Hello everyone! I'm Tanner and a new member to the forum. I'm looking into building a 7 rem mag and not sure what barrel contour would be best for me. Some guidance would be appreciated. My 338 edge's are a little heavy to be packing around anymore. I like the heavy barrels but not the weight. I've thought about a proof but I'm skeptical if they are better than a plain steel barrel. I want something that can handle a few shots and not heat up like an ultra light thin pencil barrel. Something packable yet I can smack some steel with my buds and not have to worry about my shots walking after a few rounds. Thanks for any input!
Barrel contour
- Thread starter TantheFNG
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Tanner, welcome to LRH and enjoy it!
This boils down to personal preference and intended purpose. "My" preference for an LRH/S set-up is #6, sendero contour.
Good luck!
Ed
Shane Lindsey
Well-Known Member
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- Jul 13, 2010
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I have a Proof on a 300 winmag and it seems to do pretty well as it heats up. I am not intentionally shooting fast though as it is a hunting rig (only care about #1 and 2). I also have a Douglas #5/Bartlein 3B and I think they are about the close to the same weight as a Proof Sendero contour.
Contour depends on what you are trying to do, and contours can vary between manufacturers. Just for general frame of reference, a #2 is about the contour of a typical sporter barrel and a #3 is about the contour of a magnum sporter. For me, weight is a consideration for a hunting rifle, but balance is more important than weight. Below is a weight calculator that might help out.
Barrel Weight Calculator - PAC-NOR Barreling, Inc. - Precision Rifle Barrels - Pac-Nor.com
Pac-Nor provides custom rifle barrels to a variety of clients ranging from varmint hunters to serious benchrest shooters. PAC-NOR has been re-barreling rifle actions since 1985. Whether you would like your favorite hunting rifle re-barreled or want an exotic wildcat cartridge in your next...
pac-nor.com
remingtonman_25_06
Well-Known Member
I like heavy barrels, I dont mind packing them, so I usually go for the rem varmint/sendero contours. But I think a factory magnum, or maybe 1 above that would be good for a hunting rifle that you want to keep around the 10# mark. Or you can always go with the carbon wrapped barrels if you want the heavy barrel and weight savings route...
Thanks for the response Shane! My next question is do you prefer the carbon barrel enough that you'd recommend it over a non carbon? Are they a game changer in a sense as far as weight? Just curious. I guess the only way I can find out is to play with one. I've heard they just look sexier from a few friends that have them. But I'm a performance type and don't wanna spend that much for nothing more than looks.
Thanks
Welcome, I have two custom 7mm rem mag rifles along with a 7mm rem mag sendero SF. The Sendero SF is just about a perfect balanced heavy barreled rifle thats heavy enough to make long shots fairly easy even if you have some buck fever. I also have a proof cf 26" 7mm rem mag. It takes a bit more steady it being quite a bit lighter but its still manageable. If I had to choose just one between those two for long range shooting, it would be a sendero contour.
1894C
Well-Known Member
#5 "Douglass countour" used by krieger hart etc or the very similar bartlein "3b" contour. Better than a sendero contour as more meat of the barrel is closer to the action and less out near the crown. Sendero contour does one very steep dive then runs a very slight taper to the crown @ .830" @ 26" and a sendero contour (also known as Remington varmint) weighs in around 4.5lbs unchambered. This makes it heavy on the crown end and they don't balance well.
A number 5 weighs a little less but puts the wear where it needs to be for the rifle to balance well and lessens barrel whip. A #5 weighs around 4 lbs unchambered and has a muzzle dia of .700" @ 26".
A number 5 weighs a little less but puts the wear where it needs to be for the rifle to balance well and lessens barrel whip. A #5 weighs around 4 lbs unchambered and has a muzzle dia of .700" @ 26".
J E Custom
Well-Known Member
Many Barrel makers have a different ID for there contours and the best way to chose is to look up their barrel dimensions and chose from that. Normally non magnum sporter barrels are .600 to .625 at the muzzle. Magnum sporter barrels are .650 to .700 And Sindaro contours are .750 to .810 depending on the maker.
For the 7 mm mag I would use the #4 contour (.650 to .700 at the muzzle to keep the weight down but end up with a reasonably stiff barrel.
J E CUSTOM
For the 7 mm mag I would use the #4 contour (.650 to .700 at the muzzle to keep the weight down but end up with a reasonably stiff barrel.
J E CUSTOM
D
Deleted member 103481
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I'm a fan of my #4 rock
MattK
Active Member
I'm running a modified Bartlein 3B contour, and I like like it so much that I just ordered three more.
Sporter Barrel Contours
BARTLEIN BARRELS SPORTER BARREL CONTOURS
Sporter Barrel Contours
BARTLEIN BARRELS SPORTER BARREL CONTOURS
| Descriptions | A | B | C | D | E | F | Wght | |
| 3"B" modified | Lt. Bull Sporter | 1.200 | 5.000 | 8.250 | 0.900 | 26″ | 0.750 |
1894C
Well-Known Member
That does look nice. I have a krieger #5 modified that is nearly identical what you have here. It's .730 @ 27". It pretty well splits the difference in a Douglass #5 and #6 with a shade more weight on the action end where what you have drawn has more on the crown.
I recently bought my first c.f. barrel...26" proof sendero lite...
Thinking it would be simular to what I was thinking for weight.......disappointed....much heavier than my planned idea...but I am shooting it....i bought it...ill deal with it...
The weight and diameter are the issue....not the lenght and the design of the look....
I wish bartlien would have had their wrapped barrels that neck way down on the market just a little earlier.....
To me...like buying a pair of shoes....want to see and try'm before buying.....i hate buying over internet....
Thinking it would be simular to what I was thinking for weight.......disappointed....much heavier than my planned idea...but I am shooting it....i bought it...ill deal with it...
The weight and diameter are the issue....not the lenght and the design of the look....
I wish bartlien would have had their wrapped barrels that neck way down on the market just a little earlier.....
To me...like buying a pair of shoes....want to see and try'm before buying.....i hate buying over internet....
I went through this exercise...twice in the last 2 years and about to be a 3rd and 4th time this year as I'm building a switch barrel on a short action. I went with Proof on the last 2, as volume won't be high (they're for hunting, not high volume steel or comp). Weight was a factor on these builds.
The switch barrel build I'm currently considering will be a Proof for one barrel (weight is the consideration) because it will be easy on barrel life so even if I do some plinking it won't kill my investment in a year. The other barrel will likely be a fluted #3 from Bartlein. Again, weight is the consideration here but also barrel life- this chambering will be more of a barrel burner and so I don't want to shell out ~$700 for a barrel plus smithing fees to burn it out quickly. I'll sacrifice a little weight here, but I can buy 2 of these Bartlein barrels for the cost of a single Proof, and given that the barrel life will be less than half of the others I've done in different chamberings, that seems like the better thing to do FOR ME.
Regarding use of the Proof- at the range I haven't had a problem with heat. I live in TX though, so I'm always overly cautious. Out of habit, for carbon or steel, I don't shoot any more than 5 rounds in a string, with at least 30-60 seconds in between trigger pulls. After the 5th round, I set the rifle aside and grab another to work with. I try to let each barrel cool for 10 minutes or so, maybe more depending on outside temp. The exception here are some very heavy steel barrels I have that were purpose built for 10 round strings...still, I then let cool and switch to another rifle, take breaks, shoot the $h!t with other range patrons, etc.
Like @FEENIX said, though, personal preference.
The switch barrel build I'm currently considering will be a Proof for one barrel (weight is the consideration) because it will be easy on barrel life so even if I do some plinking it won't kill my investment in a year. The other barrel will likely be a fluted #3 from Bartlein. Again, weight is the consideration here but also barrel life- this chambering will be more of a barrel burner and so I don't want to shell out ~$700 for a barrel plus smithing fees to burn it out quickly. I'll sacrifice a little weight here, but I can buy 2 of these Bartlein barrels for the cost of a single Proof, and given that the barrel life will be less than half of the others I've done in different chamberings, that seems like the better thing to do FOR ME.
Regarding use of the Proof- at the range I haven't had a problem with heat. I live in TX though, so I'm always overly cautious. Out of habit, for carbon or steel, I don't shoot any more than 5 rounds in a string, with at least 30-60 seconds in between trigger pulls. After the 5th round, I set the rifle aside and grab another to work with. I try to let each barrel cool for 10 minutes or so, maybe more depending on outside temp. The exception here are some very heavy steel barrels I have that were purpose built for 10 round strings...still, I then let cool and switch to another rifle, take breaks, shoot the $h!t with other range patrons, etc.
Like @FEENIX said, though, personal preference.
