Benchmark Barrels: A Standard By Which All Others Are Measured?
Barrel Selection
Choosing a barrel blank can seem like a daunting task. There are so many options with contours, twist rates, numbers of grooves, lengths, button or cut rifling and the list seems to go on and on. Another big choice is which brand barrel will you buy? There are numerous manufacturers that all have proven reputations and you likely can’t go wrong with any of them. My first custom barrel was a Brux chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor and it was a fantastic barrel. However, when I was in the market for a barrel for my first full custom build, I kept coming across recommendations for Benchmark Barrels. I happened to find the barrel I wanted in stock at Third Generation Shooting Supply and I had it in my possession just a few days later.
I took that 6mm Benchmark blank to a local friend to have him hang it on my Bighorn TL2- (now Zermatt) and chamber it in 6mm Creedmoor. A few weeks later I had my rifle assembled and took it to the range. If memory serves me correctly, I loaded up 15 rounds to get the scope zeroed and to see if the barrel had a preference on which powder it would like. I loaded 5 rounds each with H4831SC, RL23, and RL26 and topped all of them with a 105 Amax. All loads went under 1 MOA but the SC load was right around 0.5 MOA so I loaded it up in another 85 rounds to shoot while the barrel sped up and broke in. It became apparent very quickly that this barrel and load combo was going to be deadly; I was shooting some of my best long range groups on a barrel that hadn’t even settled in!
Figure 1. 6 Creedmoor with 26” Benchmark Barrel
Results In The Field
That spring my uncle called to schedule our annual prairie dog trip. The barrel had now settled in and my load was still shooting great so I loaded up a few hundred rounds with aspirations of finally killing an 800 yard prairie dog. Fairly early in the trip I watched in disbelief as my uncle center punched one of the little furry bowling pins at 800 yards with his 7mm Rem mag. His 800 yard accomplishment had me really pumped to try to get my own!
Soon I found another group of dogs at 1200 yards and I sent a few rounds their way. While I was hitting close enough to give them dirt showers, I couldn’t quite get an impact and they ducked back down in their holes. Soon, another sod poodle poked his head up on a berm a little further out, so I sent a round downrange. The impact appeared way low, but I shot again to make sure the low impact wasn’t a fluke. The second round landed in nearly the same spot; I measured the impact as a full 12 MOA low. The mound was obviously a lot further behind the first berm than I thought! Holding the extra 12 MOA in the scope I watched two bullets zip right by the prairie dog before the third one tipped the dog right over. After a long walk across the sage flat, I finally found the dead prairie dog. I ranged back to the truck and was almost blown away when I learned I had killed a prairie dog at 1404 yards!
Figure 2. 1404 Yard Prairie Dog
Killing a varmint at 1k yards is never easy, but to kill one as small as a prairie dog at 1404 yards was an accomplishment I never thought I’d beat. The 6mm Benchmark barrel continued to stack bodies with deadly precision and accounted for multiple 1,000 yard kills on rock chucks the next spring. To say I was in love with Benchmark would be an understatement.
Falling In Love A Second Time
When the time came to build my next rifle, Benchmark was the only brand I considered. I ordered up a #5 contour, 7mm, 1-9 twist to build a 7 SAUM. TS Customs installed the 24” barrel on a Lone Peak Medium action and throated it long to take advantaged of the 3.200” magazine length. An initial pressure test with H1000 and 180 ELDM’s had me running over 2900 fps and was grouping around 0.5 MOA. Just like my first Benchmark, I loaded up the rest of my brass with the initial load and figured I’d shoot 100 rounds before fine-tuning it.
Figure 3. Typical group from the 7 SAUM
It was a beautiful spring that year and the rock chucks were plentiful, so I took the 7 SAUM and headed to the hills. The SAUM made me feel like I was superhuman. I was making first and second round hits on rock chucks with a higher success rate than I ever had before, but the best was yet to come. On my 98th shot out of that barrel, I killed a rock chuck at 1590 yards! Yes, you read that correctly: 1590 yards! 9/10ths of a mile! It was only fitting that a Benchmark barrel would help me beat my personal best record that had also been set by a Benchmark.
Figure 4. Vantage point for 1590 yard chuck
My 7 SAUM has less than 400 rounds down it yet it has accounted for multiple 1k+ yard rock chucks, first round hits on coyotes at 600 and 820 yards, and two one shot kills on elk at 965 and 1040 yards. I’m not sure you could ask any for any more proven performance than that.
Figure 5. 600 Yard coyote with 7 SAUM
Conclusion
Webster’s defines benchmark as something that serves as a standard by which others may be measured or judged. To have a successful product/company become a successful benchmark is a fine honor and the ultimate goal of anyone that has ever gone in business. To name your company Benchmark is a bold undertaking that must be backed up by proven performance. Having used two of their barrels, I completely agree that they can be the benchmark by which others are judged and I trust them enough that I just ordered another.
Written By: Justin Hyer- SR POI Reviewer