building a new rifle but need some input

Well i guess i got another question as far as Target/hunting rifle goes.
How many shots should i expect to get out of a barrel?
Should i be looking at certain barrels for longer lasting?
And what price should i expect to pay for replacement .
Will a 7 mag last longer than a 300 mag barrel?
all input is greatly needed.thankyou
 
DanC,
I have been using Broughton 5C barrels.
He only offers stainless barrels, and they are Awesome barrels!highly recommended. They run around the 300.00 range.The 7mm barrel will not have quite as long a barrel life as the .300. Anytime you have two cases with similar volume,but two different calibers the smaller caliber will have more of a torch effect than the larger caliber. I have going on 800 rds in my 7mmwsm,I just shot it tonight at 1250 yds and a 4 shot group was right at 9" but my ES was in the mid to high 20's and the spread was mostly vertical.
I'm hoping to get 1500 rds. before re-chambering to a new throat.
Barrel life depends on a lot of things,such as neglect,overheating,flame temp.of a particular powder,amount of powder, etc...
The good ol' .308 has a very long barrel life maybe 3-4 times that of the .300.
The reason I recommended the 7WSM over the .300, was the recoil( I built and installed a muzzle brake on my 7WSM and it recoils about like a light weight .223(it also helps that the gun weighs about 20lbs.) and that there are getting to be a lot more high B.C bullets for the 7WSM.
With my 7MMWSM I'm getting 3075, with a bullet B.C of .7.
Hope this answers some of your questions.
308nate,
P.S If you decide on the 7mm order your barrel long,with at least 5-6" of full breech diameter so that when your accuracy starts to drop off you can hack off the old chamber and re-chamber to a new throat...just a thought.
 
Thanks 308 Nate
I know not overheating a barrel is very important.
Were i work I supply alot of deer to other employees.
I find myself in the position several x a year to be able to shoot as many as 2 to 3 mature does at one x.
As i have been reading that alot of long range shooters let thier rifle cool down between{every shot?}By trying to use a competition rifle for long range hunting is that like a one of those {duh dont do it things on my part}. Is thgis an absalute must to prolong the life of the barrel? And does anyone know of any long range shooting classes in Missouri or will I have to go out of state to find one?
Get the feeling that ill need the expert advice of does and donts and how to be able to consistantly shoot 1k shots
I relize this isnt a class on long range shooting and i apriciate everyone being patient with me and all my questions and if you all dont mind i would like to continue getting as much advice as possible from you all {dont want to wear out my welcome}
Thanks for being patient with someone that hasnt done all thier homework and is an almost a beginning LR shooter.And yes learning to reload correctly is in my near future.
 
Dan,
I'm also doing alot of reading and research for a gun similar to what you want.IMO > you won't go wrong with a broughton 5 C barrel and a blueprinted remington action.The 7 WSM will make a highly accurate longrange killing machine for sure ,efficient > and the recoil won't be bad with a good brake.

Shooting the gun at "2-3 mature does" will not hurt a thing.Getting carried away and shooting several times might though.

There is a dvd / video series called "beyond belief" i think > do a search it's around here somewhere.I haven't seen it ,but it is highly spoke of.It covers enough to get you up and running on longrange hunting ,the guy shoots a 7mm STW. Best of luck,and welcome,>> Mike

Edited; www.thebestofthewest.com
 
DanC,
I typically shoot my barrels until it is uncomfortable to the touch, a lot of times in matches you're required to shoot so many rounds in a certain amount of time. As far as this long range hunting and competition thing, you need to figure out what you want to compete in as there is no one gun for all competitions. If you are building an "F" class match rifle or Palma style rifle,they can turn out to be very nice long range hunting rifles as well. If you are thinking bench rest (heavy or light) you might want to be thinking about two rifles,not to say you can't long range hunt with a bench rest, but a 16 - 40 lb gun will be cumbersome.....So, I guess it would be more like bench rest hunting /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
If you were just building a long range hunting rifle,I would build it specifically for long range hunting. Which would probably include a larger caliber with a good muzzle brake for long range energy.
So depending on what you want to compete in,I would build the rifle for that specific type of competion and then adapt it into long range hunting if so desired, but as stated before some adapt better than others.
At 1K your biggest enemies are wind and for me recoil.
The next key would be quality ammo,if you want to compete at 1k you need to be able to keep your ES in the single digits(which can be frustrating to achive)
FWIW,
308nate
P.S I feel the 7MMWSM with the right bullet has a very acceptable amount of energy for taking white tails and mulies up to 1K (some will argue this, shot placement is the key)
 
308Nate
Well here is my delima.I have decided to keep my 308 and turn it into a 500 ta 600 yard hunting rifle. I grew up shooting,I do pretty well with factory rifles and hand guns.
I have never owned a custom rifle {family and work always came before play time}So if i watch my budget and sell my marlin 444 and my 308 semi auto. I should be able to rebuild my bolt action into a long range hunting rifle for this area and it will work fine;{as u and a few others politely suggested to begin with}As far as long range target shooting is something i always wanted to get into but never had the time or the money to buy a custom and compete, so almost all of this is new to me.
I have alot to learn along with buying the stuff to reload my shells for both rifles I am concidering a 7mmWSM.in the 15lbs range.I enjoy shooting and a bit of compatition would prob do my hunting/shooting wonders in the 500 to 800 yards range. Not sure i would ever feel comfortable shooting and animal with a 7 mag past that range would have less knockdown power than a 30-30 at 200 yards.I think the 30-30 has about 50ft-flbs more at 200 yards then the 7mag does at 800 {I think thats right}any way if i can keep it under 15 lbs and not get beat to death shooting it {when/if} i ever get the chance to hunt elk it would be an acceptable rifle to take incase of a long range shot.
pretty much bench shooting. But im back to the reality that I dont even know all the paticulers of any of the compatitions and classes of rifle.
So as you can tell im a wannabe beginner.and worse case if i try compatition and its not for me i still end up with knowledge, better ability, a few friends, and one hell of a long range hunting rifle.So as long as im carefull about what i build its kinda a win win situation for me reguardless.And this is why I ended up here most of the advice I was getting just didnt sound right or plain stunk to me. and im a novice compared to most of you. Since i made my first post and checked into what everyone was said i should. All the info has been to my benafit and has helped me alot already. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
Only thing i can say is i am grateful for all the info and guidence. Its helping me alot
 
DanC,
I'm with ya' all the way on family time coming before play!
The Lord has blessed me with 3 wonderful children and they are more precious than any gun.

I think your decision with the .308 is a very good one.
I have not to date shot a deer past 700 yds. but feel my 7mm has suficiant energy. I am shooting a 169.5 gr.ULD at 3075 fps. out of a 30" barrel with a drop chart generated b.c of.7, entered in my computer is running 1300 ft.lbs. of energy. with a muzzle velocity of 1850 fps @ 1k.

back to the .308, a well built palma rifle shooting the 155 lapua makes an awesome 1k yd."F" class rifle/match rifle/palma rifle. the palma is .308 only but shot in the same manner as match rifle. "F" class is off a bi-pod. The .308 will hold it's own in all three competitions.When your done competing it makes and awesome 500yd. hunting rifle. There is no acurracy advantage going to the
6.5-.284 and .260. The only thing you give up with the .308 is wind bucking,And believe me in ND we consider 5 mile hr. wind a perfectly calm day.
Well best of luck on your endeavour and I'm always happy to share what little knowledge I have.
308nate
 
308Nate
Just looked it up jeez i hate being wrong uh hum i mean confused hehe.
Tat range is still beyond my ability but hope to change that over time.
Any advice on rebuilding the 308 or building the 7mmWSM on what to use who to send it to etc etc and what ammo to start with or who sels custom bullets till i can make my own and do it correctly would be appriciated.
If anyone that knows a good web site for dummies trying to get into comp shooting would be great also.
[email protected]
Thanks All /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
 
+1 On what the Doctor said and 308 about the 7mm WSM having enough steam @ 1000.

I live just a few miles down the road from S1, he built me a lazer of a 6.5 WSM. It shoots 123 grain Scenars into an inch and a half at 600. Nobody comes close to his quality of work. I have seen his stuff win Sniper matches, 600 yard benchrest matches. Saw one of his rigs shoot a clean 800 with 56 X's at 600 in F-class as well, it won that day too. No one else I have talked to wants to give a 1/4 M0A guarantee like he does either.

Here is a link to a pic of my 6.5 WSM, made a one shot kill on a doe at 1,060 yards with a 123 on my brother's farm in the bootheel.

http://artactical.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/853600194/m/863101887
 
DanC

Here's some advice from one whose been "around a while"! Find you a "used" M70 long action rifle...trash the barrel and get you something like a Premium Grade Douglas #5 contour barrel and chamber it for .338 Win Mag topped off with a Leupold scope maybe of 4.5x14x50MM with target knobs! Use Marine-Tex to bed the stock/relieve the barrel so it's not riding wood and you'll have something that will work real well! No...it ain't gonna be as hot as some of the other "hot rods" but if you learn to use it right....it will work real well and you won't be ordering a new tube every 800 rouds or less! This will make a fine elk/moose rifle and will "whack" any mulies/whitetails you want to dispose of with it! If you're recoil sensitive...it won't be too ruff on you and you can always have a brake put on up front! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
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