"I did a fluted 26 in, Brux #4 contour, in a B&C Medalist. Couldn't be happier. The idea on the fluted 4 was to reduce weight while maintaining stiffness."
This is a piece of great advise! Barrel whip on the Roy is tremendous. If you are going for accuracy, then the brux#4 fluted is a hands down winner.
I would opt for 0.060-0.080 freebore max, and I had a reamer with zero freebore, cut 5 barrels with it that all shot groups small as a pencil eraser!
While you are designing your rifle, keep in mind what is the accuracy requirement. I have had more than one gunsmith that would tell me that there were no accuracy guarantee's with barrels less than a #4, #5 better if you are wanting to shoot 3/8" groups day in and day out.
Everyone is different, so let me say that I have only shot 5-10 rounds of factory ammo in my life. I never would build a rifle around having the ability to shoot factory ammo, but again, my needs/wants differ from others.
Concerning freebore, remember that a bullet will only jump so far before it gets stated crooked in the barrel with resulting loss of accuracy. If you have got to have freebore, then make your throat dia extremely tight to guide the bullet.
