers with quality barrels from all of the above and more in stock and ready to go which alleviates wait times ordering straight from the MFG.

 

[FEENIX]

As to makers man there's a half dozen great barrel

makers out there or more. Lilja, Benchmark, Bruton, Krieger, Hart, Shilen....

Excellent choice of barrels ... not familiar with Bruton though?

 

[WildRose]

Excellent choice of barrels ... not familiar with Bruton though?

Perhaps if I'd spelled it right?

Broughton Rifle Barrels by North Manufacturing Co., Inc.

A lot of the tactical shooters swear by them.gun)

 

[FEENIX]

Perhaps if I'd spelled it right?

Broughton Rifle Barrels by North Manufacturing Co., Inc.

A lot of the tactical shooters swear by them.gun)

DUH! I forgot about that ... kinda slow this morning.

IIRC, (Jeff) BROZ use them with excellent results.

 

[parkj5]

Contact Information for NSS:
E-mail - [email protected] (that is Q.com not G.com)
Phone - 763/682-4296 - BEST WAY TO CONTACT ME
Fax - 763/682-6098
Jim Briggs from Northland Shooters Supply He is the man when it comes to savage's.also when u are getting a barrel get a thicker recoil lug.I strongly sugest a Criterion Hand Lapped Match Grade Barrels .He has them in stock and shilen as well.

 

[jtkratzer]

no offese taken. this is all new to me!

I want to build a long range hunting rifle in 260 rem. that being said it needs to be a reasonably comfortable rifle to hike with (8-9lbs? maybe a bit more?), but fully capable of taking shots out past 500 yards with reliable accuracy.

This will not be a bench rifle, but I do want a finished product capable of giving me 1/2" MOA with 130 gr. accubonds or SSTs or similar

as for a DIY, yes, I plan to build the rifle myself start to finish on a savage action. I am quite comfortable doing all this work. but, I do not want to make a mistake selecting the wrong barrel for my application.

so, this is where I need some good advice from those that have been there.

barrel manufacturer?:
contour?:
crown type?:
AND, any other suggestions you may have!!!

hope this additional info helps.

thanks everyone!!

Are you talking 8-9 lbs total or just a bare rifle? I have a Remington Model 7 in .260...factory pencil barrel, and it's barely under 8 lbs scoped with a 3-12x42SF Monarch. No sling, no bipod, nothing but the rifle and scope.

About the twist...as stated, if you're good with the 130gr bullets, 1:9 is the way to go. My factory barrel is a 1:9 twist and after a trigger job and bedding the stock, it eats up 129gr SSTs on 49.3 gr of RL22, Federal 210 GM primers in R-P brass at 2.800". I got just shy of 2900 FPS out of the 20" barrel and grouped three into 0.174" at 100.

I keep wondering about aftermarket stock or barrel, but I can't justify it based on the results I have.

I'd rather save up for a custom gun with a heavier barrel rather than mess with something that already works.

 

[WildRose]

Are you talking 8-9 lbs total or just a bare rifle? I have a Remington Model 7 in .260...factory pencil barrel, and it's barely under 8 lbs scoped with a 3-12x42SF Monarch. No sling, no bipod, nothing but the rifle and scope.

About the twist...as stated, if you're good with the 130gr bullets, 1:9 is the way to go. My factory barrel is a 1:9 twist and after a trigger job and bedding the stock, it eats up 129gr SSTs on 49.3 gr of RL22, Federal 210 GM primers in R-P brass at 2.800". I got just shy of 2900 FPS out of the 20" barrel and grouped three into 0.174" at 100.

I keep wondering about aftermarket stock or barrel, but I can't justify it based on the results I have.

I'd rather save up for a custom gun with a heavier barrel rather than mess with something that already works.

??? a new Sendero will come in at or under 9lbs and that's with the H-S stock and Sendero taper barrel.

If I remember correctly my last bdl 7mm Rem Mag was right at 7lbs with the magnum sporter barrel and factory plastic stock.