By John Markwell | Contributing Editor
It’s not often that we get to review two identical rifles, and just in time for fall hunting seasons, we did exactly that: a pair of Barrett Fieldcraft rifles.
The two specimens we are looking at here have been in service for going on three hunting seasons here in the Allegheny Mountains, alike as two peas in a pod, except for caliber and optics. Purchased about six months apart, they have been hunted hard in the mountains and one has ranged as far afield as the Texas hill country.
We built our first lightweight rifle sometime in the mid to late 1980s. Using a SAKO L579 action and a 19-inch Lilja barrel the metalwork was bedded into a Brown Precision fiberglass stock. Chambered for the .250-3000 (.250 Savage) cartridge, the whole outfit, including the old Leupold 2-7X scope, tips the scales at just a hair over 7 pounds and is still in service. Later, we had another light rifle built by Melvin Forbes (New Ultra-Light arms); also, a .250-3000. My son Brock used to kid me that it was amazing to buy a rifle that was priced by the ounce. That was before he, too, got older.
The first of these Barrett Fieldcraft rifles, in 7mm-08, was purchased by Brock two plus years ago. Weighing in at 5.2 pounds and retailing for $1,849, the Fieldcraft is one of the better rifles of this genre on the market today. Brock chose the 7mm-08 round because he also shoots that cartridge out of his APA heavy rifle. Brock’s buddy, Mike purchased his 6.5 Creedmoor Fieldcraft shortly after seeing Brock’s rifle.
The Fieldcraft is designed as a pure hunting rifle for North American game. It is ideal for rough country and was named the Rifle of the Year by Guns & Ammo in 2017.
The Fieldcraft’s light weight and nimbleness is a function of the sum total of its’ parts; all of which are engineered and built with an eye towards minimal weight and accuracy. It’s impossible to not compare the Fieldcraft to the rifles built by Melvin Forbes since the Barrett folks reached out to Melvin for ideas and actually bought equipment and technology from the ill-fated Forbes Rifle Company endeavor.
Melvin Forbes has been building his New Ultra-Light Arms rifles since the ‘80s and has perfected the art of making lightweight rifles that are a joy to carry and also shoot well. The folks at Barrett have combined this technology with their in-house manufacturing capabilities to bring the Fieldcraft’s price within the reach of the average hunter. The Fieldcraft rifle retails for just about half the price of a NULA Model 20.
The heart of the Fieldcraft is the sleek stainless-steel push feed action. Both the rifles discussed here are short actions with 21-inch barrels (18” threaded barrels are an option). Long actions with 24- inch barrels are also available. The short action rifles are available in the following chamberings; 243 Win., 6mm Creedmoor, 22-250 Rem., 6.5 Creedmoor, 7mm-o8 Rem., 308 Win. Long action rifles are available in; 25-06 Rem., 270 Win., 30-06 Springfield, and 6.5×55 Swede.
The action, although essentially a Remington 700 footprint, has been manufactured with no extra material anywhere it’s not needed. The two-lug bolt diameter has been reduced to the point that at first glance it just looks way to small. Much like the bolt in the NULA rifles in diameter, the Fieldcraft’s bolt is fluted for further weight reduction and reliability when dirty. Even the bolt handle has been hollowed out to save some weight. The bolt handle is not welded to the bolt body but is attached via a machined joint and then pinned in place which is supposedly stronger than the traditional weld. The extractor is of the SAKO style and the ejector is a spring loaded M16 style plunger.
Barrels on the Fieldcraft are match-grade, slim in profile and have quicker twists to accommodate the longer high BC bullets so common today. Made totally in-house, the button rifled barrels are stress relieved twice at the beginning and the end of the manufacturing process. Barreled actions are both pillar and epoxy bedded into their individual stocks and the serial number can be seen imprinted into the bedding when the stock is removed. This bedding system is extremely stable and allows for significant torque to be applied to the action screws (recommended torque is 80-inch pounds to the front and 36 to the rear).
Weighing just 26 ounces, the Forbes-designed carbon fiber stocks are full length bedded to the action and barrel. There is a subtle cheek rest on the left side of the stock and the comb rises towards the heel of the butt. This latter feature allows the stock to drop away from the shooters face under recoil which enhances the comfort in shooting these lightweight rifles. Ammunition is fed from a four round blind magazine and the only bottom metal on the fieldcraft is the trigger guard. A substantial recoil pad and two sling swivel studs are the only other features on this carbon fiber wonder stock.
Other notable features of the Fieldcraft rifles are the use of Timney adjustable triggers and Talley light weight scope rings (also a Forbes design). The Talley rings incorporate a two-piece design with the base and lower ring half being one solid piece while the top half is a traditional ring top. This design eliminates the junction between the scope base and bottom ring half making for a simpler, lighter and stronger mounting system.
For an optic for his 7mm-08 Brock obtained a Vortex Razor 3-15×42 scope with the HSR-4 MOA reticle while Mike chose to mount a Leupold VX3i 3.5-10×40 on his 6.5 Creedmoor. Both these optics have served the boys well. Both Rifles are also equipped with Mountain Shooter slings. These slings are adjustable and made from light weight nylon webbing. Mt. Shooter Slings are designed not only for comfortable carry but are easy to use as an actual shooting sling, should the need arise. Contact; mountainshooterslings@yahoo.com
Many folks wonder how fully bedded rifles shoot. The Fieldcraft is guaranteed to shoot sub-MOA with selected factory loads. However, it’s been our experience that light rifles with thin barrels that are fully bedded will place three or four shots into a nice tight group but as the barrels heat up the groups will start to open up. Since these are hunting rifles we do not consider this a negative at all. If you want to pound groups from the bench just get a rifle designed to that.
Both Brock and Mike shot some factory ammunition early on with their Fieldcraft rifles but each ended up with one handload for their rifle for hunting use. The loads are detailed below however we don’t have a velocity for Mike’s load. We shot just a few groups with each of the Fieldcraft rifles and the results are illustrated in the accompanying photo. To say the 7mm-08 and 6.5 Creedmoor Fieldcraft rifles are shooters is an understatement. By the way, the second 6.5CM group illustrates the heated barrels affect on the group size.
Needless to say both Brock and Mike are extremely pleased with their Barrett Fieldcraft short action rifles and we were impressed with the quality and accuracy of these light weight wonders. If you are tired of toting around a pig of a rifle maybe there is a Fieldcraft in your future.
We’d probably be in line for a Fieldcraft if we didn’t have our old reliable NULA rifle in 250-3000.
However, we’ve wanted a 6.5 CM for a while; hum?
For more info, go to: Barrett.net
