Douglas vs Wilson

[troupe]

I don't think folks were cutting down Wilson barrels, it is how the products were being pushed. Urbanrifleman can sell Douglas just as easy as Wilson. Matter of fact, it would be a smart business move on his part for his customers. His profit would not be hurt, only helped with the options for his customers. Calling out the OP as asking a silly question is not cool, then the Monty Python remark. There is very good experience on this forum and Mr. Wheeler has made a very good point eloquently and tastefully, coming from many valuable years of experience.

 

[jelenko]

Calling out the OP as asking a silly question is not cool, then the Monty Python remark

+1. People will react to that kind of statement - as we have seen.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

I have used plenty of wilsons. They work well for their price range, maybe the best in that price range. It would help them a lot to be hand lapped or not lapped at all in my opinion. A machine just cant do it like a person

 

[Ggmac]

The Urbanrifleman (from this site) has had great success with Wilson Barrels for both Savage & Remington you should read some of the testimonial's and and see what people that are shooting them have written you might change your mind on Wilson Barrels.

Nothing to change . Ive got a few shooters that have great success with wilson . But in my 30-35 yrs of rifle work , Douglas is better . Having a couple of good shooters with this grade or that doesnt make the entire wilson production as good as Douglas . Ive chambered Green mountain and ERShaw barrels that shot great locally and while cheaper , I wouldn’t recommend it for a f class rifle .
I believe the percentage of quality Douglas barrels per 100 far exceed the percentage of Wilson barrels per 100 .
I also like Chevies ,

 

[urbanrifleman]

This will be my last comment on this thread. But so often as happens on these internet forums, and in general and on social media, discussions switch from the actual discussion of the actual thing into discussing the people and what they said (or what they didn't like about the way it was said).

If you guys really want to make a big deal out of the fact that I said that the question was kind of "silly", and make it out that this is some major huge thing for me having made a kind of tongue-in-cheek comment. If you go back and read what I said, if you would have posted something (to the effect of) "which is better Brux or Krieger" it would have been an all-out fist fight. That was my point.

That as often happens people pick little tiny pieces of what is actually said and then blow it up into something huge. That's fine. I have just come to realize that that is the nature of discussing things in these forums. I've never had a bad thing to say about any of these companies or any person, especially Alex Wheeler (quite the. contrary).

You are now discussing me. Not barrels. I think you should stop.

 

[Ledd Slinger]

I also like RAM Trucks ,

Good post, but I had to fix the last part for you to make it a great post. LOL!

 

[Pyscodog]

Some have said my decision was made in 24 hours after posting my question so I already knew what I was going to do Well, not totally true. I had two rifles I want to rebarrel. One was the Sako A7, one was a Stevens 200. IIRC, I posted on a Saturday. Well, I bought another Sako in the same caliber on Sunday, a L579, a much nicer rifle. Thats when I decided I would do the A7. When I decided that, I pretty much knew I was going to need a smith to do the work. Wilson (Ragged Hole, not urbanrifleman) didn't offer the contour nor the twist I wanted. This meant buying a blank and having it contoured, more expense added. Then my smith charges extra for metric threads. All in all the best place for me to send my rifle to was Douglas. They offered everything I was wanting done to my rifle. Sorry this post got a little out of sorts and apologies to the members as I sure didn't want to cause problems. I took no offense by asking a silly question. I'm sure somewhere down the line I'll be asking more of them.

 

[Stan Taylor]

I have been shooting the thousand yard discipline since 2007 and no I’ve not broke any records and probably never will ,I’ll shoot for the love of the sport and I also know I am not the greatest shooter in the world ,I am handicapped and a lot of shooters that shoot with me no what that handicap is but it don’t stop me from shooting and supporting the barrel company that I work for and personally I don’t take the backseat to no other shooter, I have achieved my goals. So my opinion of comparing my barrels to Wilson is a moot point.
PS. This one plaque there’s only about 26 of these in the country in IBS long range at a 1000yds I don’t have to prove what my company is capable of.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Nothing to change . Ive got a few shooters that have great success with wilson . But in my 30-35 yrs of rifle work , Douglas is better . Having a couple of good shooters with this grade or that doesnt make the entire wilson production as good as Douglas . Ive chambered Green mountain and ERShaw barrels that shot great locally and while cheaper , I wouldn’t recommend it for a f class rifle .
I believe the percentage of quality Douglas barrels per 100 far exceed the percentage of Wilson barrels per 100 .
I also like Chevies ,

While I cant comment on the Douglas vs Wilson question I can say I have had a similar experiance as Ggmac. When you chamber a LOT of barrels you will start to see trends if your paying attention. I absolutely can say there are differences in Kriegers vs Bartliens vs Bruxs. Even at the top end of barrels, some still do certain things more consistently than others.

 

[AckleymanII]

I have had 3 very nice Wilson's recently, they scoped pretty, and ID was uniform...shocking in fact. Two are 22/243 AI's-14T(60g sierra HP and partitions at 4000), and the 6mm is yet to be chambered.

No flies on Douglas barrels from me, as everyone I have ever had was a great shooter. We burned out a lot of Douglas barrels back during the Great Prairie Dog Wars from 1979-1993.

Bottom line, barrel making has come a long way from the year 1980.

 

[UltraBR30]

@urbanrifleman
@Ledd Slinger
Be great if one of you, or both, would share a borescope video of a Wilson barrel from end to end.
Thanks ahead of time, if you do.

 

[urbanrifleman]

@urbanrifleman
@Ledd Slinger
Be great if one of you, or both, would share a borescope video of a Wilson barrel from end to end.
Thanks ahead of time, if you do.

 

[Ledd Slinger]

Is that throat off center?

Yeah sure looks like it’s off center to me as well.

 

[urbanrifleman]

I have already regretted posting.

Yeah sure looks like it’s off center to me as well.

Shoots incredibly well... as good as my best Brux. Sooo... once again, proving borescoping chambers is voodoo.

That is a typical Wilson barrel from end to end. As requested.

 

[Ledd Slinger]

I have already regretted posting.


Shoots incredibly well... as good as my best Brux. Sooo... once again, proving borescoping chambers is voodoo.

That is a typical Wilson barrel from end to end. As requested.

I’m not here to argue so this is my last post here. Will just say that I would not accept that chamber from a gunsmith. Ive had a 6mm Creedmoor chamber cut that way accidentally one time and it never lived up to my personal accuracy standards no matter how hard I tried to tune it in. My smith replaced the barrel with a new perfectly cut chamber free of charge and it shoots great now with wide tune nodes. Secondly, my Wilson barrels have small tooling mark spots here and there that were missed by the lapping machine. Not a lot, but they aren’t hard to find. BUT as I said before, they do shoot very well. I don’t get worked up about small tooling marks in a barrel as much as I do a crooked cut chamber. I can usually make barrels with some tooling marks shoot really good, crooked chambers not so much. That’s my last two cents and I’m done here now

 

[UltraBR30]

@urbanrifleman
Thanks for the video! It answered my questioning well, from which I have my own conclusions now.
Phil

 

[therifler]

i know douglas i have been using them in customer hunting rifles for years . never let me down . nice thing you can order one and get in short time . guys one of my mentors years ago told no one tries to make a bad barrel . i have not had enough experience with wilson to draw a conclusion . but sometimes in the gun building business your customer dictates what barrel you use . i know some smiths won't waver from what they say is right . but depending on the application desired i am generally open . i have used wilson, brux , kreiger , bartlein , no name mauser barrels and probably a couple i forgot to mention all good barrels . but forty years ago i started my business using barrels from Fred at Douglas now its Stan. and i would imagine 40 years from now someone will still be making douglas barrels .

 

[Pyscodog]

Back from Douglas today. Scope mounted, back in the stock and ready to go. Just need to throw some loads together now. Very pleased with the craftsmanship. Thanks Stan and the folks at Douglas.

 

[Stan Taylor]

Back from Douglas today. Scope mounted, back in the stock and ready to go. Just need to throw some loads together now. Very pleased with the craftsmanship. Thanks Stan and the folks at Douglas.

That is a good looking outfit.

 

[boltfluter]

Back from Douglas today. Scope mounted, back in the stock and ready to go. Just need to throw some loads together now. Very pleased with the craftsmanship. Thanks Stan and the folks at Douglas.

Nice looking rifle! Looking forward to some nice group pics in the near future.

Paul