The "New" Barrett MRAD Thread!!!!!!

[canuckistaninia]

I'll measure my mags when I get home

 

[Eric B.]

I hope the MRAD wins the ARMY's second Precision Rifle Solicitation. The Canadian Cadex designed Remington Defense winner for the 1st solicitation has a MUCH too large of diameter fore arm. This forces the Pic. rail over the action to be too high and forces the cheek rest to be too high. The MRAD has no such problem.

Aside from the Remington Defense rifle giving the shooter cheek fitment problems it places the center of the scope much too high above the center of the bore so that any slight cant has a worse affect on a horizontal miss.

Eric B.

 

[canuckistaninia]

Max length is 3.780 on the c type mag (338 lm) I measured

 

[MidTNShooter]

Another new owner question. When cleaning the bore, what do you recommend for a bore guide?

Thanks,

Phil

I know you asked this a while back, I've been gone for a bit and just saw it. Bore Tech made these a while back specifically to fit the MRAD. I don't know if they still do/have them or not but this one works great and fits perfect. Sorry about the shitty photography.

 

[Stalker0117]

does anybody know the manufacturer of the mrad barrels? Are they cold forged? or lapped? How is the quality compared to other precision rifles?
Is it possible to let manufacture a custom barrel, with a caliber what is not offered by barrett?

Rock Creek makes the barrels for the MRAD . I don’t know any other info on the barrel other then that . But I am certain they make the barrels . Rock Creek makes fantastic barrels .

 

[amk]

I purchased an MRAD a few months ago after parting with a 98b. Since there isn't much info regarding loads in this unit, (I have the fluted 24" 338LM barrel) I will share my experiences.
The 98B shot factory ammo ok, but responded beyond expectations with handloads. It settled on 300g Lap over Lap brass, 90g of H1000, set to the lands, OAL of 3.755. .3 moa was the norm, mostly holding all the way to 1000yrds, if wind was cooperating. Excellent.
I decided on the MRAD due to the folding stock and switch barrel design. It's not quite as comfortable to shoot as the 98b, but has a few attributes I prefer.
I have found the gun also likes the same load, except I had to change the OAL to 3.700, and it shoots .3 moa as well (to 300 yards anyway, I have yet to make it to 1000, corn not out yet).
I have the unit topped with a NightForce NSX. AAC Titan QD suppressor.
These guns shoot!

 

[Hk996]

Has anyone gone to a MRAD from desert tech? If so, how is the switching of barrels/ bolts compare? I like the simplicity of the DT but looking for another option that is multi-caliber.

 

[canuckistaninia]

I believe the desert tech is 3 bolts, torqued less then the mrads 2. Asside from just lostening them and pulling the barrel out, they both are just as simple. I'm unsure of whether you swap complete bolts with a desert tech or wheter a bolt face is swapped. Either way, it's certainly not hard with an mrad.

 

[BO_Ac7ion]

My new play toy in multi-role brown, sporting the 24 inch, 300WM barrel, 5-25 atacr on nightforce rings, and accushot monopod and bipod

What height rings?

 

[BO_Ac7ion]

View attachment 6939972View attachment 6939973

What height rings?

 

[BO_Ac7ion]

What ring height on Barrett MRAD for NightForce ATACR 4-16x50?

 

[mgrs]

What ring height on Barrett MRAD for NightForce ATACR 4-16x50?

I do not have that optic, but am using 1.5" to clear a 56mm PMII with rubber scope caps. You could probably do 1.2-1.3 for the NF.

I do not think taller rings/mounts look out of place on this due to the low bore axis.

 

[Chardonnay Dave]

Has anyone here fired enough rounds out of the MRAD or experienced any excessive wear with the Bolt Guide / Dust Cover?

 

[mgrs]

No idea on excessive wear, but this one came used from the exchange here:

 

[Chardonnay Dave]

It’ll be interesting to see the changes to the MRAD if they’re awarded the contract.

If so, I would be willing to bet that AI will protest, especially if the desired changes incur additional cost.

 

[canuckistaninia]

Am I missing something? You are making it sound like the decision has been made and they are going with the MRAD for the ASR.

 

[Chardonnay Dave]

Did I say that?

 

[Chardonnay Dave]

There.... all fixed ;-)

 

[jeffmedlin]

Has anyone heard any rumors about a larger caliber MRAD offering? Like for .338, .375 and .416 in a multi caliber?

 

[mgrs]

After putting 65 rounds (.260) through this, from 100-1000 yards, it is an easy system to be confident with. The trigger has a little creep before hitting a wall and then breaking, almost like a two stage, even a 1lb 8oz. I am not sure if I would adjust it much lower.

In case someone else is using the factory .260 barrel- Labradar put the Prime 130gr .260 at 2836 fps (70F, sun) and 2831 fps (35-40F, overcast) in the 24" factory .260 barrel. AB data was as almost dead-on using kestrel atmospheric data, the Norma golden target 130gr bullet Litz BC (.295 G7), and those average velocities.

I picked up this torque wrench to fill the gap between a 65 in/lb wheeler and an automotive 3/8" drive wrench; it is available new on ebay for less:

https://www.amazon.com/Capri-Tools-31200-20-150-Industrial/dp/B011ARI5M6

Has anyone heard any rumors about a larger caliber MRAD offering? Like for .338, .375 and .416 in a multi caliber?

Interesting idea, as it could probably also accept .50 and would displace (or modernize?) much of their existing heavy elr or anti-material product line.

 

[gnatmm]

And finally here it is. You can replace the barrel without buying a new conversion. In the end I went with a 28” 1/10, fluted. .300 nm. Now we will see how it shoots.

 

[jeffmedlin]

@gnatmm what BiPod is that???

 

[gnatmm]

@jeffmedlin The Tactical S from Talon: http://www.talonadvanced.com/bipiedi
Above all Sir, I recommend the press, real piece of art.

 

[jeffmedlin]

Thanks @gnatmm
Looks like some top shelf stuff! What country is that in? I can't read the language. Did you order directly from them, or is there a distributor in the US?

I see what you mean about the reloading press.... that is impressive!

 

[gnatmm]

They’re based in Modena (ITALY) not far from Ferrari HQ. I am dropping them an email to know who is their rep in the US, and will share that with you. IMO the F-class bipod ( if you are interested in that gay-type of shooting ) and the press are really top notch. But I love the tac bipod as well.

 

[Dooby]

https://www.guns.com/news/2018/12/04/barrett-gets-u-s-military-contract-for-mrad-rifles-in-300-prc

looks like DoD picked the MRAD with 300 PRC. i tried to look for the barrel kit. only Barrett has it on their website. haven't seen it anywhere else. however, it's out of stock.

Looks like only 26" barrels available. i read one article which the person tested it with a 24" barrel.

 

[IanHusaberg]

Why not 300 Norma with Lapua Brass? Anyone, Buhler, Buhler.......?

Speculation welcomed!

 

[Bkultra]

Smaller bolt face (same bolt as the 300WM). 300NM uses the same bolt as the 338LM.

 

[mgrs]

Might also allow the conversion of existing 300 win mag legacy systems while being close to the 300 norma in performance.

I wonder how long before MRAD barrels are commercially available? Was going to get a .300wm kit but this sounds like a better idea.

 

[canuckistaninia]

Wait... So the mead won the ASR competition or is this a different contract?

 

[mgrs]

Wait... So the mead won the ASR competition or is this a different contract?

Looks like a different, smaller contract for a specific organization.

 

[IanHusaberg]

Anyone have an extra knob for the cheek rest? Mine seemed to Check out when I was hunting. I don’t want to buy the spare parts kit for $120.

 

[Raik]

One of my friend shot few box with Norma ECO, that use this same king of nicke plating in the bullets.
Hi did not need to shoot even 3 20-round box when the accuracy was totally losted, i mean that this Blaser did shoot 1/2 MOA group before, but after about 50 shot

One of my friend shot few box with Norma ECO, that use this same king of nicke plating in the bullets.
Hi did not need to shoot even 3 20-round box when the accuracy was totally losted, i mean that this Blaser did shoot 1/2 MOA group before, but after about 50 shot with this ammo, it was totally useles.
Nothing else but these nicklel plated ammo was causing the dilemma.
That freaking nickel is in the barrel like a shit in the wall.
We had to to do a lot of work that we get that nickel out of the barrel, bronze brush and all kind of cobber removers, nothing.
One of my friend told us that only nitric acid will remove that nickel on the barrel.
So we had to took the barrel out of the rifle, put a cap on to other end, fill the barrel with nitric acid and put cap to the chamber.
That nitric acid was in side in the barrel about 1 hour.
After that we did made long cleaning rod with the carbon fibre bow arrow, epoxy glued nylon brush on that and we did wind the barrel with electric drill machine, and dropping CLP in to the barrel for a while.
It took about an hour to make that barrel enough clean that the nickel out of the bore.
So i would NOT recomend to shoot with the nickel plated ammo for all the time.

Like this ammo of RWS is more hunting ammo, that range cartridge, if you ask me, i would not use it any where than in the hunting, and that goes every nickel plated ammo.
https://rws-munition.de/en/rws-hunt...how/speed-tip-professional/338-lapua-mag.html

But every one can do what they want, and spend the money like they want...

Thanks for your experiences.
I decided to use two .338LM barrels. One only for hunting with Nickle plated ammo, and a second barrel for range cartridges. The accuracy of the hunting ammo is in my barrel better than 1 MOA and has a fantastic hunting effect. But i do not want to mix different ammo into one barrel.

By the way, i have a custom barrel in manufacturing at a german barrel manufacturer for the MRAD. Its in .375 Chaytac. It will go to March 2019 until its finished. I am looking very forward

So merry chrismas and a happy new year to you all

 

[Blaster7Romeo]

Found a smoking deal on a MRAD online... Ships tomorrow.. have wanted one for almost 5 years sense I held one at SHOT Show


It is in 338 Lapua ... I would prefer a 300wm... so if anyone wants to trade barrels let me know lol

 

[mgrs]

Found a smoking deal on a MRAD online... Ships tomorrow.. have wanted one for almost 5 years sense I held one at SHOT Show


It is in 338 Lapua ... I would prefer a 300wm... so if anyone wants to trade barrels let me know lol

Congrats. At least barrel kits are now available and not terribly expensive considering the barrel extension and matched bolt head.

Planning on adding any short action kits?

 

[Blaster7Romeo]

I alredy have a 6.5CM .260 rem and 308 barrels for my LaRue PrediTOBR so those are low on the list but may to get a little more MV with a longer barrel. A Magnum rifle was what in armory was missing lol but 300WM preferred..

 

[mgrs]

Just got it this morning

View attachment 6993903

Looks great. .338?

 

[mgrs]

They are very comfortable to shoot for a heavy magnum. I think the weight and low bore axis help.

I have only shot factory 285gr hornady BTHP so far, which has been less than impressive. Waiting on backordered neck bushings to start load development with 300gr scenars.

 

[Blaster7Romeo]

OK so over the last few days I have read all 15 pages lol Was kind of looking to see if there was any new info about the place to buy caliber conversions or if the info about a year ago was still true..

Has anyone ever tried Colonial Armory ? He seems pretty active over on ARFCOM.. I sent him an email about conversions kits will report back..


Also I am a Factory ammo kind of guy lol Not much talk about what factory loads seem to work best out of the different barrels

 

[mgrs]

Information is sparse on these guns at least on the forums. There have been a lot revisions to the MRAD since inception that can be confusing to follow. However, you need to have at least some idea because some of the parts are not compatible.

For those who have recently purchased a new MRAD, what size breech are they? I was never really clear on this and a call to Barrett CS was not much help.

For discussion's sake, I have both here:

Large bolt face (.338lm) and body: ~1.1" diameter bolt body
Small bolt face ("C" marked, .308 family case head) and body: ~.95" bolt body

On factory replacement barrels, It looks like the non-CF barrel kits are ~$1250 at the usual retailers. You do get a matched bolt head, barrel bag, and magazine at least.

 

[Wildfire1550]

Have an mrad in 6.5 and have been very happy with it. Want to get into 338 and trying to decide on getting a conversion kit or a separate rifle. I am wondering when changing calibers how accurate the return to zero is.

 

[96C]

This rifle : Integral 20 MOA 22" (55.9 cm) M1913 optics rail
And I have 20 MOA scope mount, 20 + 20 = 40 MOA is too much ?

Thanks

40 MOA should NOT be too much if you have a "good scope" with adequate internal travel... You will quickly find out if it's bottomed out or not.

As a reference - I have a 20 MOA rail and 20 MOA spuhr mount with a NF Beast and it's not a problem.

 

[mgrs]

Have an mrad in 6.5 and have been very happy with it. Want to get into 338 and trying to decide on getting a conversion kit or a separate rifle. I am wondering when changing calibers how accurate the return to zero is.

I've had mine for a limited time but did observe a decent amount of shift between .260 and .338 that was repeatable within one to two tenths of a mil. I had close to one mil windage and .5 mil elevation going from the .260 to .338. I did purchase all components used and don't really know the part's service history or treatment by previous owners.

Based on advice from other MRAD owners there are a few things I could have done to mitigate this:

-Install barrel with rifle vertical so that the barrel's weight seats it against the shoulder while tightening the bolts
-Mitigate minor play between barrel index pin and index notch by rotating barrel to right or left as it is seated (just do it the same way)
-Tighten bolts alternately 1/4 to 1/2 turn until tight, but torque front bolt first

A caliber conversion, especially if purchased on the PX, is going to be significantly cheaper than even the optics on another rifle. For me that was the appeal of this system in the first place.

 

[Blaster7Romeo]

Or a S&B 5-25 with h-37 in a Geissele mount . Sad all my FDE not quite matching lol.

 

[Wildfire1550]

I've had mine for a limited time but did observe a decent amount of shift between .260 and .338 that was repeatable within one to two tenths of a mil. I had close to one mil windage and .5 mil elevation going from the .260 to .338. I did purchase all components used and don't really know the part's service history or treatment by previous owners.

Based on advice from other MRAD owners there are a few things I could have done to mitigate this:

-Install barrel with rifle vertical so that the barrel's weight seats it against the shoulder while tightening the bolts
-Mitigate minor play between barrel index pin and index notch by rotating barrel to right or left as it is seated (just do it the same way)
-Tighten bolts alternately 1/4 to 1/2 turn until tight, but torque front bolt first

A caliber conversion, especially if purchased on the PX, is going to be significantly cheaper than even the optics on another rifle. For me that was the appeal of this system in the first place.

Thank you for the reply, so do you have it figured out to when you go back to .260 from .338 you can repeatedly get a consistent zero?

 

[mgrs]

Would one of you with a newer .338 mind posting what size breech they are shipping with?

Thank you for the reply, so do you have it figured out to when you go back to .260 from .338 you can repeatedly get a consistent zero?

I have not switched them and shot groups after enough to be confident yet and have yet to make a controlled test of it. When I do, I'll put results up.

I might use .260 and .308 instead of the 338 for cost's sake.

Or a S&B 5-25 with h-37 in a Geissele mount . Sad all my FDE not quite matching lol.

Digging the RAL8000 S&B. I've thought about having the reticle in mine (MSR) redone to H2CMR or Tremor3.

 

[mgrs]

Thank you for the reply, so do you have it figured out to when you go back to .260 from .338 you can repeatedly get a consistent zero?

Not the most scientific test today, but I did try the sequence I posted above a couple times today and here are the results from one iteration:

100yards, factory prime ammunition, which is normally around 1moa for 5-round groups at this distance

shoot 3 rounds .260
replace .260 barrel with .338
shoot three rounds .338
replace .338 with .260
shoot three rounds .260
remove and replace .260 barrel
shoot three rounds .260

I did call the outlier (was the third round of the second .260 group) and do not think I can attribute it to the rifle system.

You don't see the .338 impacts as they are 1 mil left of the .260 group.

 

[Blaster7Romeo]

That is similar to the results I saw with my friends mrad.. how did the .338 group look ? Or where you even shooting groups with .338?

 

[mgrs]

That is similar to the results I saw with my friends mrad.. how did the .338 group look ? Or where you even shooting groups with .338?

Sure. I have never printed anything decent with the Hornady 285gr BTHP, but the group was fairly representative. It was $2.30 a round, so still worth it for this kind of thing and the brass. I shot two other groups with it that were about the same.

Of course I could also be anticipating it with the recoil shooting from the bench.

My .338 barrel is older (2013) and shows some heat cracking under a bore scope.

 

[Blaster7Romeo]

Yea I have not even sighted in my 338 yet... but also got a good deal on some Hornaday 285gr bthp. Good to know I can blame it on the ammo and not me lol