Gunsmithing Barrel question

[Hogshooter]

Getting ready to have another rifle built and I have a question regarding barrel contours. The rifle will be a short (20 - 22") .243 or .243AI to use as a medium range deer rifle. The other rifles I have all have Rem. Varmint profile barrels and I would like to go a bit lighter. I want to use my .30 cal. suppreesor on the new rifle so my question is what is the minimum barrel diameter at the muzzle that I can get away with and still have enough shoulder for the suppressor. The thread pitch will be 5/8 x 24.....Thanks

 

[JJones75]

Re: Barrel question

You could probably get away with a #3 as the diameter at 24" is .630" so when its cut back to 20" it will be a bit thicker.

But I would think about how heavy my can is and what an impact its going to have on the POI , the thinner the barrel or heaver the can the bigger the differance is when the can is on and off.

 

[Hogshooter]

Re: Barrel question

Already thinking of that. I am leaning towards staying with the Rem. Varmint contour. I already have a LTR in .308 that I shoot with the suppressor but I was hoping to shave a bit of weight. The sup. is a YHM can so it is rather heavy.

 

[NYresq]

Re: Barrel question

Stay with the same contour as the LTR but get it cut with heavy flutes, that will shave a little off the weight of the barrel and still leave enough meat at the muzzle for the threads and enough stiffness to hang a can off it.

If you go with a fluted barrel, make sure you have it done properly because there are a few places that will flute a barrel after all the final cuts are made and the bore is lapped and destroy all the bore dimensions and put a ton of stress into a perfectly good barrel. This will render it a useless POS. I know a couple peopel that have taken great shooting barrels and had them fluted and when they came back they were worse then a crappy factory barrel. Best way is to order it with the flutes when the barrel is made. Most of the top barrel makers will flute a barrel for you for a small charge if its ordered that way.