Recommended number of lands and grooves for a 308 heavy

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  • Last Post 16 February 2013
springfield41 posted this 02 February 2013

What do you folks recommend for number of lands and grooves in 308 barrel nor benchrest shooting?

I would like to shoot the 311299 in Lino. Bullet measures .3115/301

Also what leade angle into the rifling would you recommend?

Thanks in advance

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tturner53 posted this 02 February 2013

I can't say myself, but I recall reading some articles on this subject in TFS by Ed Harris. Seems like I remember the jist of it was the original military spec'd chamber/throat was pretty good as is. You'll see that bullet a lot in military rifle benchrest matches here and sub-moa is done.

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pat i. posted this 02 February 2013

They're all the same as far as I can tell. I have 3, 6, and 8 groove barrels and I can't see a big difference. Fitting the bullet and reading the wind will make a hell of lot more difference than the number of grooves in a barrel.

Probably sticking with the tried and true .310 x 1 1/2 degree included would be your best bet for throating.

Who's barrels are you looking at?

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springfield41 posted this 03 February 2013

Thanks for the response. Have not been able to find very much written on Number of L & G's.

Looking at a barrel from Dan Lilja....

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frnkeore posted this 03 February 2013

I think it's safer to have at least 6 narrow lands to support the bore riding nose. I agree with the 1 1/2 degree (included) lead but, I like .309 free bore, a little less lead to swage down to .308.

Frank

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pat i. posted this 03 February 2013

.309 or .310 or whatever is like the number of grooves...... I doubt you'd notice the difference either way if you can read the wind and the gun's put together right.

Nothing wrong with a Lilja barrel and they do well at the matches. I think you're going to have the choice of 3, 4, or 6 grooves. Personally for that bullet I'd pick an 11 twist 6 groove but that's just me. If you decide you can live with a Shilen look at The Barrel Man's website. Save yourself a few bucks.

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buffalo george posted this 03 February 2013

I bet that the quality of the barrel is more inportant than the number of grooves.

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Ed Harris posted this 03 February 2013

I agree with Giorgio. Get a barrel of the best quality which you can afford, in the twist which you want, then send a throat slug and fired case to Veral Smith and have him cut a mold to fit it.

As a general rule, wide lands such as US 2-groove Springfields and UK 5-groove Enfield like short-bodied bullets with bore riding foreparts which are slightly over bore diameter. Example #311299 or #314299

4-groove and 6-groove barrels want a longer bodied bullet in which the shank is more than 1.5 times diameter, with a shorter nose which is engraved, but not so tight that you cannot poke it into the muzzle with thumb pressure. Example #31141, RCBS 30-165SIL or RCBS 30-180SP

Multi-grooved barrels of 8 or more lands and grooves prefer long bodied bullets with either a shank of at least twice their diameter, with a shorter nose, and/or with a greatly enlarged forepart which contributes to bearing length, and throated to fit. Example Loverin types such as #311407 or fitted LBT LFN designs.

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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frnkeore posted this 03 February 2013

Ed, I don't disagree with you but, the OP wants to shoot the 311299 and I don't think anyone makes the 2 groove Springfield or the 5 groove Enfield type barrels any more.

With that in mind, wouldn't you want the bore riding section supported as much as possible with as many contact points as possible? I have very good results with the Douglas 6 groove barrel and bore riding bullets.

Frank

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Ed Harris posted this 04 February 2013

You can get them made new if you go to the right guy, ALL it takes is $$

But if I were buying a new match barrel for a heavy gun these days I'd get one of John Krieger's 11” 5R type.

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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springfield41 posted this 06 February 2013

Thanks for all the replies. Much to think about! Ray

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Lefty posted this 16 February 2013

Ed Harris wrote: You can get them made new if you go to the right guy, ALL it takes is $$

But if I were buying a new match barrel for a heavy gun these days I'd get one of John Krieger's 11” 5R type.

I have read good things regarding the use of %R rifling with jacketed bullets but I have not heard anything about its use with cast. Are there cast bullet shooters out there using 5R rifling?

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