[stephewc]

I would be pissed!  >:(

as yukonal said, I recommend you have a serious talk with the company that sold me the gun. if I were you I would return the gun and demand a full refund of every dollar I spent (shipping, FFL, and tax).

-matt

I did talk to the retailer (out of state) and their return policy is more complicated since I have taken possession of the firearm. Basically there is a % restocking fee + ship, etc. so I decided to just save the hassle and keep it.

I did end up calling Beretta afterwards and spoke with a someone that seemed knowledgeable on the matter. They told me in the past year or two they have been importing 10″ twist barrels for their .223 Remington models (except for the Sporter model which still keeps the 8″ twist). As to why they decided to switch from 8″ to 10″ is beyond me.

Assuming Beretta no longer has 8″ twist Varmint models in stock, I'd imagine it would be hard to find a retailer with a 8″ twist even if I returned this rifle to continue my search for another.

I plan to just developing rounds of various makes/weights and see what this particular barrel will like. I'm sure at some point in the future I will need a new barrel anyways so I will order one with a twist to my own liking at that time.