Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Barrett FC first impressions

FYI, there's absolutely ZERO weight difference between a BDL and ADL set up.........

I love your thread BFD 2.0

I like a trap door as well. But I dont think the blind mag will stop me from buying a Barrett when I am ready for a light weight. Reviews are really outstanding here on the fire.

do y'all think barrett willever make a hinged floorplate version of the fieldcraft?? the blind mag is holding me back also. nothing wrong with em just not my cup o tea. I'd prefer a well engineered dm or hinged floorplate personally.
Big Ed

They will be introduced along with the left handed model.

Following the 6.5 PRC and 280ai rollout, of course.

😉

The least accurate factory loaded 6.5 Creedmoor ammo that I've shot was the American Eagle 140 grain open tip match and it still shot under 1 MOA in 3 different rifles.

The Hornady stuff as accurate enough at 100 yards but the ES was very high and this would not bode well at longer range.

I chronographed 10 rounds of factory Hornady 6.5 CM 143 ELD-X out of my Sauer 100 XT and got at average of 2687 fps, with a high of 2699 and low of 2677, SD of 12, so they were right there with the factory spec of 2700 fps. Shooting my handloads with the same bullet and 42.5 gr of H4350 I got an average of 2751 fps, SD of 8. Accuracy was sub MOA with 5-shot groups from both the factory and my loads.

The one other factory round that I found shot very close to the claimed spec of 2750 fps was Federal Non-Typical 140 gr. It shot an average of 2710 fps with a high of 2721 and a low of 2699, SD 11. Remington was the worst of the factory ammo I shot, with a claimed 2700 fps, but I only got an average of 2553 fps.

I've found that my TC Compass in 6.5 shoots about 50-75 fps slower with a 22" barrel as my Sauer with a 22" barrel and the same factory loads. The Sauer has a 1 in 8.66" twist, whereas the TC has a 1 in 8" twist and 5R rifling, so I don't know if that has anything to do with it.

The temperature I was shooting those factory ELD-Xs was nowhere near 100 degrees, though, more like low 70's, IIRC. I wonder if your ES was due to such a high temperature?

I dunno, when I get back from Africa I will shoot another round and try some 100 grain Hornady match ammo I have. It is flat hot right now. 114 and humid this week.

whitearrow,

My guess is Barrett won't make a hinged floorplate magazine version. The FC is a basically a relatively small modification of the New UltraLight Arms actions, to the point where a short-action FC bolt will slide into a Model 20 NULA action, but won't turn down because the locking lugs are in a slightly different position.

The reason NULA's (like FC's) don't have floorplates doesn't have much if anything to do with weight. Instead, when Melvin Forbes developed the NULA actions, he minimized everything that wasn't needed to hold pressure or feed cartridges. As a result, the action dimensions, from rear to front action screw, simply won't accommodate a hinged floorplate, or even a detachable magazine. I know this because Melvin's been asked to do both, many times, and I've heard his explanation more than once.

Since the action dimensions of FC are so similar to NULA actions, I doubt there's any way to make a hinged floorplate work.

ADL or BdL is fine. i use ADL's a lot. Seems as though they are easier to carry in the hand. Truthfully I seldom unload a rifle fully, 3 in mag and one in the chamber, open the bolt and push the round in the chamber down into the mag. When the hunt is over just takes a 10 seconds to unload by cycling the action. BDL's are fine too but on a hunt I handle the same as the ADL's and when the hunt is over I just push the bottom and all 4 rounds fall in the mud. There is little real pro or con to either. Unloading a Win 94 or savage 99 is a pain in the ass compared to a ADL. There are no BDL shotguns but we get by.