Rebarreling a 300 PRC - Why the Details Matter 

I've told him he needs to raise his prices, but he won't! :)

@@TwoMinutestoTarget yeah the people who doesn’t know him are missing a lot.

Videos and comments like these help.

Thanks for the note - now I've got three other barrels to break in... :)

I just got it, and my first two trips to the range with it are also the first two I did with my 300. Area 419 offers a similar setup for sale, I just happened to have all the RRS parts on hand to do this, so decided to give it a go. I'm kind of hooked on this setup. I actually don't mind being the crash-test dummy for this - though I'll think twice before using it on my 375.

Agree - though when the threads and shank are smaller, that's less thread face available to do the work.

I'll start with the gain twist. Essentially, gain twist rifling eases the bullet rifling. My barrel is a 9:8 gain. Instead of being a sudden slam at 8 right away, it starts spinning slower, which is less impact on the bullet, but also less impact coming through the rifle to the shooter. Essentially, it should somewhat lessen felt recoil. Unfortunately, I picked a twist rate that I will not need (8). I ordered this barrel during the pandemic when I was worried about bullet supply (my go-to Berger 230s were unobtanium) and I wanted to be able to shoot solids. But then the 220 Bergers came out, and I realized a HATE solids, and it wasn't an issue any more - now I wish I would have gone 10:9. Supposedly, it also allows for slightly higher pressures since the bullet will not be slowed as suddenly when it hits the lands, and thus will not build pressure as quickly. One thing I have yet to understand is the diminishing return with going to a higher twist differential. I spoke with Bartlein about this and they said they see minimal, if any, benefit when you go to more than 1 gain (e.g. 9:8 or 8:7). As for LH twist (for right-handed shooters), since the barrel is imparting left-hand angular momentum to the bullet, the bullet is imparting the opposite - right-hand angular momentum to the rifle. In theory, this should push the cheek riser away from the shooter's cheek, and push the stock into the shooter's palm, yielding better control. I've only got a hundred rounds down the barrel so far, but between the 220s (vs. 230s), the gain twist, and the LH twist, the felt recoil is noticeably more manageable. The brake is likely a wash with my previous brakes (I've used the Hellfire Match and APA Lil' Bastard on this rifle previously).

@@TwoMinutestoTarget awesome and thank you. Have you tested right hand twist against left-hand twist and not using a muzzle break? Or have you at least kept the same muzzle brake on both barrels while testing?

@@justice1327 To that the right way, you'd need virtually identical (or actually identical, but with a barrel change) with more test equipment than I currently have.

It's a tough call, to be honest, and I've been close to getting a 300 Norma barrel spun up on numerous occasions. In the end, it came down to a combination of economics and practicality. The Norma certainly outperforms the PRC by a bit, but it's also a little overbore (shorter barrel life), and the cost per round is higher. On the practicality side of things, there is a fairly narrow margin where the performance increase makes a tangible difference - objectively, I'd put that at north of maybe 1800-1900 yards. The recoil difference is also a thing. With all that said, I've given a lot of thought to getting a barrel cut in 300 Norma for my single-shot ELR rig (currently barreled in 37XC). But I've also given a lot of thought to doing it in 338AI - too many choices!