Dear All, I'll solicit opinions on when a (sporter) barrel is heavy/stiff enough for a particular caliber?? It has been my experince �n the past, that skinny barrels are somewhat harder (or downright impossible?) to get to shoot precisely - although some manufacturers manage (ULA spring to mind). I'm not too worried about rifle weight, on the other hand a varmint-type contour gets a bit impractical for a sporter.

So in a sporter type rifle of maybe 8-9 lbs (scoped and everything), how heavy would you go on barrel contour for a .277 caliber, say? What would be the minimum "wall" thickness you'd choose? (muzzle dimension - caliber dimension)/2.

Thanks for your opinions. - mike

If I can piggy back on mho's post, I have a similar question on my 17 Rem. Being such a small caliber, won't many of the contours act like a heavy barrel since the caliber is so small compared to the muzzle, even on a sporter?

The size of the hole isn't nearly as important as the outside diameter when it comes to strength and rigidity.

I have watched a friend repeatedly shoot sub inch 5 shot groups at 100 meters with a Russian Moisin Nagant 91/30 with a very long whip like barrel [.587" at the muzzle, .756" 4 inches from the breech and 29" long].

Most days at the range, I see shooters come and go, and no one gets a 1" group.

A lot depends on the length of the barrel. Shilen doesn't mind a 22" barrel in #2 contour, but advises a #3 minimum for a 24" barrel.

My BR rifle in 308 has a 24in bbl and is .8 at the muzzle. I also don't hesitate to use it for hunting. Derf

For a .308 and under use a #3 contour for a hunting rifle...for a big bore 375 and up use a #4 or #5...

A 270 is nice with a #2 but I still prefer a #3....unless you want a featherweight rifle.