the pro's and con's of varmint and sporter barrels?

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the pro's and con's of varmint and sporter barrels?

Post by Kelsey Cooter » 12 Sep 2018, 9:21 am

I've been trying to find a thread that talks about this with not much success.

Without getting specific about what I'm using it for or calibers can you blokes explain the pro's and con's of the different barrel contours?
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Re: the pro's and con's of varmint and sporter barrels?

Post by in2anity » 12 Sep 2018, 10:41 am

it all boils down to your intended use. think about the realities of where and how you plan on using the thing - i mean how you are ACTUALLY going to use it (rather than pie-in-the-sky theoretically). for example there is a big difference between varminting and stalking - you don't go walking to do varminting. varminting means you have prior knowledge of an infestation and plan to go setup a static, preemptive position (or alternitavely shooting from a vehicle). stalking on the other hand, basically means anything goes (and you may be walking for lengths of time) - in this case you should be getting as lighter rifle as possible.

with regard to target shooting, think about what ranges you will be realistically attending and the facilities/competitions that they specifically offer - there's no point in purchased a long heavy f-class style rifle if the maximum distance your local range offers is only 200m and perhaps they do "lever action" practical or something dissimilar. the choice of rifle becomes trivial once you face facts and are realistic about how you can possibly use the thing.

so this begs the question, what's your intended usage?
Last edited by in2anity on 12 Sep 2018, 11:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: the pro's and con's of varmint and sporter barrels?

Post by Gaznazdiak » 12 Sep 2018, 10:41 am

Well from what I have gleaned from research and pestering, varmint barrels and target barrels, being thicker, have less flex when the round is transiting and being thicker don't heat up as fast. The downside is they don't cool as fast and are a little heavier to cart around.
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Re: the pro's and con's of varmint and sporter barrels?

Post by Stix » 12 Sep 2018, 12:02 pm

Ok...my take on it.

Weight - obviously carrying around.

Heavy barrels you can send more rounds down before the heat effects POI (point of impact), not to be confused with "take longer to heat up".
I believe they heat up just as quick but hold the heat longer, but you just dont feel it from the outside, due to there being more steel for the heat to transmit through.
By the time a heavy barrel is too hot to touch on the outside, imagine how hot the end of chamber is on the inside... :crazy:

I can also measure the difference in the cases i fire from sporter to heavy barrels measuring the fired cases...
If i measure the case head to shoulder length, the diameter at the shoulder etc of 5 warm to hot loaded cases fired one after the other from a cold barrel, all cases from a heavy barrel are basically the same size.
However the ones out of the sporter barrel start to get larger dimensions at the 3rd or 4th case..

This to me indicates the point at which thermal expansion begins to change things.
It also correlates with some manufacturors warrantee's--3 shot moa for sporter/5 shot moa for heavy barrel.

Those heavy barrels i imagine have less movement (harmonics) when fired due to their weight--or more technically, their mass. (Ie:its easier to move a 2m long average gauge steel fence post by hitting it with a hammer than a 2m long section of railway iron by hitting with the same hammer).

When i shoot my varmint barrel 22-250 in summer (say 35 degrees) it takes 20 mins to cool down with a damp rag out of the car fridge to suck the heat oit of the barrel.
It only takes half the time or less to cool down the sporter because there is less heat to tranfers to atmosphere.

So in summary, my belief at this point in my experience is that the inside of the barrel (lets face it--the important bit) heats up at the same rate in either a sporter or heavy or bull brl--ie;5 shots of any given cartridge generates a given amount of heat energy-period.

The heat is directly related to barrel erosion.

Sporter barrel will allow heat to transfer away quicker, however will suffer from thermal exansion (POI shift) quicker (due to not having as much 'non-heat effected/thermally stable steel around it).

Thats some of my perspective on them...ill come back later, but gotta go now...
Hope that helps
Last edited by Stix on 12 Sep 2018, 1:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: the pro's and con's of varmint and sporter barrels?

Post by marksman » 12 Sep 2018, 12:16 pm

you can shoot a heavy barrel rifle more precisely than a light rifle as you can hold it steadier off a rest, they are more forgiving
heavy for varmint or spot and stalk to where you can get the shot off, light for quick shots off the shoulder :thumbsup:
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Re: the pro's and con's of varmint and sporter barrels?

Post by sungazer » 12 Sep 2018, 1:27 pm

Stix the heat transfer to the atmosphere will be the same or possibly a little more / faster with a heavy barrel as there is more surface area. However there is more stored energy / heat in the heavier barrel hence it will take longer.
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Re: the pro's and con's of varmint and sporter barrels?

Post by Kelsey Cooter » 13 Sep 2018, 10:08 am

Thanks blokes, I bloody love this forum for being able to get info like this. All I could find on the net was the uses of the different weight barrels but no decent explanation as to the differences other then weight. I'm planning on going for a 24inch varmint 308
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Re: the pro's and con's of varmint and sporter barrels?

Post by Stix » 13 Sep 2018, 11:04 am

Yep thanks sungazer... :thumbsup:
I edited a bit of my post...i know what i meant & thought thats pretty much what i tried to convey.
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Re: the pro's and con's of varmint and sporter barrels?

Post by Stix » 13 Sep 2018, 11:07 am

What rifle Kelsey...?
And can i ask what you're mostly using it for...?
And why not a 7-08...?

(Not trying to ask smartarse questions, genuinely curious mate :thumbsup: :D )
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Re: the pro's and con's of varmint and sporter barrels?

Post by Kelsey Cooter » 13 Sep 2018, 2:36 pm

Going for a howa, my howa 223 stainless sporter is a great little gun, so thinking of going stainless again and putting it in a bell and carlson. Will be used for shooting from a ute mostly, and keen on working towards longer distance shooting with it.

I've got a 7600 308 for chasing pigs in the tractor, and to be honest its just a case of i enjoy 308's, have lots of brass, and am already reloading for 308 so i kind of don't have a reason to go away from 308
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Re: the pro's and con's of varmint and sporter barrels?

Post by Stix » 13 Sep 2018, 3:30 pm

Nice one...All makes perfect sense :thumbsup:

Post up some results of the new toy eh...!!
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Re: the pro's and con's of varmint and sporter barrels?

Post by duncan61 » 13 Sep 2018, 4:36 pm

I have found the HOWA rifle to be as well made as any and your logic is good that you are already loading 308.
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Re: the pro's and con's of varmint and sporter barrels?

Post by Flyer » 23 Sep 2018, 8:36 pm

Temperature is a ratio of energy to mass.

Metals conduct heat (thermal energy) more efficiently than gases, which are poor conductors of heat. The larger the metal mass, the more energy (heat) it absorbs and conducts through its mass for a specific rise in temperature.

Because metals are dense, they conduct heat quickly and evenly throughout their mass: think of a soldering iron and how quickly it conducts heat along its entire length - especially to its tip - even though the original heat (energy) source may be some way away.

The chamber of a heavy barrel will be cooler than a sporter for the same number of shots put through it because the heavy barrel ducts heat away from the chamber more efficiently (more mass), and can conduct more total heat energy for a slower overall rise in temperature.

A heavy barrel also has a larger surface area to conduct heat to the atmosphere. However, as it stores more energy, and metal to air heat transfer is a slow process, it will take longer to "cool down" once it has absorbed a large amount of energy. The best compromise for sustained shooting is therefore a fluted barrel that has less mass but a larger surface area for atmospheric cooling - think fins on an air-cooled motorbike engine, an oil heater, or a semi-conductor heat sink.

In layman's terms, a sporter will heat up quicker and cool down quicker, but won't cool down as quick as it heats up compared to a heavy barrel. A heavy barrel will take longer to heat up and longer to cool down, but will cool down quicker than it heats up compared to a sporter.

A fluted heavy barrel will heat up quicker than a heavy barrel, slower than a sporter, but will cool down faster than both (depending on total mass vs surface area).

Ribbed/fluted barrels are also more rigid for their weight than round barrels. The main disadvantage to fluted barrels is they do not heat up and cool down as uniformly as round barrels, leading to hot and cold spots and possible (but very minor, if at all) warping along their length.

That's the theory, anyway.
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