Bull barrel versus regular ?

skychaser53

I have a Rem 700 Varmint in 22-50 bull barrel. How much more accurate at 200 yards would it be than a regular barrel? I know for competition, you would want bull, but for hunting it's a little heavy )

JustC

at 200yds, with each using their own preferred load, the difference won't be enough for you to care in a hunting situation. Competition,..yes,..hunting,..no.

perry shooter

I Agree with JUST C my $.02

haroldchrismeyer

In my young days I had a Remington 700 with the heavy barrel in 22-250. I could outshoot most of the older guys, group sizes under .300 at a hundred yards. Then came the day I bought a Colt Sauer in the same caliber, mostly because it was in the same caliber, and looked real nice. First trip to the range I had groups under what the Remington would do, without any load workup for that particular rifle. It was amazing to me because of that nice looking thin barrel. Stupid me sold both rifles a few years later.

It isn't the thickness of the barrel, but the quality of it, and how much time you spend working on loads for it.

My Sako with a thin barrel in 243 has been to the range once, and shooting from prone position without any mechanical rest it goes under three quarters of an inch at a hundred yards.

Get what you want in a rifle, as long as it is good quality. If you can shoot a two inch group at two hundred yards, the varmint won't care what kind of barrel you have(unless you are shooting at small mice).

204targetman

I believe the bull barrel is better as far as heat goes. If your going to do alot of shooting.

skychaser53

Thanks for the info guys ! I love this 700, It has a 6 to 18 scope.It has a VERY light trigger pull, the lightest I've ever shot )

Mtnlover

My custom 7mm Mag elk rifle started out badly muzzle-heavy. I had a gunsmith flute the barrel, which knocked about a pound off, helped it shed heat at the range and improved the balance greatly. Best of all worlds.

fire for effect

As a barrel heats up it expands at a constant rate, per degree per inch. Since a barrel is longer than it is thick, the most noticeable expansion is in its length.

As the rifle is shot it's barrel vibrates, which is no big deal as long as it vibrates the same way every time. The Barrel vibration over time looks like a sine wave. The problem comes is when the barrel heats up, it gets longer, and the bullet exits the barrel at a different point on the sine wave; and in effect, is pointing in a different direction then it was for the previous shot.

A heavy barrel acts as a thermal mass, and heats up slower than a light barrel, so it therefore expands at a slower rate, and stays on target longer then a light weight barrel.

In a hunting situation, the light weight barrel will be just as accurate as the heavy barrel.

RCrosby

Just curious. What would be the increase in length be, say, of a 22.250, 26" bull barrel after a fast and furious session of 100 or so rounds in 20 minutes?