Extreme copper fouling in new barrel

[zcrackshot]

I have never used a Krieger barrel on any build thus far. From the sounds of it I may never want to. I'll watch this thread to see how things end up. Thus far it seems as if it's ending up bad for their customer, or should I say ex-customer? I wish the manufacturers would jump on these forums every once in a while to see what people are saying. One person on the phone never seems to get a point across but many people on various forums just might!

Zac M.

 

[Jayman_10x]

Get a load of this SH*T!! after thinkin over the weekend I called krieger to see about makin a change to the contour of the new blank they were to send me and get a tracking number on my rifle. the fella I talked to said the contour change wouldnt be a problem if they havent started it yet and he would check and call back...he calls back and says its already contoured and waitin rifleing, OK not a problem. How bout my rifle you are sending back you have a tracking number?...Uhh we aren't putting on the new barrel?...No I was told you people didnt do that anymore cuz you are to busy, you are supposed to be sending my complete rifle back to me ASAP and a new barrel blank when you get it done...OK let me check on your gun and I ll call you back... He calls back and says we cant give you back the old barrel and a new blank, thats against our policy...YOU GOTTA BE KIDDN ME!!!!! An agreement was made last week on the phone that since you wouldnt rebarrel my gun or reimburse to have my smith rebarrel that you were sending my gun with old barrel back ASAP and sending a new blank when completed...who did you agree to with that?... and I told him who I talked to and He said he would check into it and call me back... He calls back and says he talked to that fella and the fella above him and they say that no agreement like that was made.... I WAS FLOORED AND STILL AM, WTF ARE THEY TRYING TO DO HERE?!!!!!!!!!!!? To make a long story a little shorter the man I talked to last week is a LIAR!!!!! and the plant operations manager is supposed to call me in the A.M. How can they even BEGIN to think that when I sent a COMPLETE rifle up to them, that they can just send me back parts of a gun to be put together by a smith at my cost???????? My blood is BOILING!!!!!!!

fastnflat1,

I've been reading your story here and all I can say is my heart goes out to you. Personally, I am not a fan of Kreiger barrels. I know they shoot well in general (as you testify here) and their barrels break all sorts of world records, but I've been reading too much lately of faulty barrels and now seeing this lackluster customer service I will make certain to spend my money elsewhere when ordering components for my next build.

My personal rifle barrels bear the names of Hart, Broughton and Douglas. Each of them shoot better than I do.

Jason

 

[kjcpoint]

Out of 17 barrels I got from them last year, had one 20 cal that was tight from the breech end. sent the barrel back and got a new one in two weeks. still keep a couple 20 cal barrels on order.
i hope they take care of your situation and believe they will.
I would like to see brux making 20 cal barrels soon?

Kyle

 

[fastnflat1]

well goin off that looks like the next 14 barrels from them I buy will be ok. LOL Ive bought three Kriegers in the past year. one ive got about 300 rnds thru and im completely happy with it. the second is the one this thread is about and the 3rd im picking up from the smiths tomarrow evening its on a stiller predator action. Im new to the custom builds so dont have much experience with barrel manufacturers but what Krieger is doing here is not fare or standard by any means in my book. Maybe the operations manager (if he calls) will see that this gets a happy ending for all.

fingers crossed!!!

 

[Jayman_10x]

Keep us updated on developments here.

 

[fastnflat1]

ok got an update. talked to operations manager and they are going to thread and chamber new barrel and put on gun. I am sending up my reamer and go gauge tomarrow. they are of course keeping the old barrel.He was somewhat defiant that anything was wrong with the old barrel by saying that i am running high velocity and all barrels foul. when I asked him if their barrels were not designed for high velocity he responded with a "NO thats not the case." LOL So anyway at least they are going to supply a new blank and put it on. however I feel that they are putting it on only because I had the reamer and go gauge and they already had my gun in hand. once he found out I had the reamer his tune changed a little. He did tell me in a round about way that it would be a 2nd rate job by stating "we dont fit barrels everyday and probly wont be as precise as a benchrest rifle builder." gee thanks for the warning and hopefully it shoots when I get it back. Its not over yet as I dont have my rifle back and shooting.

 

[AdamJ]

I have rifles built with alot of the major barrel makers: Kreiger, Bartlien, Brux, LW, shilen, douglas, and shneider. All of them have broke-in differently then the rest. My kreiger broke in sweet, about 15-20 rds. A few more rds then that for the Brux and Douglas. My Bartlein and LW barrels took about 150-200 rds before normal cleaning would wipe out the copper on the lands in the last 1/2" of barrel. I was concerned at the time about this, but both guns were shooting in the .2s, so I did not wet myself over the copper deal. All guns will break-in some take 10 rds some can take up to 200. The damnedest things is the two barrels that took the longest to break-in also shot lights-out. One is 243 1-8 I have used in long range tactical matches and deer pop. control(out to 625yds longest kill) and the other is 6br for 100 yd BR & varmints. In regards to your solvent I was given some of the new proshot copper remover and did my solvent test. Not scientific, but hard to argue with the results. .30 cal patch soaked in a specific solvent in its own open ziploc bag with a 168smk placed on the patch. All were started at the same time and after 20 min I inspected which patch was the bluest. Boretech eliminator and sweets were the bluest, then butches and last was close between the new proshot and hoppes benchrest solvent. I did not try montana copper killer or some others, just the ones I had on hand and most popular here and at snipershide. I swear by boretech, 10 patches will take you from 200rds down the bore to looking like a mirror with no traces of copper under a hawkeye. Good luck with your project I hope it turns out good in the end for you

 

[Jayman_10x]

ok got an update. talked to operations manager and they are going to thread and chamber new barrel and put on gun. I am sending up my reamer and go gauge tomarrow. they are of course keeping the old barrel.He was somewhat defiant that anything was wrong with the old barrel by saying that i am running high velocity and all barrels foul. when I asked him if their barrels were not designed for high velocity he responded with a "NO thats not the case." LOL So anyway at least they are going to supply a new blank and put it on. however I feel that they are putting it on only because I had the reamer and go gauge and they already had my gun in hand. once he found out I had the reamer his tune changed a little. He did tell me in a round about way that it would be a 2nd rate job by stating "we dont fit barrels everyday and probly wont be as precise as a benchrest rifle builder." gee thanks for the warning and hopefully it shoots when I get it back. Its not over yet as I dont have my rifle back and shooting.

Oh man. Kreiger is not sounding good here: "we dont fit barrels everyday and probly wont be as precise as a benchrest rifle builder." That's not befitting of a company with their reputation.

Give us a range report when you can.

thanks,
Jason

 

[K0na_stinky]

TTT

Did you get a chance to test out your new barrel yet?

 

[fastnflat1]

No, I called to get an update a couple of weeks ago and they still hadnt rifled the barrel. was told then i should see it about the middle of April. patiently waiting 8)

 

[vmthtr]

How is the new barrel shooting?

 

[fastnflat1]

hey I had forgot about this thread. krieger did a great job on the chamber and barrel job and the barrel has yet to show copper. I worked up a 4050fps load that shoots .3s consistently. I have taken home money from local matches and been prairie dogging with it and after nearly 600 rds down it we are still doing great. Ive never had a barrel clean as easily as this one. oh and a couple weeks after I got the rifle back from krieger I recieved a $40 check from them for "shipping reimb". all in all im completely satisfied with krieger barrels, but why in the hell did they have to be such assholes in the process. 8)

 

[vmthtr]

Great to hear it is shooting as expected now.

 

[jonbearman]

Its typical of alot of companys in business to line their pockets and their guarantee is only worth the paper its printed on. I will bet that if it was one of the top shooters in the country,they wouldnt question it. In the old days ,it was the customer is king no matter who you were.

 

[AdamJ]

fast nflats rifle shoots pretty good, you did best me one relay last time out ( and shoot the small group) but in the rain my 6br rocks over the 20br . The carnage that little 20 does to PDs is borderline nasty, but I dig it.

 

[fdshuster]

Krieger has to be a reputable company or; they never would have fixed the problem. There is a big name barrel maker out there who is on record with my gunsmith/rifle builder as refusing to replace one of their barrels that copper fouls to the extreme. Group sizes are laughable. it was not a case of a bad chambering job, because we 'scoped out the barrel with the Hawkeye and the entire interior surface looks like a Nicholson file with cross reamer tool marks, a classic example of a real piece of crap! My gunsmith had to eat the loss, but will never buy another one of these barrels, unless a customer demands it. On the other hand the barrel makers probably get a lot of bad feedback from customers about their barrels ( few pay a compliment to the barrel maker when they get one of real quality), when it's a case of poor cleaning technique, choice of solvents, damaged crown from careless handling, etc. So, they tend to treat complaints with a bit of skepticism initially. I've been fortunate with more than my share of Shilen's, Hart's, Krieger's & Bartlein's and have yet to get a bad one.

 

[swampshooter]

I have a 10 twist Shilen in .204 Ruger. I'm shooting the 39 Sierra around 3800 - 26" bbl. There's no excessive copper fouling in it. I'll shoot 50 rounds or so, spray it with foul out, wait 30 minutes and patch it out and it's good. If I repeat I don't get enough aditional copper or carbon out to worry with. I think Krieger's reply is a cop out. I was just getting ready to buy a Krieger tube, but I think now I'll just stick with Shilen.

 

[Hal]

Swampshooter

What more could you ask for from a barrel maker than a new barrel and a chamber job ?


Hal

 

[fastnflat1]

swampshooter, i have three kriegers all in 20s and they are great barrels. my next 20 will be a pacnor 3 groove but i am goin to run another krieger but in a .243 bore. like I said there barrels are great and they made it right with me on the horribly fouling barrel. however they could have done it with a lot less headache.

 

[AdamJ]

243 fast twist like mine?