Barrels without the wait,?????s

[eddybo]

I may have an opportunity to get a bunch of barrels at a price that would allow me to keep a bunch of popular contours and twists for long range hunting on hand, at basically the same price you can get them directly from the manufacturer.

I need to come up with a list of what I would want to order before we can go any further with discussions with the manufacturers. Since the most knowledgeable long range hunters I know of post here, I want input from you guys.

What are the most popular twists and contours for long range hunting?

I guess I would need this info for all the popular calibers, any input would be appreciated.

Keep in mind we probably will not be stocking anything lighter than a #4 contour and will not be offering factory fluting. We may work a deal with someone to do custom fluting, but have not really considered it much.

Another question would be what % of each caliber would you stock if you were going to stock 500 barrels?

Thanks for your help. I know what contours and twists I like, but it probably would not be wise to buy only what I like. I would hate to have 200 # 6 contour 9T 7mm premium SS barrels laying around for years. In particular I have questions about .30 cal barrels. I have shot 208 A-maxs out of 12T barrels at 308 velocities without problems, is there a decent demand for anything faster than a 10T?

We are not really planning on making any money doing this. We want to at least break even and have access to barrels for our smith work.

My probable partner in this is pretty well known and trusted. He will be handling most of the transactions, other than internet.

Is there a need for a reseller specializing in stocking barrels for LRH?

Should I even do this?

Any input is appreciated.

 

[Michael Eichele]

It seems like guys can get 6mm and 6.5mm barrels pretty easily from Brunos and Sinclair. Where I have trouble getting barrels in a timely fashion is anything bigger than the 6.5mm.

You may concider stocking 7mm, 30 cal and 338 cal. There would be little call for 8mm, 375 and the like.

Seems like 9.5-10x is popular for the 338 since most 338 shooters here are specifically interested in the 300 SMK. Most agree that 10x is suitable. But with new bullets hitting the market every day (it seems like) something a wee bit faster may be good to have around.

For the 30 cal in practical situations, I cannot ever see why anybody would want to use a twist faster than 10x. It will handle the 240 SMK just fine and even though solid copper bullets with their specifec gravity requires more twist than a jacketed lead bullet, they dont still dont make any that are long enough to merit more than a 10x. 11 and 11.25 seem to be extremely popular right now. Most 30 cal shooters dont want to use the 240 SMK and the 11 - 11.25 will more than handle bullets all the way up to the 220 SMK. Dont forget the 12x is also still very popular as there are alot of shooters that still use no more than 180's or 190's in their rigs. Afew 13's and 14's will not hurt either for the 308 fans.

Cant tell you anything about the 7mm.

As far as contours, it is largley a personal preference and you will get many different answers. Remington Sendero contours have always been very popular as they are somewhat heavy, yet managable. Palma contours seem to be gaining popularity. Also m24 contours are somewhat popular as well.

Most guys these days are wanting want stainless steel as well. A few dont care, but SS is dominating the market right now.

I think the idea here is great. Whether it is realistic or not is another story. I personaly would definatly buy barrels from you periodicaly so I didnt have to wait 6 months for a barrel. I would even be willing to fork out a reasonable amount more for it not to have to wait.

By the way, THANK YOU!!!

 

[geargrinder]

I'll completely agree with Michael. 7mm, 30, 338 cals are where it's at with long range these days.

I'll add that the 7mm's need the 8-9" twists for the 180 VLD's. I'd also check with HATS and Wildcat bullets to see if their customs will need quicker twists.

You may also want to consider Savage pre-fits. With the rapid rise in popularity, us Savage guys would love to see some more competitively priced pre-fits to choose from.

 

[JeffVN]

+1 on both posts above. for teh 7mm you'll want 8.0, 8.5, and 9.0 for teh Berger 180, Cauterucio 189 and the Wildact 200s. For teh HAT 280s you'll need something in the 8 range and for some of the ultrahigh BC banded bullets in 338 (GS Custom 295s, Noel Carleson 6.5 caliber), you'll need a 7 - not a typo a 7.

JeffVN

 

[eddybo]

Thanks for the info. I was thinking about the same, 7,30,338s. I am thinking that 30s would be the bulk of sales with 7s next and 338s running last. Any idea as to percentage? Say 50% 30 caliber, 30% 7mm and 20% 338.

Do those percentages sound about right?

I am coming up with my list then Don Geraci and I are going go through it and see where this goes. I will post our combined list here next week after Don and I have have gone over it.

Thanks for the input guys, any further observations input is greatly appreciated.