I have never wrote a review so bare with me gents. If you have any questions just address them here and I will do my best to accommodate.
SPECIFICATIONS
BARRETT MODEL 98B
CALIBER .338 Lapua Magnum
BARREL LENGTH 27” (68.58 cm)
OVERALL LENGTH 49.75” (126.36 cm)
WEIGHT 13.5 pounds (6.12 Kg)
TWIST RATE 1-10 Right Hand Twist
SAFETY Manual Reversible, thumb lever
SAFETY RANGE NEEDED 4 miles (estimated)
SCOPE RAIL Integral to the receiver M1913
style, 18.125” (46.03 cm)
CARRYING CASE LENGTH 53 inches
CARRYING CASE WIDTH 16 inches
CARRYING CASE DEPTH 6 inches
CARRYING CASE WEIGHT 24 pounds
MSRP $5,039.99
I ordered my lapua from Scott Harrop, who was by far one of the most professional people I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with. I ordered on a Friday and Mr Harrop emailed me the serials of the weapon system in order to speed up the process of registering on post. I sent the money via direct deposit on Monday. I received confirmation of shipment on Tuesday morning and received my weapon on Friday. The first thing I noticed was the 30lb pelican case. It was extremely durable as are all pelican cases. Opening the case I was bombarded with literature. There was two Barrett annual magazines, warranty information and NRA membership information and instruction manual. The case contained two 10 round magazines that are made from some kind of polymer substance that at first glance seemed fragile. I will review this weapon from muzzle break to butt stock. The muzzle break was impressive to say the least. Seemed easy enough to remove if I ever decided to go with a suppression system. The Muzzle break is ported in such a way that its obvious it will violently force muzzle blast out and forward allowing the recoil to be dispersed in the break and not my shoulder, but only bullets downrange will tell.
The fluted barrel seemed weighty to be modest and I was convinced that the 13.5 pounds could mostly be counted here. We all love preinstalled picatinny rails and the Barret was sure to form them into the weapon design.
The magazine well seems free enough to accomadate the magazine with ease but I am not a fan of the rear magazine release. When changing mags in a hurry it seem kind of cumbersome to do so without contorting the weapon at an angle. Being very use to assault rifle magazine wells I suppose I am spoiled to quick change magazines.
The safety selector couldn’t be better. It was put in the perfect spot to allow easy no change of site picture selection and is identical to the m4 design (minus the burst of course).
That brings us to the Bolt and action. This massive 9 locking lug piece of metal weighs 1.7 lbs and is a significant piece of construction. However I don’t care to much for the poly slide that the bolt travels through. It just seemed very breakable. That being said I have fired 400+ rounds through it and it is just as perfect as the day it I received it. The Bolt knob is large and very easy for cumbersome hands to find it in low light conditions. Overall the action is smooth, fast and extremely quiet. Disassembly of the bolt system is fast and easy. It does require the use of an additional washer or coin in order to remove the firing pin.
The butt stock assembly is made of poly plastic composite and attributes to a major portion of the weapons lack of weight. The adjustable cheek piece easy to manipulate but not as comfortable as some others I have used. With the weapon being streamlined I honestly have never needed to utilize it. Which brings me to the butt cushion. This is a great feature that saves shoulder bruising but it is very easily torn. I have heard horror stories from several Barrett owners that have torn it simply by placing the butt stock on its end. Great idea poor design.
The upper and lower break open extremely easier than Barretts previous products. Simply raise the bolt to the up position and depress a 2” lever built into the lower behind the trigger assembly. I absolutely love this feature as it breaks open identical to an M4. This makes chamber access and cleaning a breeze.
The first time at the range I was astonished that I own a 25-06 that kicks way harder than my barrett. But she is loud..very loud!!. Persons sitting adjacent to will not be happy. The first round fired was a box of hornady 250G HPBT. Sub Half MOA every 5 round group. After BBL breaking was complete I rapid fired 15 rounds of Remington HPBT 250 scenars. Again dead on but the barrel was not dissipating the heat as much as I like. It was causing significant mirage at round 15.
Well I am sure I left a lot out but like I said this is my first one and I just gave you my personal thoughts and experiences.
SPECIFICATIONS
BARRETT MODEL 98B
CALIBER .338 Lapua Magnum
BARREL LENGTH 27” (68.58 cm)
OVERALL LENGTH 49.75” (126.36 cm)
WEIGHT 13.5 pounds (6.12 Kg)
TWIST RATE 1-10 Right Hand Twist
SAFETY Manual Reversible, thumb lever
SAFETY RANGE NEEDED 4 miles (estimated)
SCOPE RAIL Integral to the receiver M1913
style, 18.125” (46.03 cm)
CARRYING CASE LENGTH 53 inches
CARRYING CASE WIDTH 16 inches
CARRYING CASE DEPTH 6 inches
CARRYING CASE WEIGHT 24 pounds
MSRP $5,039.99
I ordered my lapua from Scott Harrop, who was by far one of the most professional people I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with. I ordered on a Friday and Mr Harrop emailed me the serials of the weapon system in order to speed up the process of registering on post. I sent the money via direct deposit on Monday. I received confirmation of shipment on Tuesday morning and received my weapon on Friday. The first thing I noticed was the 30lb pelican case. It was extremely durable as are all pelican cases. Opening the case I was bombarded with literature. There was two Barrett annual magazines, warranty information and NRA membership information and instruction manual. The case contained two 10 round magazines that are made from some kind of polymer substance that at first glance seemed fragile. I will review this weapon from muzzle break to butt stock. The muzzle break was impressive to say the least. Seemed easy enough to remove if I ever decided to go with a suppression system. The Muzzle break is ported in such a way that its obvious it will violently force muzzle blast out and forward allowing the recoil to be dispersed in the break and not my shoulder, but only bullets downrange will tell.
The fluted barrel seemed weighty to be modest and I was convinced that the 13.5 pounds could mostly be counted here. We all love preinstalled picatinny rails and the Barret was sure to form them into the weapon design.
The magazine well seems free enough to accomadate the magazine with ease but I am not a fan of the rear magazine release. When changing mags in a hurry it seem kind of cumbersome to do so without contorting the weapon at an angle. Being very use to assault rifle magazine wells I suppose I am spoiled to quick change magazines.
The safety selector couldn’t be better. It was put in the perfect spot to allow easy no change of site picture selection and is identical to the m4 design (minus the burst of course).
That brings us to the Bolt and action. This massive 9 locking lug piece of metal weighs 1.7 lbs and is a significant piece of construction. However I don’t care to much for the poly slide that the bolt travels through. It just seemed very breakable. That being said I have fired 400+ rounds through it and it is just as perfect as the day it I received it. The Bolt knob is large and very easy for cumbersome hands to find it in low light conditions. Overall the action is smooth, fast and extremely quiet. Disassembly of the bolt system is fast and easy. It does require the use of an additional washer or coin in order to remove the firing pin.
The butt stock assembly is made of poly plastic composite and attributes to a major portion of the weapons lack of weight. The adjustable cheek piece easy to manipulate but not as comfortable as some others I have used. With the weapon being streamlined I honestly have never needed to utilize it. Which brings me to the butt cushion. This is a great feature that saves shoulder bruising but it is very easily torn. I have heard horror stories from several Barrett owners that have torn it simply by placing the butt stock on its end. Great idea poor design.
The upper and lower break open extremely easier than Barretts previous products. Simply raise the bolt to the up position and depress a 2” lever built into the lower behind the trigger assembly. I absolutely love this feature as it breaks open identical to an M4. This makes chamber access and cleaning a breeze.
The first time at the range I was astonished that I own a 25-06 that kicks way harder than my barrett. But she is loud..very loud!!. Persons sitting adjacent to will not be happy. The first round fired was a box of hornady 250G HPBT. Sub Half MOA every 5 round group. After BBL breaking was complete I rapid fired 15 rounds of Remington HPBT 250 scenars. Again dead on but the barrel was not dissipating the heat as much as I like. It was causing significant mirage at round 15.
Well I am sure I left a lot out but like I said this is my first one and I just gave you my personal thoughts and experiences.
