Barrels 2020

[Ledd Slinger]

For Wilson to be considered "low end" considering that Compass Lake and White Oak Armament have made probably more Wilson barreled match rifle barrels than all of the other barrels combined (just guessing, but I am pretty sure that is correct), seems a bit ambitious.

Not tot mention that White Oak pretty much sells Tubb T2k Wilson barrels almost exclusively. They seem to do quite well also...

Wilson barrels have also been used exclusively on Cooper rifles for a very long time. In fact, Wilson purchased Cooper rifles over a decade ago and still own it today. I dont think anyone here will dispute the proven accuracy of Cooper rifles using the Wilson barrels

 

[jelenko]

i agree with Alex Wheeler that good load development and tuning are the biggest factors in finding great accuracy with any barrel. There have been so many threads posted over the years where people complain about a rifle not shooting only to find that they have only tried one bullet with one powder and one primer. Never changed seating depth or neck tension either. Or they say “the recipe that shot great in my buddies rifle won’t shoot in mine”.

I have only had one custom barrel that gave less than acceptable accuracy for the rifles purpose and that was because the chamber was cut crooked. Ive had some barrels that took a ton of work at the range to find the sweet spots for accuracy. And I’ve had a bunch of barrels that are super forgiving and will shoot a multitude of different loads with top notch accuracy. Years ago some of the cheaper barrels weren’t even lapped and had some crazy tooling marks in the bore that would make you cringe. But I still got them to shoot. Other than the one barrel with a botched chamber job, I have eventually been able to get every one of my custom barrels to shoot well.

Very interesting!!

 

[msinc]

I have to say that I don't believe there are any bad ones out there. I've got no hesitations using any of the barrels mentioned in this thread so far. I have had some copper issues with some barrels often considered "high end". This is so bad and the barrels shoot so good when clean, I have to wonder if there might be a bullet jacket {alloy??} problem. They sure look like a million dollars under a bore scope.
I will also say that I have had very good results from Wilson. Haven't used a lot of them, but the ones I have used worked fantastic. Lothar-Walther is another barrel I have had very good results from as well as Pac-Nor. Currently, the most accurate rifle I own has a Muller Works barrel.
It's been a couple years since I installed any Douglas barrels, but I have one on the way now and will give a full report. I expect it to be as always, nothing less than fantastic.
One problem I see all the time is that many custom barrels are put on rifles that are hot calibers. By the time the owner figures out a load that it likes the throat is mostly shot out.

 

[Jud96]

In general, I believe cut rifle barrels are more consistently accurate from pipe to pipe over the years because they can maintain a better consistency since heat treatments aren't as critical in the manufacturing process as button barrels. Buttons also wear out faster than cut rifling tooling since they are under a lot more stress when forming the grooves in a bore. Having to change tooling more often with button rifled barrels can result in more inconsistencies.

However, button rifle barrels can be screamers as well, just maybe not quite as much on a consistent basis as cut rifle barrels. Ive got a couple cheap Wilson and Shilen barrels that shoot as good as anything ive ever owned. Especially interesting with one of my 6.5mm Wilson barrels is that it will fire the very first round on a completely clean barrel right in the same exact POI of a sub 1/4 MOA group every single time. I have chronographed the speeds and the first round from this barrel after being cleaned down to the bare steel is about 20 fps slower than the subsequent rounds in the group, but nonetheless the first round is right in the same tiny little cluster. It gives me the most consistently accurate clean cold bore first round POI that I have ever had in any barrel regardless of price or perceived quality.

I have had some X-Caliber button barrels shoot great, then some of their barrels give me headaches. Have had some Shilen barrels that were pretty good, but nothing special. Had Wilson barrels that were a little tougher to find accuracy with. So not all barrels are made equal.

But from Krieger and Brux cut rifle barrels, they have all shot very well for me every single time.

Recently picked up my first Hart barrel in 30 cal (button rifle) so it will be interesting to see how it performs against the Proof (cut rifle) and Broughton (button rifle) I have used with the same 300 NMI chambering which both shoot well.

I’ll be interested in how that new Hart does. I saw that they updated a lot of their equipment in the past couple years so it will be interesting to see how their new barrels do. I’ve never heard a bad think about Hart so maybe these new machines will really make them awesome.

 

[Jud96]

Here is a co that no one mentioned. "American Barrel Co".
The ones I got from Anthony shot Great, and the bores
were flawless. The outside unless you wanted a very high polish
was ready to go. What's not to like. LDS

I’ve heard good things about them. But it seems they’re hard to get.

 

[INTJ]

Think the subject has been well covered. Wonder what the future holds for these barrels makers given the limited availability of reloading components. If things continue as it has for the past months, into the foreseeable future, the whole industry could be hurting. Hope I am wrong. Shooting by myself is a lot less fun.

There isn't less ammo and components being produced, so why would barrel makers see less orders?

 

[Ledd Slinger]

I’ll be interested in how that new Hart does. I saw that they updated a lot of their equipment in the past couple years so it will be interesting to see how their new barrels do. I’ve never heard a bad think about Hart so maybe these new machines will really make them awesome.

I expect it will shoot great. Hart made top notch barrels before updating any equipment. Shot a Hart barreled rifle a friend owned and used to set a couple PA Benchrest 10 shot group agg world records in BR back in 2010. What a tack driver!

 

[L.Sherm]

Tooling wears on cut rifled barrels to, the key is change it before its to late.

 

[Dave Way]

I think you could have the most perfect barrel ever created and without a quality chamber and crown, it won’t be competitive. Spend more time picking your gunsmith than your barrel brand and you will be a happy shooter.

Dave.

 

[Sniper338]

Sniper338, I am going to have to disagree with your list... Shilen Douglas and Hart have all been in the winners circles in big matches. The problem is, that shooters all want to know what the most recent winner used and assume his barrel maker obviously makes a better barrel. Not thinking, he had an off day, or the winner just had a perfect day/better wind condition/had just got laid or was in a better mind set. So every one runs out and buys Barrel brand X... Until, they get beat by some one shooting Barrel brand Y.. Then you would have to be nuts to sill be using brand A, B or C.. "You can not win with those barrels. blaa blaa blaa.. it is a bunch of hooey.. Lija is good enough for Olympic gold medals, Douglas, Shilen and Hart have made top bench rest barrels forever.. Why cant they win now? Because the top shooters tried different barrels and won matches. They(Hart, Douglas and Shilen) did not forget how to make great barrels they still do. Just the top shooter have not tried them recently. If they did they would be on everyones guns like they were in the 70's-80's...

Just my thoughts on the subject. I have Shilen, Rock Creek, Krieger and Brux barrels currently. I shot a match in Texas a while back using a Shilen barrel on a Savage and shot 17 X's.. Not bad for a prefit middle of the road barrel. (I also shot a solid 5 during that match it was hideous.) My point is most shooters are followers. They follow the leaders and most are afraid to take the road less traveled. I order barrels based on wait time. In stock reigns supreme for me..

I dont disagree with you at all. If I had the money I'd love to buy different brands and try them. But barrels just arent disposable for me, and I havent shot out what I have currently.

 

[Sniper338]

more than anything.. im interested in what the future holds with a post I read a while back about a barrel maker coming out with a new "better steel", that is said to maybe last even longer.

I think that's where the future goes, I cant imagine better tolerances than what can be done today by manufacturers could make significant differences.

I see better quality, stronger, harder steel being the future where the barrel burners last 3k rounds and not 1200.

In the end I've always bought whats available, and thats brux and bartlein for me. I have 1 kreiger, and others I dont even remember what they are but they shoot

 

[Bottom Fodder]

My 5th Mcgowen prefit will be here this month ‍

 

[mauser284]

Plenty of people make a really good barrel.

The problem is that a rifle is not about it's barrel alone.

You need a good not necessarily the best barrel for most shooting including a lot of sports baring BR.

Then need a good action that is either machined from it's inception to be accurate or an action that has been re-machined to be accurate.

Then the barrel has to be fitted to the action with precision including all of the operations.

Then you need consistent precision loads developed just for that rifle/weapon system.

Then you need a shooter with the required shooting and wind read skills.

Once you have all of that together and someone wins then it must be the barrel or they set a new record oh it must be the barrel.

The real problem in shooting just like in racing were the owner is racing the car not a hired driver is that people always want to buy victory and to some extent you can hedge your bets a little but at the end of the day you have to do all of the above to do well or win.

I see it in ham radio and in musical instruments too. People focus way too much on the gear at times. I can use a Lija, Hart, Brux, Douglas, "insert your pet brand here" barrel and it is not going to make or break my game. I would need more time and more money to afford to compete more and spend more time behind the trigger to get substantially better than were I am at. I would have to be driven to win far more than I am now as well to really put in the extra time.

The guys in the winners circles would still be their if they swapped out their current barrel for another like quality barrel. If you look at the guys winning the most in BR shooting 30BR they are not using the same barrel manufactures favored by shooting 7.62x51 in TR. If you look at what is in the winners circle in different shooting sports the preferred barrel makers are all different.

P.S. I have known some BR guys that might go through 4-5 barrels in the off season before they find the one they are going to use during the season.

 

[mauser284]

You could just as easily make a list of "scopes" used and it would be just as futile at the end of the day. Oh and I am not saying you should campaign on a Green Mountain or E.R. Shaw barrel or the like. It is not that the barrel does not matter just not the end all be all.

In fact we can not even pin down what = "match grade". When we look down the bore of great shooting rifles we often find terrible looking barrels and sometimes when we look down a dog of rifles barrel with a bore scope it looks fine!

Look at Savage they have made some really accurate rifles with a bolt that looks like something the Russians dreamed up during WWI or WWII and barrels that often look like they were made in a cave by slave labor in South East Asia with hand tools.

My point is that experts and eyeballs and outcomes seldom ride in the same cart together and when they do it is often by accident.

 

[mauser284]

I have been burning Barrels in Matches for 40 years !
Lots of Krieger's Never a Problem . I have my newest .284 Krieger my Barrel Plumer stated the Straightest Barrel He has seen .
Had Obermeyer always Fantastic . Bartlien Great . Shooting a couple Brux right now have not had a problem.
problem.

The only Barrel I can say I was not happy with Shilen ? Why need 3-4 shots to be on call, it lasted for 1500 Rounds on a .223 AR Match Rifle . It may have been a 1-1000 ? my luck.

Yes the proven names are proven by the test of time I think the OP wants to open up his choices with out having to wait 40 years to see which newer brands might also develop a track record of success. On top of that he wants to see if he can get ahead of the curve and get to the front of the line with new better barrel tech before the rest of the barrel buying public also finds out. Think insider trading plus a sure thing!

 

[Dusty Stevens]

compass lake AR barrels r made by Criterion I tink so is Badger

My compass lake is a krieger. They also offered a wilson and that was the only 2 choices on a full match rifle

 

[17cal Fan]

Somewhere around 2014 I got the opportunity to purchase an old Atlas lathe. Hadn't run a lathe since high school. Never turned a barrel and never cut a chamber. Logic dictated that I start with an inexpensive barrel because crap happens.

I'd heard of and read articles that mentioned Manson reamers forever so I ordered a Manson reamer. I'd heard of and read articles that mentioned barrel manufacturers, some of which I can't pronounce. Somewhere along the way I ran across Green Mountain Barrels. Compared prices and bought Green Mountain.

Prairie Dogs, Coyotes and paper are my primary targets. I fire a couple thousand rounds a year. Just received my 5th Green Mountain and as long they keep shooting as well as they do, I'll likely keep buying them. You can read about the builds and see the results on my web site Centerfire Central

 

[rjtfroggy]

Here is a co that no one mentioned. "American Barrel Co".
The ones I got from Anthony shot Great, and the bores
were flawless. The outside unless you wanted a very high polish
was ready to go. What's not to like. LDS

I have 2 of Anthony's barrels and both are flawless and shoot great ( I'm the problem).
The man who chambered them says they are as good as any he has ever done or better.
Anthony is a one man shop but takes the time to talk to who ever calls. Give him time he has some plans on growing so he can start building up some stock, he sells every one he makes as soon as it is done.

 

[jackson1]

There isn't less ammo and components being produced, so why would barrel makers see less orders?

Guess I was not vert clear. Meant every thing from scopes, stocks, triggers, rests, and other related gear. Was wondering if there will be a short term buyers market.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

I have 2 of Anthony's barrels and both are flawless and shoot great ( I'm the problem).
The man who chambered them says they are as good as any he has ever done or better.
Anthony is a one man shop but takes the time to talk to who ever calls. Give him time he has some plans on growing so he can start building up some stock, he sells every one he makes as soon as it is done.

Agreed. ABC Barrels definitely belong in the "top tier" of barrels. They're excellent barrels and have established an impressive resume of world records and national championships, in a short period of time. Hes doing something very right!