I know I'm a Dummy, but why the heavy barrels preferred on Varmint rifles?

IndianaAce

IndianaAce

New member
I know I risk getting ridiculed for asking, but is there much of an advantage with having such a hefty, "Bull Barrel" on Varmint rigs. I am leaning towards buyin a Tikka T3 Lite Stainless .243, which does not have this heavy barrel, and I wonder if there are really any differences between the two, performance-wise.
 
If your shooting your varmints off a bench, the extra weight will make the long shots easier. The heavy barrels don't heat up as fast and change the point of impact. The heavy barrels are stiffer and have less problems with changing barrel vibrations or harmonics. Recoil is much less with a heavy rifle and you can see your targets take the hits.

If your a walk-about varmint hunter, or hunt from tree stands, the heavy rifle becomes a problem. If you want something that has to get into action fast, the lite stainless Tika T-3 would be fine. Just don't expect it to shoot the same as some of the heavy weights on a P-Dog hunt or 600 yard steel targets.

The solution is one of each type. I think maybe I should have gone into politics.
 
Edit: Dang, Jim beat me to it, guess I should not be so wordy!!

There are no stupid questions........Well, there are, but yours isn’t one of them. Here are the reasons I know of:

1. A heavy barrel is stiffer therefore inherently more accurate. If you are shooting at small things at a long distance, a half MAO (minute-of-angle) is a big deal. Not so much with a coyote rifle inside of 250yrds.
Many sport weight barrels will shoot well under an inch@ 100 yards.

2. Heavy barrels don't heat up as quick when fire multiple rounds in a row. Again, in the prairie dog town when you burn lots of rounds an hour it makes a difference. If you are shooting doubles or triples every now and again at yotes and such, it is not a big deal

3. Heavy barreled rifles look cool!!

If you are going to use the rifle as a carry-and-call gun a light barrel should be fine. If you reload, and can tweak your rounds to your rifle liking, you will be fine. I have a 25-06 Tikka lite that with hand loads will shoot under a 1" all day long. Best group was under .6" when I was developing the load, honestly I just run a few through it now and then just to check my zero, not to test the ammo.

The main question is; how heavy of a rifle do you want to carry? Is the lighter one going to do the job at the max distance that you would shoot?


There may be other pro's and/or con's but this should get this thread started! - RKR
 
Well, Quote:
I know I risk getting ridiculed for asking



How do you find out if you don't ask???

Both of the first replies are right on, so there is no sense in repeating. I just know I want to carry the lightest I can and want the heaviest reasonable from the bench for the PDs.. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
So, if your not Prarie Doggin' it, won't make much difference. For poppin' Coyotes or taking a Cat or an occasional GroundHog or Fox, the lighter dude will suffice, I take it.
Thanks!
 
Quote:
So, if your not Prarie Doggin' it, won't make much difference. For poppin' Coyotes or taking a Cat or an occasional GroundHog or Fox, the lighter dude will suffice, I take it.
Thanks!



Correct, the lighter barrels will do the job very well on predators. If you decide to go P-dog shootin' and the shooting gets busy way out there, then use a different setup or better yet have more than one gun. If you are shooting one round every 15 minutes or so then even a light barreled rifle will do the job as it should have ample time to cool down for your next shot.
 
I have a heavy barreled gun but it's mostly a gunsafe queen. My lighter rifles get to kill coyotes. Try swinging a heavy barrel on a running coyote at about 40 yards and then tell me which you prefer.
 
I carried a M77 mark II target for years. I find the weight easier to swing and follow a running target than a lighter gun. HOWEVER, age /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif has alot to do with what I now want to carry. I don't mind lugging a heavy gun for prairie dogs. But for coyotes and things now the lighter /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gifthe better.
 
A standard weight barrel will get the job done nicely on coyotes and other critters that don't take a lot of shooting (volume of shots). With that being said, my "Go To" rifle has a heavy contour barrel on it. But the rifle is fairly short and the extra weight helps the rifle balance and settle.
 
I like the weight of a heavy barrel rifle especially on longer shots. The weight makes it much more steady in the sticks especially if there is some wind. I have had a T3 lite in .243 for years and shot alot of coyotes with it....very accurate.
 
What every one else has said, plus they look so cool and since we hunters are supposed to be in a high risk group for heart attack and strocke they help us stay healthy and strong
 
What was said above, my reason is I don't want my old fanny toten all that weight when it's not needed. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Quote:
I know I risk getting ridiculed for asking, but is there much of an advantage with having such a hefty, "Bull Barrel" on Varmint rigs. I am leaning towards buyin a Tikka T3 Lite Stainless .243, which does not have this heavy barrel, and I wonder if there are really any differences between the two, performance-wise.



if you are going to get a tikka, the way those things shoot a heavy barrel may not be any better, I got a tikka 30-06 that shoots 3 shots in .5 with just about any handloaded bullet. the one nice thing is since the barrel is pretty thin it does cool pretty fast. the tikka t3 varmint isn't that heavy I think its around 8#'s or so, which aint bad at all, the biggest problem I have with the tikka t3 lite, is its lack of weight, its not that the gun isn't capable, its just the gun is pretty light in the rest at the range, makeing it require some careful technique to get the really good groups. if I could add about 2#'s of lead to my t3 lite stock I think it would be very easy to do the hey watch me make a .5" group
 
I have a Tikka Varmit (heavey barrel) and a T3 lite Tikka both in 22-250. Both a super shooters.
I prefer the t3lite for ease of carry and am thinking about selling the Varmit model. Although the Tikka heavey barrels are much lighter than the Remingtons or Rugers HB models.
Carl
 
the CZ Varmint in 204 Ruger weighs 7.2 pounds bare with a medium heavy bbl. Mine has a 25.5 inch tube and my old shooting partners came with a slightly heavier contour 24 inch tube. It weights the same 7.2 pounds though. Kinda the best of both worlds. Light enough for a coyote calling rifle and at home in the ground squirrel fields.

Of course the beautiful single set trigger set in the ounce range and 2.5 pounds unset helps also along with half inch groups.
 
No question is dumb if you don't know the answer!

What are you going to shoot the most of with this rifle? It depends on use to me if you need a heavy barrel or not.
 


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