Best Caliber for F Class

[Maggot]

Barrel life even on a .308 F/TR is going to be down to just how hot you load it, we have customers who are having barrels swapped out on F/TR rifles at around 1000 rounds. With some factory you can get significantly higher round counts through the rifle however even some factory ammunition is quite spiteful.

Fair point Dave.

The thing is you are after max consistency, usually at max chat. Whereas a TR or Mcqueens/CSR/PO rifle barrel may go on for many thousands of rounds until the groups goes skeet, you will be wanting a .5MOA "Max" group (Ideally better) and to keep it.

Its precise artillery really.

The .308 is not the best long range load, it just went that way because F class was supposed to be for the older, less sprightly shooter. Staying in a TR sling for hours on end can be quite tiring along with the eye strain and recoil. Mr F (Farquarson ONO) decided to stick a scope and bipod on a target rifle so he could carry on shooting...and why not.

But like most things it went mad, the oilrig was introduced and open class started (real artillery) and before you know it you have a world class p*** competition testing the rifle in many cases more than the firer (not entirely true at the top end I know, but at the lower end people really do think they are good shots when all they are doing is comparing a well set up CNC machine with a bloke in his shed who produces the same result with less).

But at the top end, say the top third and just below, there are some very talented shots....even Matt

Why thank you Gerald, I'm getting all embaressed now

In all seriousness though barrell life can be really good, my last one was still great at just over 3.5 thousand (didn't go much further though ) and I know many that run hotter loads than I do that have had similar round counts using Bartlein

Mate, my little black beastie has better do considerably better than...well...a lot. A very lot!!

No, I still see the attraction of F but I am involved with the Hitler Youth now and the CSR sort of fits in well with their SAA and the L98

[Laurie]

Bloody hell Laurie.....600....hells bells [Maggot]

That's why people keep the loads down that bit. 900 rounds is a full season for most league competitors allowing rebarrelling over the winter break, while 600 sees the need for two rifles with one in use and the other at the gunsmith getting a new barrel fitted. This is also partly why the 6.5-284 went out of favour - stoke it right up to what it will do and both brass and barrel life are very poor.

[Quarters]

Thanks very much for all your responses.

Particularly Laurie. I've copied and pasted your post so I can keep it and return back to it.

The on-going cost may be an issue.

Would getting an full f class stock, a heavy barrel and a good front rest but in a rifle chambered for .308 be a good idea? I can spend a fair bit (£3000 - £3500) on the initial outlay but after that would like to use factory bought ammunition at about £1 a bang and have a barrel life of 3000/4000 rounds.

Thanks again for all your helpful replies.

[The Gun Pimp]

Quarters - have a look at Victrix - they offer an off the shelf F Class rifle - FTR or Open with a variety of stocks and calibres (in the case of Open)

Have a read of the Victrix story in www.targetshooter.co.uk.

I'm currently testing their FTR rifle. Once done - I'll write it up in Target Shooter.

[Laurie]

Thanks very much for all your responses.

Particularly Laurie. I've copied and pasted your post so I can keep it and return back to it.

The on-going cost may be an issue.

Would getting an full f class stock, a heavy barrel and a good front rest but in a rifle chambered for .308 be a good idea? I can spend a fair bit (£3000 - £3500) on the initial outlay but after that would like to use factory bought ammunition at about £1 a bang and have a barrel life of 3000/4000 rounds.

Thanks again for all your helpful replies.

To achieve that, it has to be 308 Win, or at the margin .223 Rem, the latter with HPS' 80gn SMK ammo. There is nothing to stop you using a 308 or 223 in 'F-Class' (ie 'Open'), although with a purpose designed FTR rifle and a modern FTR bi-pod, the 308s shoot as well as custom 7mm 'Open' rifles and can beat them at shorter distances. An easy way to know what the weather was like on a national league round is to compare the top Open and FTR aggregate scores. If the conditions were steady over the two days, FTR aggs' will only be 10 or 15 points lower out of say 350-375 points possible scores, sometimes only a singkle figure difference. If it was a rough old couple of days, the gap grows to 30 to 40 points. The ballistics of FTR competitors' handloads are much better than you'd ever see with factory ammo though.

It is actually easier to build an Open rifle rather than FTR because of the weight limits. FTR is restricted to 8.25 kg (18lb 2 oz) including the bi-pod whilst Open is 10 kg (22lb) and a front-rest isn't included in that weight (but a bi-pod is if the competitor chooses that option rather than a rest). FTR shooters are always balancing the weight of different components in the mix to get an optional combination that just scrapes within the 8.25 kg. As a result we have very light bi-pods now, super performance but very light scopes etc all to allow a heavy profile 30/31-inch barrel. Light weights often equate to more money especially in scopes where the March models are very popular and you don't see many of the older Nightforces these days. In 'Open' within reason, you can stick anything on the rifle you fancy and it's hard to reach 10kg never mind exceed it. I have a 223 FTR rifle with a heavy McRees Precision alloy chassis stock that shot 90gn VLD handloads very well at around 2,900 fps, but really struggled to keep within weight. I have half a mind to turn it into a short-range 'Open' rifle with a 32-inch F-Class / heavy varmint profile barrel on it and Nightforce NF BR scope up top. At 18lb on a folding bi-pod (to keep weight down) with a much thinner lighter barrel, its performance was very good by the FTR standards of five years ago, but it should really perform at up to 600 yards in a heavier build (unless it's blowing a gale, of course) and that would upset the 7mm WSM shooters!

The other benefit of choosing a 308 FTR rig is that there are some very good value off the shelf rifles around, or pick-n-mix custom builds. The Savage 12 FTR has long been popular and some buyers source a 12F stock for it with the wide, flat bottom forend to shoot off a rest. The Victrix that the Gun Pimp mentions looks like it may be a serious off the shelf contender. Dolphin Gun Co. builds very good custom FTR (and 'Open') rifles in the FTR case using the lighter but more than adequate Nesika and Barnard S actions for very reasonable money. If Dolphin's excellent chassis stock is specified, the forend section is attached by four setscrews and there are both narrow FTR forends with an inbuilt Anschutz rail for a bi-pod and the three-inch wide flat version for a front-rest allowing an easy switch between modes.

[Quarters]

Thanks again!

I'll look into the Victrix.

Thanks again to Laurie. I'll take my time and read your posts thoroughly.

[Laurie]

If you do buy an FTR rifle (for the factory ammo) but set it up to shoot in 'Open', be sure that the rifle builder makes it FTR weight compliant. Should you subsequently change your mind and wish to either use it in serious FTR competition, or to sell it and move to something else, a within-weight model (with appropriate scope and bi-pod) will be an asset, whilst an overweight one will be a liability.

[Maggot]

Bloody hell Laurie.....600....hells bells [Maggot]

That's why people keep the loads down that bit. 900 rounds is a full season for most league competitors allowing rebarrelling over the winter break, while 600 sees the need for two rifles with one in use and the other at the gunsmith getting a new barrel fitted. This is also partly why the 6.5-284 went out of favour - stoke it right up to what it will do and both brass and barrel life are very poor.

Its a big old case I will give you that Laurie.

I know our open class lot always seemed to be looking for something better.....A Gerlich gun sounds like a plan!!