Gunsmithing To rebarrel or wait.

[silentnswift]

I have been working on getting my 700 the way I want it. I have almost everything finished short of blue printing the action and rebarreling. I am at the point where I don't whether to go ahead and do it now or wait til I get more use out of what I have. The rifle only has 110 rounds through it. I can get 3/4 inch groups at 100yrds. I know every rifle will be different. Would I be better off wait and getting more trigger time before I sink another 900$ into it.

 

[Rattler56]

You got at least another 1500 rounds to go.

 

[silentnswift]

Yeah. I was gung-ho to get it finished, but now I'm thinking maybe wait get my basic fundamentals right before I sink more money into the build. I don't really think I'd be gaining a whole lot by rebarreling it right now vs waiting.

 

[SierraSR25]

I was just in this scenario about a week or so ago haha I've slowly been adding to my rifle over the past year or so. I have 534 rounds through the stock SPS barreled action and can usually get 1/2 moa at 100, depending if I have a flyer or not from my hand loads, maybe better. I've decided I'll keep shooting this barreled action and like you said get the experience. At the same time, I'll be saving up for a Bartlein barrel and maybe even order it considering the wait time. I'm happy with how it sits now.

 

[Hookturnr]

Shoot the hell out of it now so when you do get it rebarrelled you get full use of the barrel life of that new tube. No substitute for rounds downrange and no need to burn up lifespan of that custom barrel while you're still getting the fundamentals down.

 

[buffybuster]

If it's an honest 3/4moa rifle, then keep shooting it until it won't hold 1moa. Then true/rebarrel in your cartridge of choice. By then you'll KNOW what you want & need and won't have to ask anyone.

 

[McCrazy]

You never said what caliber your rifle was but 110 rounds is brand new regardless. Seeing as it is 3/4 moa, shoot the heck out of it. Once you start learning with it or you feel it is holding you back then go ahead and change the barrel.

Make sure you fire from varying positions as that may have a large effect on what you pick for the next barrel. Looking back now I would have gotten a shorter barrel in a lighter contour for my Remington 700 than I did.

 

[silentnswift]

Rifles a .308. I was planning on ordering a schnider m40 contract barrel for it. I think I'll wait til I get more use out of it. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Tyler Ruhland]

I would suggest more trigger time with what you have! Until you are very confident that you can out-shoot your current rifle it is not worth spending the money on an upgrade. I always recommend this to my customers. A new trigger will help and is something you will use on your new build when you get to that point.

 

[HuDisCo]

My thoughts on this are a pretty big departure from normal here and I'm ready for everyone to completely disagree, but here goes...

Get the best equipment you can afford, but don't think that this is a substitute for practice and training. Good equipment won't make you better, but bad equipment sure can make you worse.

How would you know if you can shoot 1/4 minute groups if your rifle only shoots 3/4, or if you have a shifty scope or mounts?

I may not be able to play like Clapton, but that doesn't mean I don't love my Martin.

 

[Downzero]

Groups are overrated anyway. Just shoot.

 

[Deadshot2]

You got at least another 1500 rounds to go.

It's a .308 so don't you mean 9,500 rounds to go?


Shoot the rifle as is. Make sure it's properly bedded and has a good reliable trigger. From there work on shooting technique and load development. When this barrel is worn out, like it was said earlier, you'll be able to enjoy every shot through the new one.

When it comes to accuracy it's mostly "Indian", not "Arrow". Use this barrel to it's max. Who knows, after a thousand rounds or so you may decide to just not change the barrel.

 

[Rattler56]

He posted the caliber latter and yap you will get a hole bunch more then 1500 out of a 308.

 

[xringaccuracy]

If you rebarrel in the same caliber and twist, I suggest using the factory (yuk) barrel and take the time to learn the different loads and/or hold over unders so when you get the new barrel you have somewhat of an idea of ranges and POI. Let that barrel do some work for you so the new barrel will help you zero it down.

 

[Ledzep]

I'd put a new barrel on it from the get-go.

1. I don't think it takes but a few hundred rounds to get proficient enough to shoot to the limits of a factory barrel (with proper instruction and dry-fire practice) What's that to a 308 barrel?
2. Once you get to the limits of your barrel, you're left wondering "was that me or the gun" more and more the longer you go with that factory barrel
3. It has been my experience that precision degrades the farther you shoot a factory barrel. 3/4 MOA at 100yd, quickly becomes 1-1.5 MOA at 800.
4. You MIGHT get around 1/2-3/4 MOA out of the factory tube after exhaustive reload testing. You can just about bet on 1/4 MOA from a new bartlein,brux,krieger, etc..

I can shoot my custom build (granted, it's a .260) out to 1300yd and my vertical spread is about the thickness of my reticle. Wind call errors can be immediately noted very precisely. And elevation data is usually spot-on, but if it's not, I can make that correction after 1 shot, not a 3-5 round pattern.

Guess which barrel I've learned more from-- my 3/4 MOA factory tube or my 1/4 MOA Bartlein.

 

[supercorndogs]

I'd put a new barrel on it from the get-go.

1. I don't think it takes but a few hundred rounds to get proficient enough to shoot to the limits of a factory barrel (with proper instruction and dry-fire practice) What's that to a 308 barrel?
2. Once you get to the limits of your barrel, you're left wondering "was that me or the gun" more and more the longer you go with that factory barrel
3. It has been my experience that precision degrades the farther you shoot a factory barrel. 3/4 MOA at 100yd, quickly becomes 1-1.5 MOA at 800.
4. You MIGHT get around 1/2-3/4 MOA out of the factory tube after exhaustive reload testing. You can just about bet on 1/4 MOA from a new bartlein,brux,krieger, etc..

I can shoot my custom build (granted, it's a .260) out to 1300yd and my vertical spread is about the thickness of my reticle. Wind call errors can be immediately noted very precisely. And elevation data is usually spot-on, but if it's not, I can make that correction after 1 shot, not a 3-5 round pattern.

Guess which barrel I've learned more from-- my 3/4 MOA factory tube or my 1/4 MOA Bartlein.

i just wondering the same thing as the op you convinced me to re-barrel

 

[mveto]

I'm in the same boat, I really want to re-barrel my rifle in either a 260 or 6.5 creedmoor. I feel that getting more time behind a rifle that can actually shoot sub moa groups would benefit me more than a rifle that can't.

 

[carlsbad]

I'm a strong vote for the rebarrel. I'll take a slightly controversial stance and say that I'm not in favor of blueprinting. generally it is not needed and a waste of money. lapp the lugs and bush the firing pin and it will be ready to rock and roll. I have a 308 that never leaves the house anymore because it only shoots 3/4 MOA or so. It has about 200 rounds on it and the barrel will soon be for sale here. The good news is that it shoots 3/4 MOA at 600 yds just like it shoots 3/4 MOA at 100 yds but I hit a lot more targets with my 1/4 MOA 6mmBR. You're spending money on powder, primers. target quality bullets and range time. You'll enjoy it a lot more with the new barrel. Of course it is much easier for me to say since I do my own gunsmithing so I'll save quite a bit of money.

Look carefully at your plan for rebarreling. Unless you're married to the 308, the 6.5 has a lot of advantages. I'm going to put a .260 Rem barrel on the 308 for reaching out a little farther and better in the wind than the 6mm.

--Jerry

 

[supercorndogs]

i went with a 308 instead of a 260 because i can shoot it 5000+ times before i shoot it out. my next build will be a 6mm08 6.5mm08 or a 7mm08{243 260 or7mm08]

 

[Bill Larson]

Shoot that barrel another 3000 rnds..... you`ll be to appreciate a good barrel then........