Douglas or ER Shaw barrel?

I had 2 Shaw barrels and both were only good for tomato stakes. I'm a little gun-shy about buying another when there are so many undeniably good barrel makers out there.

I'm happy, you guys are happy with yours though.

Never had a bad Shilen, Douglas, Pacnor, Lothar Walther, or Lilja barrel that I remember.
 
Originally Posted By: DiogeeI had 2 Shaw barrels and both were only good for tomato stakes. I'm a little gun-shy about buying another when there are so many undeniably good barrel makers out there.

I'm happy, you guys are happy with yours though.

Never had a bad Shilen, Douglas, Pacnor, Lothar Walther, or Lilja barrel that I remember.

Me neither with the ones you named above.

I too am glad the the Rusty Dusts of the world are happy with their purchases. I'm simply going to buy what I know based on solid reputation and my experience will be a good value each time I spend money. I can't say that about Shaw barrels, even relatively new ones, from experience. Fortunately I wasn't the one who paid for them.

And for the record, I too shoot a bunch of PD's each summer, but even with good quality hand lapped barrels I doubt that I'll shoot "many a hundred round though it before it gets cleaned". Just my way of doing things that because of the quality of the barrel take no time at all to do in a comparably short amount of time at the end of the day.

In contrast, I've shot with others who had lesser quality barrels who have "cleaned" each barrel numerous times for hours each evening to get back to clean metal. While they're cleaning I'm doing something constructive with my time. And yes, in a couple of cases they were Shaw barrels that had saved them money, according to them at least.
 
Originally Posted By: DiogeeI had 2 Shaw barrels and both were only good for tomato stakes. I'm a little gun-shy about buying another when there are so many undeniably good barrel makers out there.

I'm happy, you guys are happy with yours though.


I have no doubt that your words are true. I don't think that the earlier Shaw barrels were anywhere near as good as the ones that they make now are. Perhaps I just got super lucky with the three that I have being such fantastic shooters. Who knows?

Remember when Hyundai cars were junk? I sure do. Now they build some of the best cars in the world. Things change.
 
Mine were older models.

I also bought a Adams & Bennet barrel for my Savage that is OK, nothing to brag about. I am not sure who manufactures them. It is a bit rough and harder to clean.
 
Originally Posted By: RHR3A "blackie stick"?
No! no! no! Not 'blackie' stick. I'd shure get my butt kicked off of this site for that.
I wish I'd said 'backer Stick' or 'mater stake' or whatever else I could spell that you could comprehend........
;-)
 
Thanks guys. So it seems to be crap shoot on shaw. Looked at brux but no 35 cal barrels. I want a good barrel but this is going to be a hunting gun not a bench rest rifle. Guess I will keep researching and reading about barrels
 
I'd buy a ershaw and not look back. In the last 5 years I've build up 7 rifles with them7-08 to 300 win mag. They all shoot great. If you do a break in they clean just fine. I'm getting my 7-08 chambered now and can't wait to have it shooting.
 
My 7 rem mag cheapy chrome moly shaw barrel shoots like this when I do mine and I've not shot a group over 1" with it since I've got my loads worked
DC2FD0FE-5717-49C0-A0F0-7C8B90741B1F-1345-000000B47FB810F6.jpg

I'll stick with them
 
I don't get how guys that have never owned a Shaw barrel telling you Shaw barrels aren't good enough is a crap shoot...

TITI: This is the internet...
 
My ERShaw .223 bbl will also print in the sub MOAs.
They are a very good bbl. I would buy another one over a douglass any day.
 
Originally Posted By: MPFDI don't get how guys that have never owned a Shaw barrel telling you Shaw barrels aren't good enough is a crap shoot...

TITI: This is the internet...

For the internet record, I own a couple of Shaw barrels and I have been around numerous others. They are a decent hunting grade, non-lapped barrel, but there are far better buys available to help assure that you get a good barrel for your money. And when I say that I am talking about current day barrels.

Douglas air gauged barrels are definitely a step above Shaw in quality, and then you move up to the usual suspects like Shilen, Lilja, Pac-Nor, etc., etc.

For the PM record - Cheaper isn't always the best, but it may allow you to get by in most cases depending on your expectations. For the past few builds I've had done, I've specified no Shaw barrels - just in case, and it's not because of something I've read on the internet.

Indeed. One needs to keep in mind that this (including PM) is the internet.
 
Remington and Winchester don't use hand lapped match grade bench rest barrels either. But I don't seem to have any problems getting those "POS" barrels to shoot sub MOA groups either. So by your line of thought there is no reason to buy a new factory built rifle of any sort, and we should all build rifles off stiller actions using bench rest barrels. If it took a Lilja barrel to create capable varmint rifle, this country would be over run with vermin. I would have a hard time trying to justify replacing the factory barrel on my 25-06 Sendero with a "match grade" aftermarket barrel because of its perceived "quality"...
 
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in all reality... how much is it really the quality of the barrel... vs the quality of working up it's maximum accurate load....?

I guess a quality barrel might help get you there quicker.
 
To each thief own. I'm not a bench shooter and never will be but my shaw barreled guns will shoot just fine and accurate. Are they beautiful inside? Probably not but the tooling that ive see has been all but gone inside of 200 rounds and they clean up just fine. My 2 cents
 
Originally Posted By: MPFDRemington and Winchester don't use hand lapped match grade bench rest barrels either. But I don't seem to have any problems getting those "POS" barrels to shoot sub MOA groups either. So by your line of thought there is no reason to buy a new factory built rifle of any sort, and we should all build rifles off stiller actions using bench rest barrels. If it took a Lilja barrel to create capable varmint rifle, this country would be over run with vermin. I would have a hard time trying to justify replacing the factory barrel on my 25-06 Sendero with a "match grade" aftermarket barrel because of its perceived "quality"...

I thought the discussion was about rebarreling a factory action with an aftermarket barrel and now you want to discuss factory barrels. Whatever brings out the "expert" in you, I guess, huh...? And where did I say anything about a POS anything.? Are you feeling insecure today for some reason..?

Next you toss in Stiller actions into the discussion..? Where did that fly in from..? For more "expert" effect, maybe..?

Spend your hard earned money however you'd like to and enjoy. I'm gonna do the same and get something worth buying the first time. It's far cheaper in the long haul.

Drink a cold one. It might brighten up your day and cheer you up some.
 
I bought a 6x47 Rem barrel from Shaw so I could cheatly rechamber it to 6mm-204 with my 22-204 reamer. I didn't want to spend a lot of money to experiment with a unknown cartridge. Suprise suprise, the cartridge is a winner and the barrel has stayed on the rifle. It is one of my favorites for hunting coyote up north. Barrel cleans well and is very accurate. I have a couple of barrels from PacNor and am impressed with them.

I have a little SS savage action at the house and am going to try a Shaw 222R on it this summer and see if my luck is as well, they seem to be a great outfit to work with.
 
My only experience with a Shaw barrel was sighting and doing some break-in for an old fellow at our range that had his old BSA 243 re-barreled for his grandson. I'd compare it to the factory Remmy's barrels I've done the same with as far as accuracy and rounds fired before it stopped mining copper. In other words, serviceable.
On the other hand, while I've seen a few Douglas barrels come through our range that shot pretty well (but not exceptional), my buddy had a 700 (243) rebarreled with one by a smith I've used and trust about six months ago and he's still looking for a load it'll shoot.
Course that's just one barrel but still, ???

Personally, if I'm going to the trouble and expense of trueing and chambering, I don't think I'd buy either.
As usual, JMO and worth what you paid for it.
 


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