Curious about custom barrels

[brambo]

I've recently sparked an interest in modifying my deer rifle...well we moved to a spot out in the country where groundhogs are very over populated... The barbarian in me finds it fun to blow large holes in these groundhogs with my savage lol. So into varmint shooting I get =) Specifically the gun is a 111 .270 win, non-accutrigger model, purchased new in the early 90's, recent upgrades have been a 8-32x50 guide gear varmint scope, 3.5 inch tactical bolt handle, cayene colored tundra thumbhole stock, versa pod model 3 bipod, and leupold quick release scope base with 30mm super high rings. Curious about a custom barrel I am(in the tone of yoda), I drool over the looks of a non tapered fatty bull barrel, but oh the weight. My brother in law recently purchased a .243 hawa varmint gun, package deal... bull barrel, thumbhole stock etc... but daaaaang is it front heavy....man its a sharp looking gun... doesn't shoot to bad either... but I just don't know if I'd own it.. SOOOO, if you experienced gentlemen don't mind... please give me your opinion and wisdom on this subject.. I would really like the phat looks of a bull barrel, but wondering which ones are worth the weight....and what are the accuracy benefits of a custom barrel... oh yeah and I'm not shooting custom rounds... Wal-Mart rocks, I'm sorry, lol, but I just buy core-lokt... inexpensive and accurate enough for me... plus seven inch exit wounds in ground hogs... nuf for me.. appreciate the enlightenment =)

[358Hammer]

It appears that you are seriously limited in your selection because of not reloading.

That 270 with 90gr bullets is a hogs nightmare.
Personally I can only say that reducing the muzzle weight can be accomplished by using either a light varmint tapered barrel or cutting a barrel back to 20".

223, 22-250,243,257 Roberts come to mind for factory offerings. Weight is in the eye of the person carrying it. I use to carry a 14 pound 6Br and a 12 pound 22-250 until I got tired of exhaustion after 8-10 hours and many miles of walking in rock chuck country in Idaho. Now I will carry a 10 pound 204 Ruger with 17" barrel or a 6Br with the same lenth barrel and same weight.

Neal

[brambo]

Im not against reloading at all.. just not doing it myself lol.... would gladly take advice on a better round.. please enlighten me

[JCalhoun]

A few ideas.

If you want a fat barrel you can get one in 20 inch length. That is plenty long for something like a 6BR Norma and .223 Rem.

If you want to stay fairly inexpensive and only do a barrel swap you can get into a factory take-off .22-250 barrel. Either sporter or heavy contour.