Barrels?

[Guest MissouriHunter]

I am looking for a varmint rifle particularly a 22-250 but I was wondering if a bull barrel would be the way to go. What do the bull barrels do? Are they more accurate or what?

[tedicast]

Re: Barrels?

I believe a bull barrel is more accurate 1- because it is more rigid, and 2- because it takes longer to heat up because of the increased thickness of the barrel. I could be wrong. I'm sure AJ will give you the scoop.

[AJ]

Re: Barrels?

The benefits to a bull barrel or any heavy barrel are forward balance, less recoil, and better accuracy. The forward balance helps shooting from a bipod or rest. It is harder to move the gun so it cuts down on the crosshair dancing on the target.

Since the barrel is heavier, it moves less in recoil than a sporter barrel. With some guns you can see the bullet impact in the scope. This is very cool when varmint hunting.

When a round of ammo goes off it sends waves of pressure through the gun. This wave will actually bend the barrel and make it wiggle in a sine wave pattern. The skinnier the barrel the more flexible it is so the frequency will be lower. As the barrel is oscillating from peak to peak, it can spit the bullet out when it is at its high, medium, or low point in the wave. A fatter barrel is stiffer and is going to have a higher frequency of oscillation. This means the waves are closer together. Since they are closer together, the rise and fall time are reduced, so the barrel is closer to the same point for each shot.

In a factory barrel the quality of the barrel and the quality of the fitting and chambering will have more to do with the accuracy than the thickness does.