Is it really more accurate or just easier to clean?

Just a marketing gimmick.

Didn`t find it to be either. I shot Boots Obermeyers 5Rs` when shooting HP years ago, cause I`d thought the original Rem barrel on my 308 chambered 40-x was gone. And that was the hot number, the 5R. Had him do the re-barrel. I was classified as Expert at the time. Shooting it here at home, 200 yrd range, testing loads with a scope mounted, then in compitition, thought it didn`t shoot any better than what I`d had..so told him so at the next match. Boots is a pretty direct guy..he looked at me and said"If you can`t hold the 8 ring, how do you expect to shoot 10`s and X`s? Damned if he was`t right. As I got better, I was able to hold the 10 ring, and shot much better scores, but that was not with his barrel.

Sorry, that was a long answer...but still, no I don`t. Haven`t had another.

YMMV

I have one by Benchmark on my rebarreled 270 Winchester, I don't know about easier to clean but its deadly accurate & one of the fastest 25" barrels on the block. I'd put my group size & velocitys up against any sporter weight hunting 270 out there.

41

Harder to slug?

One of my sons had a Remington (SP Police maybe?) .308. Didn't keep it long, but somewhere I still have two groups he fired with it at 200 yards that I'd be very happy with from 100.

Still, I'm convinced there's a lot of ways to make good barrels, and has been that way for a very long time. Give an old quality rifle some good modern bullets and they can surprise you.

If your velocity is significantly higher with your new barrel then your pressures, compared to the older barrel, are very likely higher as well.

How about Shilen's ratchet rifling?

I have only shot two 5R barreled rifles, and can't say they are easier to clean or shoot any better. The first rifle was a Remington target model 308 with a heavy 20" barrel. On the barrel it said the twist was 11-1/4", or something like that. It shot 168 grain Sierras like crazy, but the throat was so long shorter bullets didn't shoot well. The other rifle is a Savage Model 110 Hunter in 280 Ackley, It's a good shooter, but doesn't clean any easier than my other button-rifled Savage rifles.

This is an interesting topic, first off it was Boots Obermeyer that developed the 5R rifling(5 standing for #of grooves and R standing for Russian). It is a cut rifled barrel, other companies also make the 5R barrel such as Krieger and Bartlein they are also cut rifled as Boots would have done it. Other companies that make the barrel only button rifle them call them a 5C such as Broughton.
To me the Remington 5R is a counterfeit, guaranteed not cut rifled.

I own two 5 groove barrels one an R and one a C, biggest advantage I can tell is that they don't blow up bullets like the 3 groove barrels they replaced.
they are accurate but don't clean any easier than any other custom barrel.

I have had 3 Bartlien 5r barrels in different calibers. None have been any better/worse accuracy wise vs a normal 4 groove barrel. And they didn’t foul any less, nor were they any faster. Gimmick is an accurate description, IMO.

I think there are stories for both sides.

I have a 23" SS 5C Broughton on a Kimber Classic. It's a tack driver.

Check out this Cutting Edge Bullets link. This group shot by that rifle.

Read the second review. https://cuttingedgebullets.com/308-135gr-er-extended-range-raptor

Expensive, but impressive. How many do we actually shoot at game?

DF

That was a nice review you gave. Thanks Robert.

Thanks to all for the information. I didn't know the R stood for Russian and not for rifling.

Appreciate those kind words.

I’ve heard some PH’s in Africa like CEB’s. If they hit brush, reportedly they can come apart prematurely. No first hand experience, just what I’ve read.

They have great terminal performance as you can see; accuracy is stellar.

Just expensive.

DF

I thought the R stood for Radiused. I don't see any down side to them. The only thing that I think can be demonstrated is that with thin jacketed bullets pushed hard the bullets are more likely to withstand it with the 5R. All of mine have produced good velocity, clean easily, and have been accurate. Hard to say if a conventional barrel done to the same standards would be any different.

They’re not. I have great 4 groove barrels that have shot every bit as well and cleaned up as easily. No magic in the 5r barrels.

The R is for radius as mentioned.Dirtfarmer, Broughton is closed out. The Shilen ratchet barrel is a good barrel. A good barrel is a good barrel. I had an excellent 8 groove one time and was sold on them. The next 4 were"OK". I think the maker is important, but you may get a hummer from any of them.

RONG eeeeerrrrrr Wrong again Butchy, R stands for Russian as I stated earlier not radius.
Boots was contracted by the US military to study the Russian AKS-74 rifle and cartridge and the rifling he developed was a variation of that hence R for Russian.........furthermore if you read what Boots says his design has angular sides, nowhere does he state radiused because they are not.

I've got several 5R Bartleins. They shoot well but I can't tell that they shoot any better than my 4 groove barrels. They copper foul very little so there might be something to the easier to clean claim.

All in all they're no better or no worse as far as I can tell, I wouldn't make a pick one way or the other based upon a barrel being a 5R.

I think the remington barrels are hammer forged which means they're not really 5R. They do seem to have a reputation for shooting better than their standard barrels but that's probably due to remington spending an extra $10 to manufacture them vs. their usual $5 tomato stake they put on standard production rifles. I doubt it's got anything to do with the rifling profile.

Young feller, from Boot's website.

What does it mean when a barrel is said to be a "5R"?

5R is the form of rifling I developed for use in most target barrels and in many sporting barrels.
These barrels have 5 grooves, and the lands have angular sides. I have observed that bullet jackets
will deform such that they remain closer to the R-form lands than they will to the sharp-edged
lands present in conventional-style rifling. This reduces powder fouling at the corner of the
grooves. The angled form of the lands also helps to reduce jacket failures in quick-twist barrels.

Their are radius in the 5r land profile.

5R is a geometry, not a method of production.

This is a cut and paste from Krieger's website:

"True 5R® rifling is an official registered trademark of Boots Obermeyer of Obermeyer Barrels"

Maybe it's splitting hairs, but it appears that for it to be "true" 5R rifling it has to be made in accordance with Obermeyer's trademark which would be cut rifling so it is as much a method of production as a geometry.

If you go to Remington's website notice it doesn't say 5R, it says 5-R. I suspect the hyphen is to get around the trademark.

How were the Russians doing it?

With the help of the democrats!!!

I'm pretty sure the russians didn't have it trademarked in the U.S.

Exactly. I'm interested in shape considerations, not brand names.

Incredible.!!!!!!!!!..........A self proclaimed Sexual intellectual aka. Fhuqking know it all, was so involved playing paddy cakes for more than a decade with the Shilen's he was oblivious to what the boys in Wisconsin were doing !!!!!!!!!!!
Have been buying 5R (Russian) barrels from Wisconsin since at least 2010 not a one a 5R (radius), they only exist in the mind of some jack azz from poetry

Young feller, don't take much to get your goat does it? Pissed you off that I cut and pasted Obermeyer's 5R comment from his website. Actually the folks at Shilen have been friends for 30yrs. Oh, I just chambered a 308 Obermeyer barrel for a hunting rifle. My first 308. Stan Taylor, Douglas barrels, supplied my barrel blank for my 280 AI titanium rifle, Dan Lilja supplied my 6.5 blank for my 6.5X47L Pierce custom, I've used 5 of Bartlein barrels for BR and a custom 22RF. Frank Green, Bartlein, made my rimfire barrel in an 8 groove, LH gain twist, I use a Rock Creek 17 twist on my 30BR varmint for score rifle.
Young feller, I've used Turbo, McMillan, H&S, Hart, and other brands of barrels. Oh yes, I've used a couple of Kreigers that were great also.
Have a wonderful week young feller!

Oh, I forgot, I have 2 Eric Johnson 5 star RF barrels also.

If I had to hazard a guess on the meaning of the R, it would be simply 5 Right as in right hand twist.

Phil

If what you say is true..............you should have known better years and years ago but your pompous nature just lets you plod along thinking because you are deity whatever comes out of your blowhole must be true........wrong again Butchy

You are correct, your guess is a hazard. but you are wrong just as Butchy.
only difference is you come from a point of ignorance and Butchy comes from a point of arrogance and being oblivious to damn near everything !!!!!!!!!!

The ignorance displayed on the Fire sometimes defies explanation.

Yes sir, I agree.