Palma Perfection
Palma Match & NRA Target Rifle
Right from the start back in September 1995, our dream goal was to achieve major success producing the best barrels for NRA long-range prone Target Rifle. During the late 1980's through to early 1990's we had four-groove canted-land barrels made to our specifications in the USA and these were highly successful. Our own production has advanced this technology with even greater success. We know what makes a better NRA barrel.
For a start, we use proper ordnance-grade 416R stainless steel made in the USA. This special steel has a low sulphur content and every bar is ultrasonically scanned before leaving the mill. An ISO-standard Certificate of Tests is provided with each steel shipment and we are more than happy to provide a copy of this CoT to every purchaser of a True-Flite barrel. This is your assurance that shooter safety is our priority. For a typical chemical analysis of our 416R barrel steel, refer to Rifle Barrels.
As NRA barrels are usually much longer than sporters, detailed attention is necessary to maintain an unstressed and perfectly straight bar through every step of the manufacturing process. REGARDLESS OF GRADE, NO TRUE-FLITE RIFLE BARREL REQUIRES STRAIGHTENING DURING MANUFACTURE. Our barrels will not shift point-of-impact during heat-up.
Lengths:
.30 calibre, up to 34"
.224 calibre, up to 30"
Twists (RH only):
.30 calibre: 1-10", 1-12", 1-13", 1-14", .224 calibre: 1-8"
Groove Diameters:
.30 calibre: .3066" to .3075" (please specify), .224"
Contours:
Our highly popular Palma contours:
BORE AND GROOVE DIAMETERS; RECOMMENDATIONS
Now that the much-reviled military spec bullets are largely no longer in use, there is only a very limited need for the tighter bore and groove diameters of past years. The excellent 154 to 155 grain match bullets by Sierra, Lapua, Hornady, Nosler and BJD work just fine with standard .30 calibre barrel dimensions. Of course, these bullets work very well in tight barrels too but pressures may be higher and bore fouling may increase. Simply put...if you are using match bullets, don't use the tighter barrels. The only application for the tighter spec barrels maybe with UK shooters who feel that the Radway Green military issue ammunition groups better out of tighter barrels.
WHAT TWIST RATE FOR 155'S?
There is one critical fact applying to twist rates: faster twist will increase problems relating to bullet jacket concentricity and poor chamber/bore alignment. A copper-lead slug exiting a tube at 180,000 r.p.m. needs to be finely balanced to achieve any reasonable level of performance regardless of distance. Here's Steve B's opinion: a barrel with an even twist rate, perfectly centred chamber throat and crown, shooting bullets with even jackets and no core shift, can stabilise longer, heavier bullets than considered normal. Back in 1998 Steve Blenkarne ran the True-Flite "Grand Slam 1000" shoot and he personally shot Sierra 175 grain Matchkings out of his 1-13" twist 308 Win rifle with superb accuracy at 1000 yards. He has seen 308's shoot Sierra 168's to 900 yards with excellent accuracy out of 1-14" twist barrels. We should be shooting 155's out of 1-14" twist barrels. Steve pioneered the introduction of 1-13" twist canted-land NRA barrels in the mid 1980's but in retrospect, this twist rate was unnecessarily fast for the 144 grain Aussie "banana" bullet. We probably could have used a 1-15" twist with this projectile. So, to sum up...if you are using match bullets in a quality rifle, just about any twist will work fine. But if you have doubts about ammo, bullet or chamber quality, use the absolute slowest twist; 1-14" is probably a good start.
Our most popular ( and most successful ) NRA/Palma Barrel is the 30" Standard Palma contour, 1-13" twist, .3075" groove diameter model. These barrels have won so much around the globe that there is not enough room on this page to list it all. And it's a simple process to get one of these barrels and move on up through your grades: just contact True-Flite or one of our agents listed on this site for a prompt, guaranteed match-quality installation.