Douglas bbl good for long range?

I am close to shipping a rifle off to Douglas to have a 7x57 Mauser bbl fitted. My questions are; (1) Does anyone have comments concerning Douglas barrels that are intended for deer hunting out to the effective range of the 7x57? (2) What barrel length would you recommend for this tasking? The current bbl is 26" and is on a single shot, so not too long to not still be handy in the field. (3) Since the rifle is a falling block, there is no advantage to getting a short cartridge. Plus, I want a light recoil rifle, because my second rifle is in 7mmRemMag. Any advantage to getting this one in 7-08, as opposed to 7x57?
I did toy with the idea of getting the bbl in 6.5x55. Since I have the other single shot in 7RemMag, the 6.5 chambering would make a good battery. No?
Not looking for a varmint rifle, as I am set with those. Just a second deer rifle in a lighter round that would be fun so shoot.

roysclockgun,

Either 7x57 or 7-08 would make fine long range deer rifles. The 7-08 is loaded to higher pressures but the 7x57 has a bigger case. Careful handloading should get you better performance that the 7-08.
You might want to also consider a 280 AI. You could use standard factory 280 Rem ammo or load it down to 7-08 levels or up to 7 Rem MAg performance.
I shoot a 280 AI with the 160 gr AB at close to 3000 fps with excellent accuracy. My barrel is a Hart #5 Flutted 24".

Regards,

JD338

roysclockgun, Douglas makes a very good barrel, there are worse and there are better , all depends what you want to spend. iv''e got 3 presently they all shot Great!... seeing your post i think a 24 too 26 inch would work out great, caliber since your 7mag covers a lot of ground that already covered ,but a lighter recoiling caliber, i''d sugesta 25''06 remington, i guess its your call ...... study and compare different calibers with a good reloading manual, thats what iv''e done. good luck keep us posted...jjmp

My riflesmith used to use Douglas exclusively. I had him build my first custom rifle using PacNor & rebarreled several since using PacNor. He now exclusively uses PacNor. He believes finish inside & out is better.

I have heard and read quite a bit on barrels on another forum and believe there are some definately better than others. But it all depends on who is fitting and truing it. I think some of the top names are Lilja, Krieger, Mike Rock 5r, Schneider, Broughton just to name a top few. They have proven themselves in the LR scene and will give tiny tiny groups over and over again, short or long distance. When I rebarrel my rifles, these will be my choices. However, there is nothing wrong with a Douglass or Shilen or Pac nor either. I just never see them being used in a LR rifle. There has to be some reason.

remiington, LR rifle guys will spend the money on those semi custom bbls. They can also squeeze the most out of the accuracy they provide. For 99% of the hunting situations, the other bbl. manuf. make fine products. Plus, if you've ever shot much competition, everone wants to use what the guy who wins uses. It's like golf, a set of PING clubs won't improve your score much if you are a hacker. If you are Tiger Woods, he can squeeze the extra perf. out of the best equipment.
roy, a 26" bbl. is perfect for a falling block. Are you rebarreling a Ruger #1? Make sure you put together a dummy round for them to set the throat length for you. Ask them to start the lands 0.10" or whatever you like from the ogive of the seated bullet. Since you are not restricted to magazine length, you can seat the bullets out as far as you want.

fredj338 wrote: "Are you rebarreling a Ruger #1? Make sure you put together a dummy round ...."

The rifle is an older Browning B78, that I bought knowing that the 30-06 barrel that is on it was shot beyond providing reasonable groups. I will send them the entire rifle and let them install the new one. Are you saying to send a dummy round with the OAL already pulled beyond the length stated in the load manual? That is a good idea, if I understand you correctly, because then they will know that I want a lng throat to give that extra case capacity and still not be up against the lands. Right?
The reason that I wanted this B78 is that I have been hunting with another one in 7mmRemMag and I really like it, so I wanted one in less than hot caliber.

Exactly roy. Since you are not limited to a magazine length, you can squeeze a bit more powder in by loading your bullets out a bit longer. So pick your bullet of choice & load it in a dummy round to the OAL you want. Ask for a throat no mor than 0.10" pat your bullets ogive. Since you are using a ss, why not go .280rem? Another very cool round would be a 7x65R. It's rimmed, which makes it perfect for the ss. Only problem is brass is only available from RWS (Huntigton's sells it), basically a rimmed .280. Happy loading, the B78 is a great single shot choice. I've often though about getting one.

I was not considering anything as powerful as the .280Rem, because that is so close to the 7mmRemMag that is in the other B78. I wanted a round, maybe another 7mm, but smaller and milder. The 7x65R sounds interesting, but I don't want to have only one brass provider. I am leaning toward the classic 7mmMauser (7x57mm). I even have a ton of brass and unfired milsurp rounds. In the past, I have pulled the military bullets, reweighed the propellant and inserted an SP hunting bullet and the reworked ammo did very well at a very low cost (I only have nine cents a round in the milsurp ammo).
I appreciate the idea of sending the barrel maker a dummy round. Thanks for the kind words. I will post how this project goes.
I did make the mistake of loading cartridges too long one time. I had a .270Win on a German K98k action. Of course, the German mag was already short, having been for the 8x57Mauser cartridge. Book length .270Wins worked fine. I loaded for hunting and had the bullets .005 inches off the lands. At the range, I only put one round in the mag and of course, that round fed without any problems. On the hunt, I quickly discovered that the cartridges were too long for the mag, so I hunted all week with a single shot bolt rifle! <8^)

Douglas makes good barrels. 20 or so years ago they were top of the line. For my own rifles I use Kriegers and Harts now. I have two guns I built about 15 years ago with Douglas air guage barrels. One is an XP100 in 308 and has had about 6000 rounds put through it. I should re-barrel it but it still shoots 3/4" even with major throat erosion.

Douglas is the oldest barrel maker in the country. To be in that business for so long say's much about the company and it's products. I owned two rifle with Douglas barrel. My Sako 300 Win mag and my 280 Remington. Both rifle shoots half minute all day long. Buy their air gauge barrel and you won't be disappointed.

I would have responded to this post but I see that it was posted back in Jan 2006 so it's probably a MOOT ISSUE by now! :lol:

Thank you, Sharpsman. From now on we'll route all replies through you for approval before posting.

ranger140892":2ylm395t said:

Thank you, Sharpsman. From now on we'll route all replies through you for approval before posting.

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