Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats 3 vs 4 vs 6 groove in a barrel

I'm in the process of determining which barrel groove for an 8mm build I'm thinking about. I've pretty much decided a #3 contour should be just about right for lugging into the mountains, but not light enough to enjoy shooting while not in the field.

My question is, do you see an advantage of a 3 vs 4 or 6 groove in an 8mm? Thoughts or suggestions welcome.

Thanks

Groove number is not important but overall quality is vital.
I have owned and made tack driving rifles with barrels from 2 grooves (the old 1903 and 1904 Springfield barrels) all the way up to a few Marlin Micro-Groove barrel that were hand lapped to a high polish.
My own 8X57 is so accurate it's shocking, and it has standard 4 groove rifling in it.
Quality is key, not groove count.

I was debating between the 3 groove PacNor or the 6 groove Kreiger. I can get both in a #3 contour.

Something says the 3 groove might be a little easier to clean, but I'm not certain and the reason for my question.

Thanks

It mostly seems to be personal preference. There are numerous theories that most of which would be impossible to prove or disprove. The three groove is more robust so may last a tad longer the only down side is harder on light bullets when you are pushing them faster than they should be. Obermeyer liked odd number rifling like his 5R and he thought it distorted bullets less. As far as cleaning almost all premium barrels will be fine with a slight advantage (maybe only in my mind) for the 5r, ratchet and canted rifling types.

Me, my next barrel just might be a polygonal one just because I don't have one and David Tubb seemed to like them.

A good barrel is a good barrel.

For pure accuracy I don’t think it matters, but high capacity 22 center fires accuracy deteriorates fester in 3 grooves I’ve benn told by those that tried them. I always use 5 or 6 groove barrels