# of grooves for new Barrel

[tikkat3270wsm]

I have heard alot about different grooves and their help or hinerence with cleaning, FPS, pressure ect. I was told by one of the manufacturers that ,for my rifle that a 4 groove would be good. That alot of the bench rest shooters are using them and like them. any help that you guys would be able to give to help me understand would be greatly appreciated.

 

[MudRunner2005]

I am a fan of 5R cut rifling myself...If I were to buy an aftermarket barrel, it would have 5R cut rifling.

 

[AKGuide]

Search fiftydriver and 3 groove barrels for some interesting reading. I have a 5 groove 300 RUM, but after reading on the forum I should have went with a 3 groove setup. Wider groove helps eat up the heat from initial powder burn and helps the throat last longer on overbore magnums. Also the fouling is supposed to be slightly less with the 3 groove setup. I have a 14-twist .416-.375 RUM build almost complete coming in 3 groove.

Reuben

 

[Deleted member 46119]

If custom, 3.

 

[azsugarbear]

The other side of the coin with three groove barrels is more bearing surface and more friction. This can become problematic with heavy-for-grain VLD style bullets that also have a very long bearing surface.

 

[bigngreen]

I don't think I will go with a 3 groove again, seen to many issues when you push them with thrashing jackets, have not seen any advantage to them. I've been very happy with 5R barrels and all my 338's have been 6 land and they've been stunning!!

 

[J E Custom]

I have heard alot about different grooves and their help or hinerence with cleaning, FPS, pressure ect. I was told by one of the manufacturers that ,for my rifle that a 4 groove would be good. That alot of the bench rest shooters are using them and like them. any help that you guys would be able to give to help me understand would be greatly appreciated.

Bullet weight and size have the most effect on the number of groves IMO.

The light fast bullets do very well with 3 or 4 grove barrels the mid range bullets/calibers
do well with 5 or 6 grove bullets. the heavy weight/large calibers are at there best in 8 grove
barrels because of the resistance of the big bullets to start rotating.

What round are you going to chamber it in and what bullet weight are you going to use ?

J E CUSTOM

 

[backwoods83]

a lot of bench shooters use 3 groove liljas but personally I like the 4 groove cut rifling as a all around compromise, but I've had great luck with 6 groove barrels as well, so far though I like the 5R and 5C barrels the best, they are easy to clean and do not foul easy and the 5Cs typically run a little on the faster side.

 

[FEENIX]

Search fiftydriver and 3 groove barrels for some interesting reading. I have a 5 groove 300 RUM, but after reading on the forum I should have went with a 3 groove setup. Wider groove helps eat up the heat from initial powder burn and helps the throat last longer on overbore magnums. Also the fouling is supposed to be slightly less with the 3 groove setup. I have a 14-twist .416-.375 RUM build almost complete coming in 3 groove.

Reuben

+1! I have a Lilja 30", 1:8, 3-groove in .270 AI and am very pleased with it.

 

[tikkat3270wsm]

Bullet weight and size have the most effect on the number of groves IMO.

The light fast bullets do very well with 3 or 4 grove barrels the mid range bullets/calibers
do well with 5 or 6 grove bullets. the heavy weight/large calibers are at there best in 8 grove
barrels because of the resistance of the big bullets to start rotating.

What round are you going to chamber it in and what bullet weight are you going to use ?

J E CUSTOM

J E Custom, i will be running 165 and 175 gr Matrix out of a .270wsm on a Tikka T3 action, custom stock

 

[azsugarbear]

PM sent.

 

[J E Custom]

J E Custom, i will be running 165 and 175 gr Matrix out of a .270wsm on a Tikka T3 action, custom stock

I have and like the three grove barrels so I'm not knocking them. they do seem to extend barrel life
because of the wider lands and lead. the down side is that they are harder on bullet jackets because they have to upset (Displace)more bullet jacket to engrave it . They seem to be at there best at high velocities (4400+) slow twist rates 1 in 15 and with light bullets to prevent shearing the jacket off the bullet. Jacket shearing is common on large heavy bullets if a fast twist is used (Bid bores,40
caliber and larger normally use a 1 in 14 twist 8 grove barrel.

Everyone has an opinion on this and mine is "Different cartridge/bullet combinations have different needs. So there is no one best twist/grove combination.

If it were mine, on the .270 WSM with heavy bullets, I would chose a 6 grove 1 in 8 to 1 in 9 twist.
For all round performance.

Just My opinion

J E CUSTOM

 

[Broz]

I have and like the three grove barrels so I'm not knocking them. they do seem to extend barrel life
because of the wider lands and lead. the down side is that they are harder on bullet jackets because they have to upset (Displace)more bullet jacket to engrave it . They seem to be at there best at high velocities (4400+) slow twist rates 1 in 15 and with light bullets to prevent shearing the jacket off the bullet. Jacket shearing is common on large heavy bullets if a fast twist is used (Bid bores,40
caliber and larger normally use a 1 in 14 twist 8 grove barrel.

Everyone has an opinion on this and mine is "Different cartridge/bullet combinations have different needs. So there is no one best twist/grove combination.

If it were mine, on the .270 WSM with heavy bullets, I would chose a 6 grove 1 in 8 to 1 in 9 twist.
For all round performance.

Just My opinion

J E CUSTOM

I have done some limited testing and a lot of research on this of my own. I agree with JE here 100%

I still have some 3,4,5 and 6 grove barrels. From here on I will leave the 3 and 4 grove for lighter calibers. In the .270 up calibers it has been the 5 and 6 grove builds that have stole my heart with their down range accuracy.

Jeff