New barrel for Model 70 22-250

T

Terry Lightle

Active member
Have the original Coyote model with med barrel and laminated stock,thinking of going to a lighter barrel and synthetic stock to lighten it up due to getting older syndrome.Was wondering about barrel makers the good and bad.Thanks for any info.Feel free to pm me about bad so it stays private.
 
I don't think it is wise to keep the bad private. I wouldn't want one experience taint your opinion of a gunsmith or barrel maker when there would be any number that have had a good experience with them.

Case in point ER Shaw barrels, years ago they had a bad rep for barrels and it has stuck for some. They retooled a number of years ago and make a pretty nice barrel that is affordable to many. I won the PM Egg Shoot with a Shaw barrel and have a couple on hunting rifles, I'm very happy with Shaw barrels.

I also have Pac-Nor barrels and they were easy to work with when I was building a one-off wildcat, they did some fancy chambering for me(cutting the body with one reamer and the neck with another and then custom cutting the throat.

There are lots of barrel makers out there. You need to decide if you are going to have a gunsmith install the barrel or send the action to the barrel maker for installation.

Each has it's advantages, use the barrel the gunsmith likes to install and he will stand behind it and his work, insist he use xyz barrel that isn't his fav and he might blame the barrel maker if it doesn't shoot and the barrel maker will say it's the gunsmiths fault.

Use the barrel maker to install and more than likely the wait time will be longer but they will stand behind it.

Lot's of things to consider, it might be cheaper to buy a new rifle that fits your needs than to rebarrel yours it could cost $600 plus to have a new barrel put on. You could part out you 22-250 and recoup the half or more of a new rifle.

Good luck

If the barrel is still good maybe just a lightweight stock is all you need. Having the barrel bobbed an inch can save as much weight as recontouring it.


 
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Good idea,have a close friend gunsmith,that part is really not costly.Will look at stock replacement to see how much it shaves,barrel shoots 1 1/2 groups at 100 which is not near what it did thousands of rounds ago.Thanks
 
I prefer cut rifled barrels over button or hammer forged, but after that it is dependent on availability. Like AWS said, ask your GS, he will likely have a suggestion(s).
 
I'm generally always a big fan of going to a good quality custom barrel over any factory barrel so my vote would be to go that direction.

As to who's custom barrel to purchase, there are many excellent barrel makers out there and it's almost harder to pick a bad one than it is a good one.

We all have our favorites, mine are Hart and Krieger, I've yet to have either that didn't turn out exceptionally well, but I am sure Brux, Lilja, PacNor, Bartlein, and Benchmark, would suit you well also.

I'm not a real big fan of any barrel much smaller than about a #4 contour so for me personally, that is the smallest I would go and to put it in perspective, a fluted #4 weighs about the same as a Proof carbon fiber wrapped barrel.

Do you have a certain weight class of bullets you plan to shoot, what twist are you thinking about using? I wouldn't use anything slower than a 12 twist.
 
Not a direct answer to your question, but you could compare costs. I would look at the Tikka T3 in 22-250. My buddy has one, synthetic stock, skinny bbl, and very accurate. Just a thought!
Course if you want to stick with the Mdl 70, there are a lot of good bbl makers, I would rely on my gunsmith.
 
I put a stainless Lilja on my Model 70 Stealth about 5,000 shots ago; it still shoots great.

Re. barrel twist, its 1:14 shoots 55-grainers fine, but if I had it to do over again, I'd go with 1:12 to give me more a bit more flexibility, especially with copper or lead-free bullets (although that's no longer a problem since I escaped Kalifornia).
 
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The cost of a premium barrel and the installation will run about the cost of a new rifle. If the rifle is one you want to keep then I would say do it! If its not, then sell it and buy something new.
 
Originally Posted By: pyscodogThe cost of a premium barrel and the installation will run about the cost of a new rifle. If the rifle is one you want to keep then I would say do it! If its not, then sell it and buy something new.

The cost of a barrel and smith work will buy you a lesser rifle. I'd rather build a premium rifle with great components versus trading it for an entry level rifle.
 
Part out the old Model 70 or just sell it and you can get a brand new Winchester Model 70 Featherweight(6.5 lb) 22-250 for less than a rebarrel let alone adding a new lighter stock. They are going for $800. new.
 
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