There is a reason I eluded to it Dug. Being a custom Knifemaker for a number of years(and one of the ONLY one armed knife makers in the known world), you learn a thing or three about carbon/stainless & allow steels, among other metals. Inevitably, such information is learned to an extent.

I think your barrel choice will work wonderfully Dug. Again, I am planning to go with 27 on next swap(and all others in the future), as I believe it delivers the best/highest velocity to harmonics ratio. But that is not to say that choosing a 26” is wrong. It’s what I am using now...26” Varmint contour. And I am very happy with it thus far.