Barrett Fieldcraft 6.5 Creedmoor - First Impressions

[Wyoming Shooter]

On 7/2/17 I won a Kimber Mountain Ascent at a Backcountry Hunters and Anglers raffle. Having heard many complaints about Kimber QC/QA and customer service, I wasn't too thrilled about the Kimber lotto. A close friend had recently purchased a Barrett Fieldcraft https://barrett.net/firearms/fieldcraft/ in .308 and was extremely happy with it. Reviews of the Fieldcraft on other forums were very positive. I made a deal with my LGS to trade the Kimber for the Barrett straight across. It took until 10/3/17 for the Kimber to show up. I made the trade and took delivery of the Fieldcraft in 6.5 Creedmoor. The Fieldcraft ships with a certificate for Talley rings http://www.talleymanufacturing.com/P...ieldcraft.aspx (1" or 30 mm) in low, medium, or high. I ordered 30 mm low rings which arrived about 10 days later from Barrett.

Weight without rings per the LGS scale is 5 lbs. 2.8 ounces.



Deciding on a scope was a challenge. Of course, I wanted something fairly compact and light. Distances can be very long here in the Big Empty. I like to dial elevation and have been using Mils for several years. I really couldn't find anything that checked all the boxes. I ultimately settled on a Bushnell 3 - 12 x 44 LRHS. http://bushnell.com/hunting/rifle-sc...rhs-3-12x-44mm It's bigger and heavier than I preferred. On the other hand(s), the glass is very nice, it offers adequate magnification, the reticle is sweet, it's in Mils, and the turrets are great. The objective bell clears the barrel easily with the low rings.







I decided to zero a bit high at 100 yards using factory Hornady 140 ELD Match ammo. https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/r...r-eld-match#!/ This stuff runs well in my heavy Surgeon 6.5 rifle - not as well as my handloads though. I fired a few rounds from the bench to achieve my zero. Here is the first three shot group:



I now have only about 50 rounds downrange. My first impression is very favorable. I have had no malfunctions of any sort. The Timney trigger is a smidgen heavier than I like. I may adjust it a bit. Accuracy with factory ammo is quite good. My muzzle velocity averaged 2696 fps. SD was 10. Recoil is brisk, as was expected. I dialed 3.1 mils of elevation to easily ring the 600 yard steel. I have since added a 1" Biothane Rhodesian sling from Andy's Leather. https://www.andysleather.com/collect...hodesian-sling I've not yet had the rifle in the field but, it promises to be a very nice general purpose plains game hunting piece. From the Big Empty, ELN.

P.S. I apologize that a couple of the photos are out of rotation. I'm not sure how to fix that.

[LJP]

Nice.

Not really in the same league, but I recently bought a Browning AB3 Micro in 6.5 Creedmoor for an upcoming hunt. Topped it with a Leupold VX3i 2.5-8x36 in the Browning rings made by Talley. It’s probably the most accurate rifle I own, although I’ve only shot out to 200 so far.


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[Crews]

Great review, looks like a great hunting rifle for sure. Did you find it significantly more difficult to shoot well as light as it is?

Btw, great choice for optics... I have really been enjoying my LRTSi since it came in.


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[jellydonut]

Maybe I'm the stupid one but I was expecting this to have a detachable box magazine. I guess that's one of the things they sacrificed on the altar of lighter weight.

[ldunnmobile]

I really want to like this rifle. I wish it had a hinged plate or DBM. Also I heard one report of a gentleman having his rust excessively with mild exposure. Sample of one however.

[Wyoming Shooter]

Gentlemen - Thanks for the kind words. My buddy with the .308 Fieldcraft tells me he gets tighter groups from a padded rest than from the typical bench rest. I'll experiment with that someday. For now, I'm impressed that a brand new five pound rifle will drop three factory rounds into something less than 1/2 MOA. I don't consider the absence of a DBM to be a problem. I can't remember running a hunting rifle dry. Best, ELN.

[LittleLebowski]

Excellent report, thank you for sharing.

Wyoming is best state.

[GJM]

Assuming you are using an iPhone or iPad, edit the photos in some way before posting, and the orientation should be right.

I have one of these in 6.5 on my short list.

[ranger]

Article on these in American Rifleman - magazine showed up today.

[Dagga Boy]

I almost impulse bought one of these at a shop the other day. I have no reason to own it and talked myself down, but it was close because it simply felt great and balanced really well.