The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Heavy “bull” barrel vs standard barrel: What do you get?

**44 AMP** · December 25, 2020, 01:26 PM

Generally speaking, the bull barrel give you more mass, with the advantages and disadvantages that brings.

More weight means a reduction in the felt recoil, and a more stable "solid" hold from a rested position. More weight to hold up offhand though, which can be a drawback.

The most common advantage to a bull barrel for rifle shooting is that the greater mass of steel acts as a better heat sink than the more slender barrel. All barrels warm up and all get affected by that, but the heavy varmint gun barrel heats up slower, meaning (usually) one can fire more rounds before the barrel heats up enough to change your groups and/or point of impact.

Useful for a varmint shooter, and a target shooter, not so much for a deer hunter.

Accuracy? each individual barrel is its own universe, but it is a general constant that as they expand with heat things change a bit. If you're doing something where 2-3 shots is all you're likely to take at a time, a heavy barrel is mostly just extra weight to pack around.

But if you're shooting more than that, the stability of a heavy barrel could be a significant advantage.

December 25, 2020, 01:26 PM	#6
44 AMP Staff Join Date: March 11, 2006 Location: Upper US Posts: 28,833	Generally speaking, the bull barrel give you more mass, with the advantages and disadvantages that brings. More weight means a reduction in the felt recoil, and a more stable "solid" hold from a rested position. More weight to hold up offhand though, which can be a drawback. The most common advantage to a bull barrel for rifle shooting is that the greater mass of steel acts as a better heat sink than the more slender barrel. All barrels warm up and all get affected by that, but the heavy varmint gun barrel heats up slower, meaning (usually) one can fire more rounds before the barrel heats up enough to change your groups and/or point of impact. Useful for a varmint shooter, and a target shooter, not so much for a deer hunter. Accuracy? each individual barrel is its own universe, but it is a general constant that as they expand with heat things change a bit. If you're doing something where 2-3 shots is all you're likely to take at a time, a heavy barrel is mostly just extra weight to pack around. But if you're shooting more than that, the stability of a heavy barrel could be a significant advantage. __________________ All else being equal (and it almost never is) bigger bullets tend to work better.