Inside out Barrel

[singleshotom]

The Title is kind of a catch to get people to read this. I asked the question on a thread here about contour of a barrel and Dan was the only response.... so my take from that is that it really doesn't make a difference..And we kinda are back to the old bigger is better. .
A while back I asked about making a dream barrel and got no-one to respond.
Why I ask is that I have the resources to cut-rifle a barrel of almost any internal dimensions straight/gain twist,number of groove, bore/groove dia.,length, choke, etc. And have been wondering about what others in the 22 BR field think. We have been using mostly the standard 6 groove, 16" gain and straight twist, 60-40 % bore/groove in the past. We live away from the small bore community so to speak and have the same things happen as I see on here ( should be better, not as good as before, why the flyer, no consistency, poor ammo, etc.)
We compete at 100+ yards and we use mostly a martini type action.
A friend and I are going to get to work and build a couple of experimental barrel soon and I thought before we start I'd ask the experts for opinions.
Ive been thinking about {a tight bore, slow gain, 3 or 4 groove,} not sure of % bore/groove yet (wind sensitivity) chamber type, leade angle.
So with that I thank anyone with a bit of time to respond I truly appreciate the input.
SST

 

[40EZXS]

Barrel Thoughts

3 groove 16.5 twist.very narrow lands just barley a tight bore one inch straight about 25 - 27 finished OAL leade 1.75 -1.45

 

[Kent Owens]

I guess we all have our favorite barrel contours to a certain extent, so saying which is best is not an easy thing. For 10.5 class rifles, I have my favorite, and for benchrest sporters I have my favorite too. If I were looking to buy a barrel I'd look to Benchmark, Lilja, Shilen, Broughton, Hart, and others who are all making some great barrels. I think most all the manufacturers are making some of their best barrels ever, so I'd stick with what they say is being successful for them at this time. Personally, I don't think there is any need to exceed .850-.875 diameter to get a RF barrel that delivers all the accuracy it's capable of.
I like my 10.5 lbs. class barrels .850 and from 24"-25.5" long. They tune easily, and have a broad tune window with the correct amount of weight on them. I won't go into that. Any time you talk barrels and tuners you end up in an arguement so most folks steer away from the subject for good reason. That's probably why you got so little response. Dan was correct in that you can get a great barrel in most any configuration if you take the time to tune it, and if it's chambered and fitted correctly, got great bedding, great ignition, etc., and killer ammo suited to it, maybe the most important of all, everything else being equal.

 

[KEN HARPER]

You didn't happen to mention what sort of performance you were shooting for or what you expect to obtain from this "dream barrel". 1/2 inch groups at 50 yards is certainly obtainable from most of the good barrel makers Kent referred to. A lot of the really serious shooters are looking for that "Holy Grail" of barrels, the one that comes along once every 5-10 years. One that will shoot 1/4 or 1/8 inch groups at 50 yards in any wind condition using a variety of ammo. In order to find that Holy Grail, you are going to end up cutting, threading and chambering lot of barrels to find the right combination of contour, length, lead angles, etc. that will produce what you are looking for. The constant experimenting and searching for that one barrel is what drives a lot of us in this sport.

 

[Vibe]

I guess that if I had the ways and means to build what I thought would be the "best" barrel I'd probably try a Calfee Sporter profile - 24" to 26" long - integral tuner - 16-1/2" twist - 16 land Microgroove barrel. That last part is because I don't think a BR grade Microgroove has been tried, and the lands are so shallow that there is not much deformation from the original round shape of the bullet.
Besides, the run of the mill factory grade Microgrooves don't do too bad on the average.

 

[singleshotom]

Ken, this is the sort of accuracy we have to get in order to compete..
This is a ASSRA 100yd. RF target which has a .75" bull...Any shots dropped more then this target is a licking so to speak.
We don't need world record beaters but we need pretty accurate guns to compete dropping 5 or 6 points in a 100 shot match kinda puts you in the back of the room pondering your next barrel!
Thus the question what can we do different, then were now doing?
Thanx for the response I truly appreciate it.
SST

 

[singleshotom]

One other thing I'd like to mention is that I truly have never tested any of these barrels we have made at 50 yds because we don't shoot at that range! I'm truly not familiar with what the difference would be at 50yds versus 100yds. I could guess but thats all.
And as far as the "Holy grail" well I never thought of it as such but I guess that is what we strive for in all disciplines of this game.
Thnx Again
SST

 

[Fred J]

My Prefence

For 100 yard, I prefer 30" 16 to 16.6 twist, .90 to 1.125 straight cylinder. Of course that's if you're shooting Irons. With scope, you can get buy with a little shoorter, say 28" 2,3,4 5,6 or 8 groove, I can't tell the differance. .221 / .217, has worked well for my Schuetzen barrels. Cut rifle would be the best choice, as long as you're consistance from breech to muzzle. As for the gain twist, that worked well with blacl powder, but with .22RF we couldn't see any advantage. Here's where the chamber comes into the picture. There are two that I like, one being the 52D Match or the Freeland Match. Both have the same degree leade, just be sure you get your depth correct.