Barrel choice Question.

P

pyscodog

Active member
Kinda bored this evening so I got thoughts of a new (imaginary) rifle build. If you were going to build a new rifle, for EXTREME!!, accuracy, what would be your #1 choice of barrels? Caliber is doer's choice. Just curious as to what the old, new, #1 barrel of choice would be. pyscodog
 
Lots of good barrels out there now. It would totally depend on the caliber and the build. For fun, I'll say a "Boots" 5R.....
 
I would lean towards Krieger, Obermyer, Lilja, Douglas, Shillen , Hart- depends on $ and number of rounds you expect to fire. My best barrels have been Kriegers followed by Liljas- getting over 5-7K rounds fired through without deteriation- but as 2Muchgun said there are many good ones out there. Good luck.
 
My 243AI is a Hart. Very pleased with it. What about the Rock barrels? I hear their supposed to be good. Kinda thinking 6.5-06 in a heavy sporter contour. Probably .700 at the muzzel, 26 inchs long.
 
I've also heard about and seen some good accuracy with Bartlein barrels, so I will give them a try too. This will be my first cut barrel. I have one on order and the wait time is much longer than the button pulled barrels I have ordered in the past. I am planning on rebarreling my T3 22-250 so that I can shoot heavier bullets with the 1-8". The cool thing about Bartlein is the rifling is custom, I ordered a progressive twist "T" rifling and canted lands.
 
You can't go wrong with any of the mentioned barrels. My first custom was a Shilen. After that , when Broughton was still in Texas, they became my main choice. It helped that Harold was local and a good friend. I could go to him whenever I needed a great barrel or rifle build. Since his passing I have returned to Shilen. I like to keep my $$$ in Texas. Maybe that's why I drive a Skeeter boat,Texas made also.
 
Plus Broughton barrels just shoot. They are often in the winning circle when it comes to long range precision shooting. The owners are very friendly when I speak with them, they act like they care about their customer.
 
Originally Posted By: Quarter RoundIf hiring a smith to build your rifle I would go with his recommendation.

Exactly!
That's how I ended up with Shilen CM barrels on my last two builds. The Gunsmith preferred Shilen CM barrels, and I said to him, go for it.
 
Last edited:
Trusting your smith is not always best. I have two I use. One likes Adams and Bennett and Douglas and the other uses Hart, Kreiger. They are both very good and the one that likes A&B and Douglas is a very good friend and would never say anything against him. I just don't care for his barrel choices. JMO
 
Originally Posted By: pyscodogTrusting your smith is not always best. I have two I use. One likes Adams and Bennett and Douglas and the other uses Hart, Kreiger. They are both very good and the one that likes A&B and Douglas is a very good friend and would never say anything against him. I just don't care for his barrel choices. JMO

I've never had a bad Douglas barrel, and I have a half dozen rifles with Douglas barrels in the safe.
A couple of years ago, a Douglas barrel won the Alabama state small bore championship.. Can't cmt on Adams and Bennet barrels as I've never owned one.
 
From a gunsmith's perspective. I've never had a client complain about a Shilen I installed. All my benchrest guns wear Shilen. I have had just as good luck with Pac-Nor, and they are cheaper than Shilen. I had one complaint about a Lilja, and to be honest that sucker was a PITA from the moment I put it into the lathe... but in all fairness I have seen many a Lilja shoot very well.

But you said EXTREME accuracy and to me that means smaller than .2" groups. For that kind of accuracy, the Shilen SSSM #7 LV in 13.5 twist 6mm is the choice. If you keep up on the NBRSA and IBS match results, it is on at least 50% of the competative rifles and takes the lion's share of trophies. Chambered in 6ppc with a .262 neck, of course
smile.gif


That being said, the gunsmith has to do his part, keeping the chamber TIR to less than .0002, cutting the tenon and threads true, etc... and for EXTREME accuracy the action should be a glue-in to an LV stock. That action should also be a custom, or a printed and sleeved rem 700.

Now for EXTREME accuracy in a varmint gun? Get any of the barrels listed - the barrel will not be the limiting factor, the stock, trigger, and action will.
 


Write your reply...
Back
Top