I have never had a so so Douglas barrel, the 4-5 I have owned all shot well whether CM or SS. Have had 3 Shilen's and none made me all warm and fuzzy! When Dakota Arms first opened in Sturgis I stopped in and Pete Grisel gave me a tour, he said at that time they were using Douglas blanks. Have also heard that Cooper used them when they started and IIRC Kimber of Oregon also used them? Had one of the first Kimbers but cannot verify that it had a Douglas barrel.
Dave Carver of IT&D in OH has always used Douglas blanks and buys them at least 100 at a time he said. Now with as many barrels as he has sold and installed me thinks if they were garbage he probably wouldn't be as busy as he is? The 6 I have bought from him as new barreled actions or threaded and long chambered all shot extremely well. Yea, not benchrest winners but way more accuracy then necessary for a big game or varmint rig.
Also have a great friend and smith who has installed close to 200 Douglas blanks. He had ONE that he chambered in 22/250 that wouldn't shoot. Douglas sent him another blank and let him keep the first. When he had some free time he cut off the breech end and rethreaded and chambered it to 223. Whether his mess up or Douglas' it then shot super. He built a 6AI for a lady customer using a Douglas barrel that won the VHA shoot one year in Pierre against rifles built by Gritters, Holland and a couple other gents that know their way around a machine shop and none of them were built with Douglas blanks.
Never had a Shilen that ran on the fast side but every Douglas I have owned and chronographed was satisfactory or above for speed. My experience is that 95% of shooters cannot out shoot a Douglas barrel and I am in that majority. Just not KOOL to own a Douglas, especially now with the internet crowd, you have to be up there with the Jones's or yer nuttin!!!!!!
My 6TCU is a 12 twist Douglas stainless, I shot 3 shots holding forend like I would hunting yotes out the truck window, then 3 letting it recoil off the bag and then screwed on my Gemtech HVT and shot 3 each way. The 12 shots averaged .497", so tolerable accuracy IMHO. Load was 50TNT with 335 and barrel is a #5 cut @ 20". Never tinkered with seating depth, bullets or neck tension etc, just the first load I tried from a loading manual. Guessing if I put a bit more time and effort into it it may do better than that. IIRC the smallest 3 shot group from it is under .2. Built it for a truck gun and not a paper puncher so when it and I were consistently in the 1/2 moa range all testing ceased!!! One could do much worse than buying a Douglas blank from my experiences!!
All the Douglas' I have owned/shot also cleaned up faster than any Shilen I have had!
Just me measly 2 cents worth of hands on experiences!
Respectfully,
Dennis
Dave Carver of IT&D in OH has always used Douglas blanks and buys them at least 100 at a time he said. Now with as many barrels as he has sold and installed me thinks if they were garbage he probably wouldn't be as busy as he is? The 6 I have bought from him as new barreled actions or threaded and long chambered all shot extremely well. Yea, not benchrest winners but way more accuracy then necessary for a big game or varmint rig.
Also have a great friend and smith who has installed close to 200 Douglas blanks. He had ONE that he chambered in 22/250 that wouldn't shoot. Douglas sent him another blank and let him keep the first. When he had some free time he cut off the breech end and rethreaded and chambered it to 223. Whether his mess up or Douglas' it then shot super. He built a 6AI for a lady customer using a Douglas barrel that won the VHA shoot one year in Pierre against rifles built by Gritters, Holland and a couple other gents that know their way around a machine shop and none of them were built with Douglas blanks.
Never had a Shilen that ran on the fast side but every Douglas I have owned and chronographed was satisfactory or above for speed. My experience is that 95% of shooters cannot out shoot a Douglas barrel and I am in that majority. Just not KOOL to own a Douglas, especially now with the internet crowd, you have to be up there with the Jones's or yer nuttin!!!!!!
My 6TCU is a 12 twist Douglas stainless, I shot 3 shots holding forend like I would hunting yotes out the truck window, then 3 letting it recoil off the bag and then screwed on my Gemtech HVT and shot 3 each way. The 12 shots averaged .497", so tolerable accuracy IMHO. Load was 50TNT with 335 and barrel is a #5 cut @ 20". Never tinkered with seating depth, bullets or neck tension etc, just the first load I tried from a loading manual. Guessing if I put a bit more time and effort into it it may do better than that. IIRC the smallest 3 shot group from it is under .2. Built it for a truck gun and not a paper puncher so when it and I were consistently in the 1/2 moa range all testing ceased!!! One could do much worse than buying a Douglas blank from my experiences!!
All the Douglas' I have owned/shot also cleaned up faster than any Shilen I have had!
Just me measly 2 cents worth of hands on experiences!
Respectfully,
Dennis
You never hear about the CRAP that DIDN'T work.
Some of us old guys have pretty strong opinions.
Turned out to be one of the BEST bug hole makers I've ever had. Cleans up as smooth as silk. 
