Barrel weight

[KTP]

I'm trying to strike a compromise between barrel contour and weight. I have built 3 rifles with light varmint contour barrels that are 24-26" and weigh approximately 3.5#. I like that contour but still end up with a 10# gun at the end of the day. My next build is strictly a hunter. Likely a .243 and I need it to be lighter. Other than weight, what do I give up by going with a sporter contour?

[LoneWolf]

Will heat up faster with fewer shots, not as stiff, harmonics are different.

I would go with a 20in as the shorter barrel will be stiffer and work fine with the 243.

Otherwise you could look into a fluted heavier Contour barrel.

Most Savage sporter seem to shoot regardless.

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[BillPa]

Will heat up faster with fewer shots

True, but its a non issue in a big game hunting situation. Generally when you see that trophy of a lifetime the rifle(barrel) will be stone cold or at least at the temperature your stumbling around in. You want to know where the first shot will go from a cold barrel, not the 5th.

Then again, maybe......


Bill

[big honkin jeep]

I'm not sure how far the shot's are where you're hunting or what style of hunting you're doing, but after becoming accuracy obsessed and putting together several long 10+ pound rifles myself, I found they put my legs to sleep in the stand and were hard to maneuver efficiently while hunting. I went back to hauling a couple of factory sporter rigs around, much better but still catch on limbs and things when slung and moving through the woods also easier to wield. I looked around a bit and saw that several members were getting very good accuracy out to 400,500 even 600 yards with the Striker bolt action handguns and thought if they can hit it with a handgun I can hit it with a rifle so I decided to build myself a handy carbine style rifle to lighten the load, handle well and not snag on everything when I encounter the thick stuff. I started with an older flatback model 11GL in .243. Wanting a bit more oomph I picked up a .308 sporter barrel from the classifieds here. After a little deliberation on contour and length I had it cut down to 16" and thinking about recoil on a little rifle I went ahead and had it threaded and braked. Cutting 6" off of the sporter left me with a thicker contour at the muzzle but knocked off a pretty good chunk of weight and drastically reduced the overall length. I also picked up an older staggered feed DBM synthetic stock and bottom metal and swapped it over to fit my lefty action and took a couple of inches off the butt, relocated the studs and re contoured the recoil pad to fit. I also tuned the 3 screw trigger (lighter wire) and added a bolt lift kit and made a kydex cheek rest. then I scoped it and painted the stock with a nice Khaki and OD sponge camo. The resulting little Carbine, Truck gun, Rifle for things that need shooting, or whatever other title fits is now one of my very favorites. It has plenty of punch is right at MOA accurate and at 37" overall length (same size as a 10/22) handles like a dream. In my experience, If you want a standard sporter rig for hunting I would say you wont be giving anything up at all, but instead will be gaining a much more functional easy to use purpose appropriate rifle. There's a very good reason most hunting rifles from various manufacturers come in sporter contour, they just make better hunting rigs. Also factory sporter rifle barrels can be stupid accurate as well. I have several Savage hunting rifles with factory sporter contour barrels that will often send the loud talking Mall Ninjas and Sniper Wannabees with their "my rifle cost this much", truck axel barreled, "customs" packing at the range. Want a hunting rig? Go with a sporter, No apologies, No regrets. Want it shorter and lighter cut it some more. I think you'll like the results.

[KTP]

What a great posting. Thanks for taking the time. I have the bottom metal for a center feed and a stock. Looking for an action and will now make a move on a barrel. Thanks brother.

[jpdown]

Until Savage LW Hunter model came out, I played around with building a LW Savage rifle. My observations are a Savage 22" factory sporter barrel weights approximately 2 lbs 6 oz. A 26" CBI LV contour barrel weights around 3.0 lbs. Each inch of barrel length removed drops the barrel weight by about 1.5 to 2 oz depending on barrel contour. The 20" FW barrel on the Savage LW Hunter is approximately 2lbs, 1 oz. If you want the lightest compact stand/carry rifle with a Savage action, then go with the Savage LWH. You'll save time and money in the long run.

As I reduced rifle weight and barrel length, it became harder to control the rifle for consitant accuracy. Muzzle blast, increased recoil and decreased MV also become a factor. IMO, these factors play a bigger roll in consistant accuracy than barrel contour with a cold barrel. I ended up removing the 20" factory barrel on my Savage 260 LWH and replacing with a 22" factory sporter barrel in 260. Still light and compact, but it was easier to shoot consistently.

[KTP]

Thanks jp. Just as an additional point, I think a 26" CBI LV contour weighs closer to 3.5#. Of course that could change depending on caliber.