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Brux vs Bartlein

Texas

Silver $$ Contributor
Any real world difference here? I’ve had good success with Brux but have a chance to buy a Bartlein in stock. This would be a 30 cal barrel.
 
I've had good luck with Bartlein: 6BR, 6BRA, 284 and 338. Make sure the gunsmith knows what he is doing is just as important as the brand in my opinion.
 
I run all Brux lately. I'm no competition shooter, but the Gunsmith who works on them says they're the straightest barrels he's ever seen for an aftermarket. Furthermore, the wait times on Brux barrels are normally shorter than a Bartlein. In your case it doesn't matter, but the price is also a little less too in most cases. I have one Bartlein Barrel and I will not buy any again due to the long wait times and more expense compared to the Brux.
 
No one can say due to sample size issues and statistical significance. On top of that no one can quantify how the interior of a barrel looks with it's real world performance. Look at the sewer pipe that Savage cranks out and how well most of them shoot in spite of the inside looking terrible. Same thing can be said for Remington's in the past and even my current TC Compass is full of machine marks! We assume that a pretty barrel will shoot better than an ugly barrel but we can not say that as a matter of fact. That said if I am buying a button rifled barrel or a hammer forged barrel I like the inside of the barrel to look fantastic. If I am buying a cut rifled or broached barrel I do not much care about the amount of tool marks and such. That said I would love it if Brux and Krieger honed the inside of the barrel to finished bore dimensions prior to the cutting box operation. Let's face it reaming and lapping is not a precision machining process and introduces a lot of variables from barrel to barrel. It is about as exact as heat treating steel with just the naked eye's based on color of the metal! On that same note their is no acceptable reason that Remington should have a hard time locating the barrel opening and threads precisely with the rest of the action so the "3 Rings of Steel" are all concentric. No one should need to blue print an action as much as we do in this day and age. In fact the fact that Savage advertises it's OEM Blueprinting of F-Class rifles is just shameful if you think about it. It is right up their with a Prison adding time to an inmates stay and filling charges against them for using drugs inside of the prison! It speaks to how corrupt and out of control the prison itself is since nothing can come and go with out them knowing it and knowing all of the entry points if they wanted to control it and keep it out they could. Since they have complete control of their factory, the design of the rifle, the machinery being used they know exactly what the problems are and could fix them if they wanted too or greatly improve the situation if they wanted too!

A poorly excuted 5R barrel is not magical the 5R part has no real bearing on accuracy or every BR guy would be using only 5R type rifled barrels. The Russians used what we call 5R today for decades on all of their military rifles and no one is going on the record for AK's, SKS's and Dragonoves as being paragons of accuracy! For example the 5R barrel on the TC Compass looks dreadful when you look down the bore. 5R is mostly used as a catch phrase and marketing gimmick than anything else. It is not that 5R itself is a gimmick just that it can not make up for a poor quality OEM mass produced barrel limitations. In fact it can not even reduce copper fouling if the surface of the barrel is rough as a cheese grater! The industry is always hopping on trendy things to make sales to the point of being goofy and silly in many cases.

I use Brux for my F-Open rifle. I use a CHF barrel for F-TR and for Production Rifle in PRS and I use button rifled barrels mostly due to cost for Silhouette, Hunting and PRS in all other classes outside of "Production Rifle". Since so many people make high quality button rifled barrels you can if you shop around get a great deal on one from a reputable match grade barrel maker. Trying to get a great deal on a cut rifled barrel is almost mission impossible. I tend to get longer barrel life out cut rifled barrels than button rifled which is why I use them for F-Open. PRS limits the bore size and peak velocity so barrel burners are not the norm in PRS like they are in F-Open! Production Rifle class pretty much guarantee's that 99% of the rifles will be CHF barreled. You can not purchase a match grade CHF barrel in America so that eliminates that as even an option. Since Olympic Arms went away no one makes a broached center fire rifle barrel.
 
Give ABC ( American Barrel Company ) a try, according to my gun smith mine indicated and machined as good or better than most of the top brands he has done for BR shooters.
Mine shoots and cleans easier than any other I've had ( it is the trigger puller screwing up right now).
Only way to get one right now is send a PM to Oliver88, he should get back to you.
 
With all the top barrels manufactures mentioned, they have all made excellent barrels for me. What separates them from the rest is how they handle the situation when a bad barrel gets past QC inspection. I've not had a bad Bartlein, but both Krieger, Obermeyer and Brux have made it right, right now. All they ask is for you to send the problem child back for inspection.
I hope this helps,

Lloyd
 
Any real world difference here? I’ve had good success with Brux but have a chance to buy a Bartlein in stock. This would be a 30 cal barrel.

I'm running a 280AI in F-open...first barrel was a Bartlein, 32, 8.5 twist, 32 long, 5R...it shot very well and I got 2000 rounds out of it and it was still shooting well when I pulled it a few months ago. Got a 32 Brux on now, 32, 8.5 twist, 4 groove...no difference as far as I can tell, they're both easy to get shooting well and they clean up pretty much the same. Buy whatever you can get first if time is an issue.
 
I am a happy Brux guy but would not hesitate to buy a Bartlein because of the massive experience with Bartlein that my most trusted heavy shooters have with them.
 
The guys at Brux are great to deal with. I’ve had first hand experience with 6 barrels. All are great shooters. I would hesitate to get either one. You won’t go wrong either way. I think it matters who is putting the barrel on more than who made the barrel. I’ve had good luck with Krieger, Brux, Shilen, and Benchmark. All with very good results as long as the nut behind the bolt (me) does his job.
 
I had a 30 BR done on a Brux a few months ago,my cousin did the work he uses the Grizzly Rod (Gordy method) It was the straightest Barrel he had ever done, it took just a few minutes to dial it in 2 places,and the muzzle was running very true on outboard spider end also and that hardly ever happens due to the indicating method. He usually always uses Bartlien and they shoot Great ! But for ease of indicating a Barrel in the Brux was unbelievable strait ! And it shoots Great" But as shooters we have it great because their is so many Great Barrel makers !
 
My Smith wanted to use a Brux barrel for my recent build. We couldn’t get Brux in the proper contour and twist to meet my timeline. He wasn’t the least bit upset when I dropped off a Bartlein.
 

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