number of grooves

[coonhunter]

Can someone tell me the advantage of 3 and 5 groove barrels. I am sure there are advantages to each just not sure what they are for each.

Thanks

 

[uncleB]

Can someone tell me the advantage of 3 and 5 groove barrels. I am sure there are advantages to each just not sure what they are for each.

Thanks

After having several I can say without hesitation that there is no advantage EVER to a 3 groove barrel, they might be OK with a solid but they are rough with a jacketed bullet. A 4,5 or 6 groove is a better choice 10 times out of 10.
The philosophy behind the 3 groove is that throat erosion is retarded because the lands (riflings) are wider than on a 4,5,or6 groove barrels. but firecracking of the throat begins before erosion, so with a 3 groove barrel your accuracy will go away faster because there are wider rougher surfaces in your bore than with a 4,5, or 6 groove.
UB

 

[James Jones]

Like Uncle Bud said the 3 groove barrels are supposed to last longer and some say clean easier , I've had two one Pac-Nor that shot well and one Lilja that shoots great and hardly fouls at all. I like the Lilja barrel i have now , I can't say that its to rough on my bullets but I'm not shooting a hot rod either.

I have had several of the 5R barrels , a few from Rock Creek and one From Obermeyer and that shot great very accurate barely fouled and they did shoot a tad faster than a conventionaly rifled barrel , I have a 6mm here right now from Bartlien thats gonna be a 6-6.5x47 very soon. I'm tending to lean toward cut rifeld barrels now days , not realy sure why , I guess cause I've been talking to them more.

I would reccomend one of the 5R barrels either from Rock Creek , Bartlien , Broughton or Obermeyer if you can get hold of Boots.

Any of the high end barrels are gonna be easy on the fouling as they are all supposed to be hand lapped.

 

[NYLES]

I have a Lilja 3 groove on my 270AM. All I ever get out of it is carbon never see any copper and I look pretty hard for it. And itll shoot .5 inch groups at 250! Yea, JJ I figured it out thanks man!

Reason for the reply is Lilja has a article on this subject on his web page you might find a good read.

 

[coonhunter]

Thanks for the replys. I will read he article on Lilja's website. Again thanks for the replys and any other opinions are welcome.

 

[davewilson]

another advantage the 3 groove was supposed to have would be there was less cross section of the bullet that had to engrave into the rifling. yes the lands are wider but still, the total amount was not as much as conventional 6-8 grooves. this would allow for a little less start up pressure to engrave the bullet into the rifling. of course this equates to potentially faster speeds.

any of the "odd" number of grooves was supposed to put less or more even stresses on the bullet because the bullet wasn't being stressed directly across but rather a land would be across from a groove. i'm pretty sure this has never been proven to be an advantage, but it's an interesting theory.

i think 3 groove barrels have been out long enough for the theories to be proven one way or another and the disadvantages seem to far outweigh the advantages. as UB said and i think most would agree,there's just no reason to get a 3 groove barrel. on the other hand, a 5 groove, especially with canted lands. you're in hog heaven with that puppy!

 

[James H]

Here is a link to a post on Benchrest Central by Frank Green of Bartlien Barrels on this matter.


Number of grooves????? - Benchrest Central Forums

James