David has set the bar very high on this build with his beautiful workman-ship , and the burden is now on me do his work justice . I look at these photos and get very excited to begin the next steps of this build .Kudo's to Coyote Creek Armory and David Fair for the Beautiful work done . This action has been blue-printed , barreled , and the Bolt lapped .
A few words about the 26" barrel length : I spent over a year doing ballistics research regarding barrel lengths , and though it has become very popular to now use 24" barrels , there are several pieces of data that has to be considered . One ; is the speed that "F" shooters are sending the round down the pipe . Many of the top "F" shooters are sending a .308 , 195gr-200gr VLD Match bullet out at 2,700fps to 3,100+ fps. Near "Max" loads . Hard on the chamber / bolt / receiver , as well as the barrel . The other is "Barrel Life". By selecting a 26" length , I will be able to reduce the FPS of the round down the bore , thus extending barrel life by 1,500 to 3,500 rounds over the normal 5,000 round barrel life . Target barrels don't "wear" out . They are "Burned" up by excessive high velocity loads and VLD bullet lengths . Friction and excessive heat are the enemies of Target barrels , but "F" shooters look at replacing a barrel several times through-out a season of competition as a normal part of the sport .
The 26" length , with a 10 twist allows me to load at the threshold of 2,700 fps and preferably below it .Well below it ... And keep the round stabilized in the trans-sonic range as the bullet slows down to nearing speed of sound . ( 1116 fps at S/L ) Ironically ; this occurs between roughly 850 to 930 yards with the normally used M/N target loads. The further the round goes , the more critical it becomes to keep the round stable , in rotation , and "on-line". Longer barrel lengths allow for lower powder weight loads ; while maintaining higher velocities without having to load towards maximums , thus reducing Heat and friction . VooDoo science.
by Grimstod » Tue Jan 24, 2017 3:48 am 
