Finishing a rifle barrel a little long

fatjake

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Have a bartlein 3b I'm pretty sure it is. Bartlein says the max finish length is 26"
I think there is room to finish it at 27" which I wouldnt mind for the extra velocity.

-has anyone done this
 
fatjake,

All of the Bartlein 3b barrels I've ordered (dozens) have been 27" from Bartlein with a finished length of 26" after taking the 1" off at the muzzle.

3″B"
Lt. Bull Sporter 1.200 2.750 6.000 0.900 26″ 0.700 4.00#

This spec has the finished length at 26" and a finish diameter of 0.700" at that length. Is your blank longer than 27" and if yes, what is the finish diameter. This will make a difference if you decide to have the muzzle threaded.

In reality though, simply adding another inch to the length of the barrel will not show a dramatic improvement in velocity, maybe 25-30 fps.

What makes a difference though is not taking that last inch off of a 27" barrel and seeing a degradation in accuracy.

Regards.
 
I love long rifle barrels. I have a custom 22-250 with a 28" Shilen, a custom 240 Weatherby with a 27" Brux and I am now building a 300 win mag with a 27" Bartlein.
They have all been very accurate.
Thanks, Kirk
 
Have a bartlein 3b I'm pretty sure it is. Bartlein says the max finish length is 26"
I think there is room to finish it at 27" which I wouldnt mind for the extra velocity.

-has anyone done this


There is a good reason for staying with barrel makers recommended lengths, and it is that the last 3/4 to an inch of the barrel is not as good as the rest because of lapping.

Some makers make a saw cut in the muzzle end to make sure you remove it. some are 28'' and once removed you can end up with 27 1/8'' at most. if your barrel blank is 27'' 26 1/8 is about it.

The chamber end is not a problem because the chamber removes all of this oversized area.

The velocity gain you might get, is not worth the risk of accuracy loss. When ordering a blank I normally order one 2" longer than the finish length because sometimes I like to shorten the shank end also, and this gives me the flexibility to do so. (Most barrel makers will allow up to 30" before any additional charges are added to the barrel.

J E CUSTOM
 
26-inch is by no means a magic number, not sure why that length
is so sought after. Length should depend on the cartridge to be used.
 
J E Custom nailed it , all pertinent facts are covered in that post . If you want a longer bbl , get a longer blank.
 
Ok I gotta come clean........ I f'd up.

I send the barrel out to be fluted and failed to tell the guy who did the machine work that I needed to remove 1" from the muzzle of the barrel. Soooo its fluted right up to the 26" mark.

What should I do here, or what would you guys do.

I need to cut off an incH
 

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I made a 30" 5R bartlein longer than their specified length. Some of the muzzle end was cut off but not as much as they suggested. I looked at the bore with my borescope and decided to see if it could stay longer. It is a 6 BR and shoots bugholes so I guess I got it right.

I would suggest you cut off at least 1/2" of material in front of the fluting, crown and shoot it. It is shoots poorly you will have to get very close to the end of the flutes.
 
Ok I gotta come clean........ I f'd up.

I send the barrel out to be fluted and failed to tell the guy who did the machine work that I needed to remove 1" from the muzzle of the barrel. Soooo its fluted right up to the 26" mark.

What should I do here, or what would you guys do.

I need to cut off an incH


I would remove 1/2 to 3/4'' of the barrel and live with the looks. Cut enough off to assure accuracy, and still stay away from the fluting as much as possible. If you get to close not only does it look bad, it could become a safety issue.

The manufacture wants 1" removed because he knows this will totally remove the chance of leaving any bad bore. In truth it probably doesn't take that much but it varies from barrel to barrel.

Just My Opinion

J E CUSTOM
 
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