Working on my first precision rifle.

Blake08 · Post by **Blake08** » June 6th, 2006, 12:06 pm

I'm starting on my first stick and I was just wondering if you guys have had any experience with the 10fp in the 24" barrel vs. the 20" barrel. I was wondering how much of an accuracy difference there was between the two.

FireFinder · Post by **FireFinder** » June 7th, 2006, 9:53 am

borebrush wrote:please clarify what you mean by 10fp?

I think he means a Savage.

spanky · Post by **spanky** » June 7th, 2006, 11:01 am

I have the 24 inch barrel on mine. For me, it shot pretty damn good right out of the box. Added a Harris bipod, and I think I put one of my old Redfield 3-9 X 42 scopes on it. When I zeroed it, I shot a half inch group at 100 yards. At 200 yards, it was holding about an inch group, and I'm not all that great a shot.

The one thing I've found that affects the rifle's accuracy more than anything is the ammunition. It really likes 168 grain HPBTs from Hornady. If you build your own ammo, take the time to get match primers, measure each powder load to the nearest 1/10th grain, segregate your cases by weight, trim all the cases to the same length, clean out the primer pocket and deburr it, and use separate strokes to seat the bullet and crimp the bullet. When I do that with my ammo, it will shoot clover leafs all day long at 100 yards. When I go and shoot factory shit, even the match stuff, the group opens up quite a lot.

Creeping Death · Post by **Creeping Death** » June 7th, 2006, 11:28 am

I don't have any first hand experience with the 20" barrels on precision rifles. But from reading I have done, along with basic knowledge of external ballistics, you could easily deduce that the longer barrel should perform better at longer ranges than the shorter version.

If you are looking at precision shooting at shorter ranges; i.e. 500m and closer, the 20" barrel should servce you perfectly, as well as being easier the handle in the bush due to it's shorter overall length.

However, if you want to lay in a belly bench and stretch her legs out to 1k all day long, the longer barrel should give you better consistency, and therefore better overall performance at those longer ranges.

Again, this is my opinion, and I don't offer any hard data to back that opinion up. At the end of the day, I shoot the longer barrel because I LIKE the longer barrels better. I feel more comfortable and confident shooting a longer barrel. That is what you should do; shoot the barrel length that you will feel more comfortable and confident shooting.

**** Oh, and by the way, I choose to shoot a 26" barrel. When I have mine re-barreled, I will get a 5r barrel, probably in 24" ****

Blake08 · Post by **Blake08** » June 8th, 2006, 8:07 pm

I'm not planning on doing a whole lot to this one. I'm probably going to go with the longer barrel because I plan to start out shooting bench rest and the shorter barrel is not really needed. I'm planning to save for a McMillin stock (ugh....so much money) and I'm going to put a super sniper scope on it until I can upgrade to a leupold variable power and slap on a harris bi-pod. After I do all of this I'm going to slap on a good paint job just to make it look cool

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Blake08 · Post by **Blake08** » June 9th, 2006, 7:48 am

I've found the McMillan for the Savage, some of the guys at the snipers hide pointed me towards that, now it's all about saving money.

Blake08 · Post by **Blake08** » June 18th, 2006, 11:33 am

I apologise if my question was out of line. I was looking for the advice of more experienced shooters.