I am looking for the best value in a replacement blank for a sporter 22 autloader. Older Remmington, Was my dads will likely become my sons. Is there a better value than the Lothar Walther blank at about $150 Green mountain is a bit cheaper but man contouring on my lathe is tedious especially at rf diameters! My 22 mag I did up shoots acceptably. Does anyone know of a blank with the deeper rifling like the CZ uses? Those Ive seen shoot better than expected. Thanks much fella's
For that price Er Shaw comes to mind and for a little more McGowen would be another option. I’ve had really good luck with Green Mountain but turning them down is very time consuming. I hate to say but this sounds like a good project to put a barrel liner in. Of the liners I’ve put in all of them shot better then I expected them to and a few shot very well. Redman liners also seem to have a little deeper rifling too and I wouldn’t hesitate cutting a Bentz chamber either. Happy Thanksgiving
You can get a sporter taper for a 77/22 from GM that is contoured and fluted if desired. Shilen also has sporter barrels for the 77/22.
I would suggest Wilson barrels for the best value out there right now. Stainless, hand lapped, and contoured for $160. I have 2 Wilson barrels, one on a 6.5 Remington Magnum hunting rifle, the other on a 6mm Remington varmint rifle. I have only shot the 6.5 Rem Mag so far but it's seems to be tuning in nicely. Two 100 yard 3 shot groups fired consecutively with .5gr difference in charge weights. No time alotted for barrel cooling between shots.
Is the Shaw superior to the LW barrel? Also why the Reline? Seems like relining would be more work than fitting a new tube. Am i mising something?
Define “value”. I imagine the barrel has no contour near the shank, but is the same diameter it’s length. If that’s the case I’d try to locate something original off the used parts market. Otherwise assuming you’re wanting to NOT sink much cash in this project, I’d buy a Green Mtn or possibly an Anschutz take-off and turn it to the requisite dimensions (thus the reason for asking how you view “value” in this case).
I just listed blanks that came to mind around that price. All would be better then a factory barrel. Looking at L. Walther contours they should have something close to what your looking for. With the ER Shaw, McGowen, and Wilson you’ll have to turn the breech end down to the diameter you want. If the gun is in overall decent shape and going to be handed down 3 generations and hopefully more, personaly I would like to keep it as original as possible. Relining a barrel is a lot of work but is pretty inexpensive if you make your own piloted bit. Like I said it will surprise you how well it will shoot too.
I would really like for this to be a sub .5moa rig. (5 shots nearly touching or better at 50yd) Anything under 1moa will suffice just fine. and honestly 1-1.5 moa wouldnt make me cry. The thought of contouring 22" down to .65 diameter on my manual lathe without a follower almost does make me cry. So as to Value. I do not need a Benchmark barrel blank. And so far the Lothar barrels are the only ones ive found that come contoured in normal RF diameters. They cost bout Twice what a GM blank does. So as to value Im after my best chance at shooting very well in the sub 200 blank range. Then how close i can get to that at what percentage of cost. Factored by the ever present luck of the draw. we get/take on barrel blanks
