Originally Posted By: K22Originally Posted By: Winny FanOriginally Posted By: K22A good barrel on a Ruger?????
We can all generalize about something and be correct.
Like you, I'm a huge Kimber fan, but I remember a few years ago when multiple people (read as an entire here of them) were pulling their collective hair out over the extremely poor barrels in 7-08 that Kimber was kicking out. Hence, all Kimbers became an inaccurate rifle to many "in the know".
A lot of people have found Rugers to be very accurate in factory form. The issue of barrels is more an issue of factory guns - they all make some bad ones and we just hear about some of them more than others because its fashionable to be negative at times. The number of Remington distractors here is proof of that.
I was just pulling his chain. Besides, I was keeping with the theme of his thread heading.
The tang safety Rugers used Douglas barrels for many years and had very good reviews.
I have an early (2 position safety) Kimber Classic in 7-08 that required polishing the chamber, but other than that it shoots good.
I like Lilja barrels a lot, so that would be my choice.
Some tang safety Rugers also came with a barrel that Ruger was supposedly paying less than $3 a piece for, and they did have problems with them. Like most things, they got that boat righted by finally making their own barrels, but the reputation lingered.
The Kimber 7MM-08 issue was with new style Yonkers rifles and dates back 5+ years or so. A friend in San Antonio had one and it shot terribly. He sent it back and Kimber told him they would not re-barrel it to 7MM-08 until they got the problem solved and they sent it back as a 257 Robt. He abruptly sold it without shooting it.
I bought a Custom Classic in 7MM-08 about two years ago and it is a tack diver, but you still hear about the bad ones when the names 7MM-08 and Kimber surfaces.
To get back on topic - These types of things don't happen with a custom barrel and any maker with a good reputation will turn out a great product. If you do get an occasional bad one, they will bend over backward to make it right.
There are no 100% guarantees on anything, but the chances of getting a bad custom barrel are very small from any of the common names. I have and will in the future spend my money in several different locations and not look back. One is as good as the next, and for me it often comes down to availability and time.