Sporter barrel vs. Varmint barrel

B

Bowhunter57

New member
I'm considering the purchase of either a 22-250 or a 243, for varmint (groundhogs & coyotes) hunting. I'm interested in Savage rifles and a couple of their options are a Sporter barrel that's 22" long or a heavy Varmint barrel that's 26" long. I'm after accuracy and speed with 55gr. and up to 85gr. bullets, out to 400 yards.

Which barrel would you choose and why?

Thank you, Bowhunter57
 
Assuming you are going to stay with varmints, you'll be sitting more than moving. The varmint barrel will give you an edge in accuracy and velocity, with the right load. But it's not something you would want to carry for long. I have a Remington 700 VS in 22-250, and it's a load, but fast and accurate. I notice you are looking at 55 - 85 grain bullets. A 22-250 more typically shoots 35 - 55 and the rifling twist reflects this. You can run heavier bullets, but no need for varmints. My go to is a 40 grain Nosler at 4,000 - one hole groups every day. If you are thinking at all of hiking around with this rifle, or maybe hunting deer (I know, not in Ohio) you should look at a sporter .243. Definitely the thing for heavier bullets, and a more versatile rifle overall. Again, with the right load, a light sporter can deliver sub minute of angle groups.
 
400 yards isn't that far. I could live with the very slight reduction in velocity and accuracy to have the lighter sporter barrel. If you were really talking about pushing the envelope where you need to squeeze every tiny bit of accuracy and velocity, the longer, heavier barrel would be the way to go.
 
Thank you, for the replies, gentlemen! :)

Carry weight does not concern me. I'll lug it around all day long, as long as when I squeeze the trigger the rifle hits what I'm aiming at, it'll be well worth it.

My last rifle was a Stevens .25-06 with a 22" sporter barrel and with my reloads it would shoot a 5/8" group at 100 yards & 1 1/4" group at 200 yards using a 85gr. BT bullet @ 3300 f.p.s.

On the other hand my last Savage 22-250 had a 26" heavy varmint barrel and with my reloads it would shoot a 1 hole group at 100 yards & 5 out of 5 inside a penny at 200 yards with a 55gr. V-Max bullet @ 3855 f.p.s. This was a rifle worth carrying...all day long. :cool:

Bowhunter57
 
i bought a Tikka T3 in 22-250 a few months back with the sporter barrel. first 10 rnds i put through it i fell in love. my 5 shot groups were all under 1/2 inch. and its awesome for yote hunting because it is so lite. usually i hike about a mile into the sage before i set up yote hunting using my heavy varmint barreled 6mm Remington. now i pack the 22-250 because i got tired of packing the darn heavy 6mm around.

Rock chucks run for the hills when they see me set up with that 22-250 now. shot a few a couple weeks ago at about 250yds with not a whole lot of misses.

in conclusion, dont underestimate the sporter profile.
 
You already have experience with 22-250 and 25-06 in the barrel lengths/contour your asking about which did you prefer?
 
You already have experience with 22-250 and 25-06 in the barrel lengths/contour you are asking about which did you prefer?
Click to expand...

old roper,
I preferred the accuracy of the heavy barreled 22-250 and was hoping with a slow rate of fire (so as not to get the barrel too hot) that the sporter barreled 25-06 would produce the same accuracy results. My Dad had a Remington 788 in .243 that was a 1 hole rifle at 100 yards with a standard barrel.

I guess I was hoping for the varmint barrel accuracy from a sporter barrel. From what I'm reading from other rifle owners, that's not the case.

I'll have to check out the Predator Series of Savage, which offers a 24" tactical weight barrel and that would be a "happy medium" barrel. :cool:

Bowhunter57

P.S. old roper,
I see that you're a Vietnam Veteran. Thank you, for your service, sir! ...and welcome back home, brother. :)
 
Groundhogs mean stationary shooting.

Coyotes mean either calling them in or lots of walking.

So how you plan to hunt coyotes should determine whether you get the heavy barrel or sporter barrel. My choice would be the 26" varmint barrel, I don't really like to go walking around looking for coyotes.

Jimro
 
Going to a heavier barrel is no guarantee of better accuracy. Randomly select 10 guns with sporter weight barrels and 10 with heavy target barrels and you will see some overlap. Most of the heavy barrels will tend to be more accurate, but there is a lot of variation between individual guns.

I have owned some heavy barreled guns in the past and sold them. The difference between a .3 MOA rifle and a .4 MOA rifle wasn't worth 3-4 lbs of extra weight and 4" more barrel. Not to me, and not at the ranges I shoot. If shooting at 1000 yards the extra 100 fps and .1 MOA might matter.
 
The primary advantage of a heavy barrel is that the heat generated by multiple quick shots does not affect accurasy. Some would say that the heavier barrel is a more stable platform for precision shooting.

Savage builds stellular accurasy into their rifles despite such competitive pricing. They achieve this with careful headspacing, excellent barrels, and above average triggers.

Jack
 
^^ This.

Don't know from experience, but I've read that such things as PDog shooting often results in long strings and fairly rapid fire. In that case, the heavier barrel will often remain more consistent with POI when it heats up.

The varmint contour barrel will weigh more.

The varmint contour barrel will provide more velocity (longer).

Sporter barrels can be every bit as accurate ( I had a 20" sporter on a Savage I bought to re-barrel for long range, it was with great reluctance I removed it- it was very accurate).

Since most hunting doesn't involve long strings that overheat the barrel, nor long enough range that velocity is critical, sporter contours are most popular for that application.

Big difference when toting around a 13 pound rifle versus one of 7 or 8 pounds.
 
My Sako .243 is a 19" carbine. 2x7 scope on it. Seven pounds "fully dressed". I've had no difficulty whatsoever at killing prairie dogs at 300 yards with it. I didn't shoot heaps, gobs and bunches in a string at the little critters, but I did get the barrel heat up a bit. :) The rifle has been pretty much a half-MOA shooter for some forty years.

IOW, a fella oughta get what he likes, but for the occasional shots one gets on groundhogs and coyotes, I wouldn't worry a whole bunch about a heavy barrel or a long barrel. (Although I do like longer barrels, mostly.)
 
Jack says (and tobnpr seems to agree with) the primary advantage of a heavy barrel is that the heat generated by multiple quick shots does not affect accuracy.

I disagree. Many a light weight standard profile barrel's shot 1 MOA at 600 yards shooting 24 shots in 50 seconds. Specifically, those standard weight barrels in M1, M14 and M16 rifles used in the DCM/CMP National Infantry Trophy Matches. They would hold 1/3 MOA at 100 yards doing this.

Any barrel, fat or skinny or long or short, properly fit to the action, well made and stress relieved, will shoot to the same point for dozens of shots fired quickly. They do not change their point of impact relative to the aiming point as they heat up.

That oft quoted addage stems from factory barrels (any shape or profile) screwed hard into factory receivers not squared up properly and a high point between the barrel shoulder and reciever fact that, when the metals get hot, puts a stress point there that causes the barrel to flex more in that axis. Folks knowing this often get the receiver face squared up then a shim washer a few thousandths thick goes between the barrel and receiver so the barrel clocks back in correctly for headspace and sight base position.
 
I would choose the varmit barrel only because both cartridges you are thinking about are overbored and it's length is going to reflect that in velocity gain. At your max yardage I don't think you'll notice it that much but someday you may want to take longer shots and then you might.
 
Sporter barrel for ground hogs and coyotes-ranges and rate of fire preclude the need or advantages of a heavy/ long varmint or bull barrel.
 
Unless you are gonna shoot a truckload of prairie dogs, I'd go for the lighter barrel rifle. I had a Ruger 77V in 220 Swift with a heavy bull barrel, and it was really really heavy, but man it would shoot. When the barrel was about shot out, I had a high dollar sporter weight barrel (Douglas) put on it. That was a real good decision. It still shoots great, but is much lighter than it used to be. And the replacement barrel is 22 inches and not 26. Yes, I lose a bit of velocity, but that's no biggie.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top