Been away from bolt actions for years, just retired from the military and my focus for obvious reasons was with the M4. Want to get back into bolt actions and focus more on accuracy and distance, versus high round counts. My previous history with bolt guns was with hunting rifles with sporter barrels, 3-5 rounds to sight in / confirm zero ever year and 1-2 rounds for game at any one time. I bought a Savage Hog Hunter .308 early last year and was able to sight it in real quick but have not been able to shoot it since and it will more than likely be sometime next year before I pick it back up - two major shoulder reconstruction surgeries as well as a third surgery to fuse 4 vertebra in my neck will keep me away from heavier recoiling rounds for a while. I only include the injuries to explain the caliber choice, not weight concerns.

I'm looking to have some rifles made for me, my boys, my wife (hopefully if I can talk her into it) and for my daughter for when she gets a little bigger. I've decided on .22-250 for target shooting and type of hunting that we will be doing, mostly varmint, predator, with some deer and hog mixed in hopefully. The choice of .22-250 will be good for me with my injuries, especially any sustained shooting if we can go varmint shooting and a common caliber for the family will be easier to reload and easier on the wallet. The 22-250 will give the best versatility and growth for the kids as well - varmints to medium game.

My question is in regards to any perceived differences between the predator profile barrels vs. the varmint barrels, besides an approx. 1-1.75lb weight difference in the rifles. I understand that most varmint barrels are usually full or close to full bull barrels while the predator barrels are described as a tapered bull / medium bull / heavy sporter barrel. It is my understanding that both are / can be almost equally accurate, especially if careful hand loads are developed.

What I'm wondering is, how much of a difference is there with the predator barrel (vs the varmint barrel) when used for sustained shooting sessions - some target shooting but mostly for varmints? Obviously not going to be shooting them like an AR banging away, maybe something like 1 round every 30-60 seconds until empty and then let it cool for 3-5 minutes, reload, the shoot some more. Will it still heat up too much and string the rounds?

I've not seen any mention about high round count (for a bolt gun) shooting sessions and predator barrels. Any insight would be greatly appreciated, and thanks for reading the above babble.

Steve