Thinking of a new barrel

[tomme boy]

Guys, I have been talking with Frank Green at Bartlein barrels. I was looking to get a new barrel for my Savage. A more twist friendly twist. We started to talk about gain twist and the 5R rifling. He seems to think that that would be the best bet for shooting cast as it would deform the bullet the least amount.

I was thinking of a 1-13 into 1-12 for this. I will have to farm out the chambering but what does everyone think? I was thinking of using the Lee 155 gr or the LBT 30-160sp. Or should I go even a little slower?

I have a Shilen 308 select match right now in a 1-10 twist. It shoots jacketed like a house on fire. But lead it is very good. It actually is very accurate with lead but I want to see how accurate I can get.

[Larry Gibson]

For the .308W?

If so the Lee bullet has too much unsupported nose out front. The LBT bullet, the 311466 or the new NOE 30-165-FN are the better choices. The NOE is still in the test phase but everything is there that is needed for success at HV. I'd wait on the mould choice until you get the barreling done. The verdict will be in by then on the NOE bullet or it will be tweaked to perfection.

If the .308W is your choice and you want to use bullets of 185 gr (1.03 length) or less then I suggest a 14" twist of not less than 26" in length. A 28 - 30" barrel would be even better. The 14" twist is plenty fast enough and will stabilized bullets of that length or less very well. The Palma style comes in 3 different contours; light, standard and heavy.

Larry Gibson

[tomme boy]

Larry, it is going on a Savage. So I was just going to go with the varmint contour. The lead time on the barrel is going to be about 6 months. Yes I want to stay with the 308win. I know it has its shortcomings, but I like it. I don't like having to do the case forming of the case you guys came up with.

I don't care if I shoot at high velocity. I want it to shoot accurate.

I want to go with a 26" barrel. So you think the 14 will do it? So go with a 1-15 gain to 1-14? I can get any gain I want in the first inch for $40 extra. Anything over 1" and it starts at $100. But Frank said it is not needed. But, At the same time, he said he mainly deals with jacketed bullets.

He said that the gain twist they are seeing less distortion on bullets and higher accuracy. He quoted "Pope?" and all of their lead bullet guns wear gain twist. He said they are selling a bunch to Schuetzen shooters. I have been hearing about these for a couple of years and have waited to hear how they were doing. Fromwhat I have seen they are doing very well.

[Larry Gibson]

Hard to say for on a gain twist as I've little experience with them. If accuracy is the name of the game only then a 12" twist is my suggestion. It will do very nicely with a wide array of bullets from 220 gr on down. A 13" twist should/would be good for 200 gr and down cast bullets. Even if you did want to push it a bit you could/should get excellent accuracy upwards of 2200 - 2400 fps depending on bullet design.

Larry Gibson

[Love Life]

Check Sniper's hide for more dope on the gain twist barrels.

[tomme boy]

What have they been saying? I don't go over there much anymore as there are way to many wanna-bees that think they know everything. I don't make it out that I know everything. I like to ask for advice and I trust people on this site way more than some on the hide.

Frank Green said he has been selling a lot of the gain twist to guys on there but they have mainly been in the 6-6.5mm.

[Love Life]

They are saying accuracy is equal to or better than a traditional twist barrel (subjective of course since every rifle ever talked about on the hide is sub MOA to 1,000,000,000 yds if'n I do my part). In other words, nothing is given up. Honestly, I believe the gain twist is a wash with jacketed, but where I truly believe it will shine is with cast. I would very much like to hear about your results with this barrel especially since it is a gain twist AND has 5R rifling. Looks like you get to proof two concepts at once.

The hide is full of much BS and machismo, but there are some serious nuggets of knowledge to be had if you can filter through the bull...oh and the most commonly asked question "Which rifle/scope combo to shoot 1,000 yds for under $1,000."

[tomme boy]

I used to hang out there. Then I started to believe some of the BS. I stopped. I still go there to just look around every now and then. I know there are some serious people there. But they don't post very often.

I am going to send Frank the link for the new Noe mold drawings and see what he has to say.

[Pinsnscrews]

The hide is full of much BS and machismo, but there are some serious nuggets of knowledge to be had if you can filter through the bull...oh and the most commonly asked question "Which rifle/scope combo to shoot 1,000 yds for under $1,000."

Savage Axis with Vortex Scope, Boyds Stock and a little trigger work from Ace Hardware ;-)