Number of Grooves for long range advantage?

[stljc2]

Hey Guy's. So here I was looking over several threads and thinking of doing another build. This one would be 6.5 PRC with a 26" barrel. The question I have is this. Just how many grooves should I specify. 6.....5r....4? I'm a little confused on just which would be best for LR hunting/ shooting. I don't really know if there would be any advantage worth having. As long as I'm asking let me say I had one built in 300 Win Mag many years back. The rifling, they said, could be chamfered for better wear (at least that's what I thought they said. It's been over 30 years ago...lol). Stainless steel barrel. Still shooting it but only hunting. It's pretty accurate but I just wonder if the chamfering was worth it. Thoughts? Advice? Thank you in advance for your input. I appreciate it.

 

[ShootMo]

Subbed. I'm anxious to hear what our resident brainiacs have to say on this one. Good topic!

 

[stljc2]

Subbed. I'm anxious to hear what our resident brainiacs have to say on this one. Good topic!

Looks like everyones at the range today ...lol..Guess I'll check back later

 

[L.Sherm]

A good barrel is a good barrel, just pick a well know manufacturer and you will be good.

 

[J E Custom]

Hey Guy's. So here I was looking over several threads and thinking of doing another build. This one would be 6.5 PRC with a 26" barrel. The question I have is this. Just how many grooves should I specify. 6.....5r....4? I'm a little confused on just which would be best for LR hunting/ shooting. I don't really know if there would be any advantage worth having. As long as I'm asking let me say I had one built in 300 Win Mag many years back. The rifling, they said, could be chamfered for better wear (at least that's what I thought they said. It's been over 30 years ago...lol). Stainless steel barrel. Still shooting it but only hunting. It's pretty accurate but I just wonder if the chamfering was worth it. Thoughts? Advice? Thank you in advance for your input. I appreciate it.

Like most, I have different preferences for different calibers, cartridges, and bullet weights for them.

I find that normally a good rule of thumb is to go with an 8 grove for calibers over .400 and 6 grove for 6.5 and up to .400.4, 5 or 6 grove seem to work best for calibers lower than 6.5 down to .224. the 3 grove barrel works very well for the hot .224's and .177.

Depending on the cartridge and the desired bullet some flexibility can be used in land count and twist rate.

Some barrel makers may not make barrels with some of the grove counts that you may want or need, but with a little searching you should be able to find what you want.

J E CUSTOM

 

[ShootMo]

In my opinion, I cannot imagine there being no worthwhile evidence in the number of lands and grooves coupled with their geometry. Now it might become a case of "picking the fly poop out of the pepper" so to speak. Meaning there might not be any substantial gain available.

I'm a science and particularly physics nut. So I'm anxious to see how this plays out.