Schneider M40 Stainless military barrel blank

The Schneider M40 stainless steel barrel blank — the military-correct barrel for USMC M40 sniper rifle builds, delivered as a 28-inch blank to be chambered and fitted by a qualified gunsmith.

• Military-correct for all M40 variants: contoured to USMC M40 barrel specifications — suitable for M40, M40A1, M40A3, and M40A5 builds
• Match-grade stainless steel: 416R stainless, button-rifled with 6-groove rifling
• Delivered at 28 inches: designed to be chambered, crowned, and cut to a finished length of 25 inches, with 1 inch threaded into a Remington 700 Short Action for a 24-inch final barrel length
• Schneider Rifle Barrels: a proven match-winning barrel maker with documented use in USMC M40 programs

The M40 sniper rifle is the USMC's bolt-action precision platform, built on the Remington 700 Short Action. Every generation of the M40 — from the original Vietnam-era M40 through the M40A1, M40A3, and the current M40A5 — has used a match-grade stainless barrel contoured to Marine Corps specifications. Schneider Rifle Barrels has been one of the barrel suppliers for the M40 program, and this blank is contoured to the USMC M40 taper profile.

The barrel blank arrives at 28 inches with a rough exterior finish intended for final coating (Duracoat, Cerakote, or similar). The taper profile runs from 1.21 inches at the chamber end, holds a 3-inch full-width throat, then tapers straight to 0.89 inches at 26.5 inches and continues straight to 28 inches. A gunsmith chambers the blank to the desired cartridge (typically .308 Winchester / 7.62 NATO for M40A1/A3 builds), threads the tenon for the Remington 700 action, and cuts to a finished length of 25 inches — which seats 1 inch into the action for a 24-inch exposed barrel.

Schneider's rifling process uses a button-pull method: a carbide button slightly larger than the reamed bore is pulled through the barrel, displacing steel to form the six grooves and lands. The compression from the button-pull process work-hardens the bore surface, producing a uniform finish that contributes to accuracy and barrel life. After rifling, Schneider stress-relieves each barrel according to a specific time and temperature profile, then contours on a lathe to the USMC M40 specification.

For M40 clone builders, barrel selection is not a place to cut corners. The Schneider blank is the correct barrel — the one used in the program, made by a manufacturer with a documented history of supplying USMC armories. Alternative barrels from other makers may shoot well, but they are not the M40-program barrel, and the M40 community knows the difference.

We order these from Schneider quarterly and try to keep them in stock. Ordering direct from Schneider will get you the same barrel at roughly the same price, but with a wait measured in months. We've got your six — order from Charlie's and skip the queue.