Need help deciding which barrel profile to get

[NotoriousAPP]

Two questions:

1) Can you guys recommend a barrel profile which will offer a good trade off for somebody who will use the same rifle for hunting (30-200 yds) and longer precision shooting (300-1000 yds). Obviously weight and length are the concern since I'll be carrying this rifle around while hunting (prob no more than 2 miles for each hunt). I had my eye on either the Light Palma or the Medium Varmint profile. Note, the rifle already weighs 11 lbs unloaded.

2) What is your ideal barrel length for a 30-06 precision rifle? My current barrel is a factory 22" sporter which is capable of 0.75 MOA. I plan on replacing it but I'm not sure what length. I know that a 20" works well for the .308 so does that mean that a 22" will work well for a 30-06? I will use a 20 oz. suppressor (Saker 7.62) on the end of the barrel and the rifle will mostly be used ~20% for hunting and the other 80% for precision shooting out to 1000 yards. I would love to be able to cut the length to 20" if possible. I do reload ammo so I could load whatever is needed for the barrel. If the barrel is 20" does it even make sense to load the cartridges to 30-06 pressures or should I used reduced powder loadings to bring it down to a 308 type load? Thanks.


Thanks in advance.

 

[lawman29]

Since you're going to cut it down I'd go with a heavier profile (80% shooting...and if you just compare the number of rounds you'll shoot hunting vs shooting it'll be higher%?). Also found this:

http://www.snipershide.com/shooting.../222925-30-06-barrel-advice-length-twist.html

 

[NotoriousAPP]

Since you're going to cut it down I'd go with a heavier profile (80% shooting...and if you just compare the number of rounds you'll shoot hunting vs shooting it'll be higher%?). Also found this:

http://www.snipershide.com/shooting.../222925-30-06-barrel-advice-length-twist.html

Thanks. I just added some more questions over at the thread you included.

 

[LRJammer]

I use a 22" fluted medium Palma on my hunting rifle and I find it just right for weight and balance. The whole rifle with 4.5-14 scope and Harris bipod runs 9.5 lbs with a laminated stock.

 

[NotoriousAPP]

I use a 22" fluted medium Palma on my hunting rifle and I find it just right for weight and balance. The whole rifle with 4.5-14 scope and Harris bipod runs 9.5 lbs with a laminated stock.

Thanks for your input, that sounds pretty sweet. Any chance you could add a picture of this rifle?

My rifle would be a bit lighter if it weren't for the Farrell steel one piece base, 6-24 optic and tactical shaped stock (wood).

 

[leadbullet]

Medium Palma is just about perfect for any kind of shooting

 

[NotoriousAPP]

Medium Palma is just about perfect for any kind of shooting

Do you see any down side to a medium palma with fluting? I guess I am really just asking if there is a downside to fluting in any barrel configurations?

 

[LRJammer]

Thanks for your input, that sounds pretty sweet. Any chance you could add a picture of this rifle?

My rifle would be a bit lighter if it weren't for the Farrell steel one piece base, 6-24 optic and tactical shaped stock (wood).

Here is a photo of it right after I finished building it. No optics mounted had been mounted yet.

 

[LRJammer]

Do you see any down side to a medium palma with fluting? I guess I am really just asking if there is a downside to fluting in any barrel configurations?

When done properly, fluting has no negative effect on accuracy. When not done properly, it can. I had this one done by GAP so I was confident that it would be properly done and it absolutely was.

 

[NotoriousAPP]

Here is a photo of it right after I finished building it. No optics mounted had been mounted yet.

That's a great looking hunter, love the wood. What's that swoop down on the barrel profile towards the front of the barrel?

 

[LRJammer]

That's a great looking hunter, love the wood. What's that swoop down on the barrel profile towards the front of the barrel?

That is just seeing the fluting from just the right angle. It doesnt really taper down and then back up.

 

[SWThomas]

That is just seeing the fluting from just the right angle. It doesnt really taper down and then back up.

I pondered these questions for a while before getting my 30-06 rebuilt. I decided to go with a 26" barrel in a #4 Bartlein contour (bull sporter). That's about as heavy as I would go on a hunting rifle that you're going to move around with; but obviously you can go a little heavier if you're gonna go shorter or flute it.... That gave me just a little extra weight over the #3 (sporter) contour to mitigate some recoil and the length ensure I'll get a full burn out of some of the slower powders. I countered the weight of the barrel by going with a Manners Elite Hunter stock, which only weighs about a pound and a half before bedding. With the scope my rifle weighs in around 10 pounds and I'd be more than willing to take it on a long mountain hunt. A rifle sling or an Eberlestock Hunting Pack will help when taking heavier rifles on longer hunting trips.

 

[NotoriousAPP]

I pondered these questions for a while before getting my 30-06 rebuilt. I decided to go with a 26" barrel in a #4 Bartlein contour (bull sporter). That's about as heavy as I would go on a hunting rifle that you're going to move around with; but obviously you can go a little heavier if you're gonna go shorter or flute it.... That gave me just a little extra weight over the #3 (sporter) contour to mitigate some recoil and the length ensure I'll get a full burn out of some of the slower powders. I countered the weight of the barrel by going with a Manners Elite Hunter stock, which only weighs about a pound and a half before bedding. With the scope my rifle weighs in around 10 pounds and I'd be more than willing to take it on a long mountain hunt. A rifle sling or an Eberlestock Hunting Pack will help when taking heavier rifles on longer hunting trips.

Thanks for the input SWThomas. The intent of the rifle I'm posting about is low cost, accurate, light weight....obviously there is no sweet spot for all three of these requirements, I'm going to have to trade off one for the other two. In my case, I traded weight for cost when I selected a Boyd's Tacticool wood stock at 2.8 lbs. I would have loved to use a lighter weight composite stock. I'm ok with that though, I want to cut my teeth on this rifle before building a true precision rifle which will have less money constraints, in the mean time this rifle will do double duty as hunter and precision training; I spent most of my money on good glass which is transferable from rifle to rifle. I'm already tooled up for 30-06 reloading and got the base rifle for ~$140 so I couldn't pass it up.

I'll definitely consider the bull sporter, it does look quite nice on your rifle and the weight looks acceptable at 4.5lbs. What I don't understand is the difference in expected performance between a #4 bull sporter and the #10 ligh palma. The contours are very similar as is the weight, would one expect a difference in performance. I would likely move up to something that's wider at the muzzle (i.e. #11 medium palma) since I will be hanging a suppressor off the end.