[J]

If you ask 10 shooters you will get 10 different answers on this subject.  My view, for what it is worth, is that barrel break in is important to help smooth any small imperfections and tooling marks (as much as is possible anyway) and to lay down some copper fouling until the barrel reaches equilibrium and is shooting consistently.  I also think that reasonably regular polish of the throat to slow erosion is worth doing as it will improve barrel life and maintain consistency.  I like the routine described by Nathan Foster on the Terminal Ballistic Research website in New Zealand.  In fact, I like a lot of the stuff he writes, including how to correctly hold a rifle when firing, but that's a whole different kettle of fish.

http://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase/How+To+Break+In+a+Rifle+Barrel.html

[J]

.890″ is pretty serious – heavier than a Rem Varmint barrel at .830″ (26″ length).  How long are Tikka varmint barrels, and does anyone know what they weigh?

Thanks

[J]

Hi Jason,

When you produce your 3.6″ COAL DBM, I assume the stocks will need some inletting? If so, will you be offering that service? I have a McMillan A3 waiting for a DBM that can accommodate AI mags for my .300 Win Mag and 2010 Bergers.

Thanks
J

[J]

A Remington varmint or medium Palma barrel would be very close to the barrel you want and would be much easier to get hold of.

[J]

I have the same issue with my .300 Win Mag, so I am putting a new, heavier barrel on it, together with a Remington style lug. The torque settting for the factory plastic stock is 35 inch pounds. Any more than that can permanently splay the stock and will further damage grouping potential. If that happens you will need to bed the stock.

[J]

Not yet, but I am re-barreling a .300 Win Mag too, so I may be able to tell you soon (depending how long it takes).

[J]

Jason,

Thanks for the update.  I will stop pestering you now and will wait for a couple of weeks until you have caught up once more.

Thanks
J

[J]

Hi Jason,

An update required on the LA 3.6″ COAL DBM. I'm collecting parts for a custom build and I am hoping yours will be the DBM for it. If your Picatinny rail I bought is anything to go by, I'm sure it will be worth waiting for. Cash ready to send your way guys.

J

[J]

Yup – I can't fit 178 -Max in the mag when loaded to 10 thou off the lands, so the even longer VLDs will be worse. CDI DBM with AI mags may be a solution, but I am still trying to establish whether they allow the full 3.6″ from the AI mags. Another alternative I am looking at is to go .300 WSM instead. They fit in the .338 Lapua AI mags, where OAL will not be an issue. I would just drop down to 7mm Rem Mag, but I already have one, and I want to be able to launch 208 A-Max and 210 VLDs.

[J]

Same action.  The bolt stop on the .300 is a short one to allow a longer throw, but rounds loaded beyond factory mag length are still too long. It may be possible to shorten the bolt stop to allow a longer throw, but I think I read somewhere that the latest ones are hollow, which may prevent you from doing that. An alternative may be to have a small v milled from the front of the ejection port (like many custom actions) to allow an unfired round to be extracted. As a guide, an AI .300 Win Mag mag will give an OAL of 3.6″. Yukonal on here has loads of experience and may be able to offer more advice.

[J]

It won't attract grit, but it does give somewhere for the grit to go when it gets in there.  It also saves a little bit of weight if that is an issue and it looks good too.  Most custom actions have flutes of some kind, which can't be an accident.

[J]

For 1000 yds I would be going to 208 A-Max or VLD 210.  I reckon most people use far too light bullets in 300 WM/WSM. 168 is far too light, 178/180 is still not the best if you want a long range performer.  Don't get tied up chasing high muzzle velocities – a heavier, slower bullet with a high BC will have higher velocity and retained energy than a light, screamer with a low BC.  In the .300 magnums anything under 200 grains is too low.  You may as well just get a 7mm Rem Mag or .280 and shoot 162/168 high BC bullets.

[J]

Mark,

You will be very lucky to find a factory barrel unless someone has a take off as Tikka/Beretta don't seem to be keen to supply barrels. Just go with a Truflite or a Hardy from NZ if you can import one.

[J]

Different bolt face diameters will prevent you switching back and forth. You will also find that the T3 in .300 Win Mag is severly constrained for OAL if you want to fit loaded rounds in the mag. If you single feed ammo that will not fit in the mag, you will have problems ejecting rounds as the bolt will not pull far enough back without modifying the bolt stop.  I have one and I am getting a DBM to fix the problem of too short mags. I was aware of this problem and bought the rifle cheap for the action to use for a custom build.

[J]

Hi again Al. Having never owned a switch barrel rifle I have a question. Do you bed the first inch or so of the barrel parallel to help support the barrel weight, or are your barrels fully free floating? If the former, I suppose you simply have your smith turn the barrels down to the same profile and diameter each time so that they fit without needing re-bedding.

I'm planning on a Bartlein Medium Palma at 26 inches for my .300 Win Mag, so I would like to support the first inch to help remove weight and stress from the action. Out of interest, what profile is your .284 barrel.

Thanks in advance.