cbi barrel contours

[idahoorion]

I know there are a bunch out there. I am interested in a mag sporter or Lt varmint. they have the same size at the muzzle and are fairly close in wt according to Jim at NSS. The contour chart at CBI has the barrel out at 6.9 inches being .75 and .70 about 18 inches later at the muzzle.

the lt varmint is in my mind a straight taper to .70 at the muzzle but they only list the muzzle, so for a few ounces is one more accurate that the other? stiffer?

this will be a hunting 284, 280 or 7RM, still deciding caliber, and lite is right but you gotta hit it first. and it will a longer distance type build.

thanks
Idahoorion

[stangfish]

I like the 280 due to the brass. Light varmint, heavy magnum works for me.

[KTP]

Idaho,
Ive been down the road of the questions you are asking on weight/contour vs. accuracy. If it helps I've had a CBI 26" Lt. Varmint in 7mm mag and it weighed 4# 1 ounce. The same 26" barrel in a 6.5 x 284 varmint weighed 4# 10 ounces. In my opinion, the 7 mag barrel was too heavy at the end of the day and the 284 was a bench gun so it didnt matter. I'm no barrel expert and just the messenger, but some makers say you should have a barrel that is .30 bigger than the actual bore to maintain enough stifness to achieve accuracy. (example 30 caliber would be .30 + .30= .60 muzzle diameter minimum) Maybe someone will chime in to add if that's close or not.
There are several other threads on here about contours and what makes the best hunting barrel. I think several guys have said they like a #4 contour. Most of the barrel makers list contour charts that include theirs and other makers for comparison.

[idahoorion]

LRPut,
That's great info for me, I too have done this erring both too heavy and too light. A Remington mag taper is just a tad light for what I am looking for but I have two different Savage varmints and they are too heavy. I agree that most say this type of build needs a #4 taper and the mag sporter seems to be just a bit thicker. so there we go. the standard taper sporters are great to carry but much shooting with them leaves me wanting more. Your mention on the weight of those lt varmints is exactly the info I needed. looking to stay 3.5# or a tad less.

Thanks
Idahoorion

[jpdown]

A couple of years ago when I was trying to make the same decision. I went the 26" CBI LV route with a 6.5x284 barrel on a Savage hunting rifle. I't was a very accurate barrel (.4's) and very easy to clean. But it was too heavy in my opinion for much packing around in the knobs, fields and woods as a hunting rifle. I swithed it out to a 6.5x284 24" Savage sporter barrel (2 lbs, 6 oz). Still plenty accurate (.6's) for a hunting rifle and my LR hunting needs. But I wish I had gone with the 26" CBI heavy sporter barrel instead of the CBI light varmint contour. I believe it will be closer to 3.5 lbs and have a heavier contour than the typical Remington magnum barrel. Hopefully, a member that has a CBI heavy sporter will chime in.

[KTP]

Idaho
Got to thinking and my 6.5 x 284 was a varmint contour, not a lt varmint. Ive corrected above, but it did weigh 4# 10 ounces