Picking a Great Shooting Barrel - Hogwash!

[rcw3]

Now and then I sell barrel blanks in the Classified Ads and it continually amazes me how many people reply to the ads and are suspicious that the barrel blanks I am selling are somehow the rejects from a batch of premium barrels that I sorted through and removed the great shooting barrels.

As far as I know there is no method to pre sort barrel blanks like that and the only way I know to find out if a barrel is a good shooter is to have it chambered up and shoot it (in which case it's no longer a barrel blank, but a used barrel).

Where does this idea come from that there is some method of pre-selecting great shooting barrels out of a batch of premium barrel blanks?

Robert Whitley

 

[Eddie Harren]

Just demonstrates the ignorance of some of the "Firearms Experts and World Class Shooters" on this and a lot of other sites.

 

[Jay Christopherson]

You could make a fortune if you actually could somehow tell the difference....

 

[markm87]

Sort me off a good one!! ;D

 

[Rustystud]

Robert:

I have a customer who buys 25 barrels just alike, same caliber, same profile, same trwist, same number of lands and grooves, chambered with the same reamer, cut and crowned just alike. He shoots all of them on the same two actions with the same loads. He keeps what he considers the best 4 barrels. He sells the rest to a couple of his fellow competitors. Some years he wins more some years his competitors shoot better. I feel I have a reasonable amount of experience with barrels. I can visually inspect and slug the barrels and can tell little or no difference in the aforementioned barrels. Barrels of differing makers are of differing quality and can be noted. But barrels of the same maker generally are of little difference in quality. Now many barrel makers make both premium and OEM barrels that varry in quality. Lapping of barrels is an art unto itself.

If you look at the match winners in any discipline of shooting they will be shooting one of about a half dozen manufactures barrels.

Nat Lambeth

 

[BoydAllen]

Robert,
You might remind them that Tony Boyer sorts barrels by shooting them. I am sure that it would be a lot more economical if there was another way. Unfortunately, there isn't.
Boyd

 

[4xforfun]

I know a couple of guys who buy a bunch of bbl blanks, slug them, and Keep the "best" ones.

 

[in2deep]

Shilen has "regular" barrels and then sells "Select Premium" barrels (for a premium price).

Maybe this is where it comes from.

The famous Guru rimfire gunsmiths often slug a barrel to check for uniformity and swear they can tell the difference in a hummer.

 

[jonbearman]

There are alot of suspicious people on here.Every ad with only a few in exception I have put on here gets little to no activity and when I see the same stuff selling on here under someone elses name,it sells for more than I was asking in the first place and I have 54 positive feedbacks.

 

[Romulus]

Can someone technically explain "slugging" a barrel? Do they do the same process as guys slugging lead?

 

[rcw3]

I read the replies here, and while I am aware of slugging barrels and that certain makers have differing grades of "match" barrels (based typically on bore uniformity and/or lapping), I still know of no technique to truly pre-determine a really great shooting barrel (hummer) out of a batch of premium barrels other than chambering it up and shooting it. If I am wrong here please let me know and I am all ears on this as I would love to be able to pick the "best" shooting barrels out of a group of barrels. I believe that a great shooting barrel can be based on more than just the internal bore dimensions, uniformity and internal finish, but it also relates sometimes to other things like whether you happen get the right piece of steel for that particular barrel, a little "luck of the draw", etc.

Robert Whitley

 

[Cigarcop]

I can say I have bought a few barrels from Robert and currently have two chambered.....I am more than pleased to say the least!

 

[WyleWD]

Where does this idea come from that there is some method of pre-selecting great shooting barrels out of a batch of premium barrel blanks?
Robert Whitley

Unrealistic expectations from the prospective shooter is one place. Gotta make some excuse as to why that big dollar barrel and trick set up still don't shoot. ;D

By and large, from the fellas I shoot with and against, IMHO you can buy about any one of half a dozen major barrel makers products and the ultimate deciding factor as to whether it shoots or not is part gunsmith in proper fitting and crowning, and mostly the person on the trigger being able to reload properly and shoot under pressure.

Prime example: I was in a match with a fella 14 months ago that had one of the most beautiful (and expensive) bench rifles I've ever seen. He couldn't go 10 minutes without telling everyone how much money he had in the barrel, stock, scope, special dies, yah dah yah da. At 100yds & 200yds my factory Ruger out scored his new rifle by 20 points 6x's at 100 and about the same at 200. But that shore was a pretty rifle he had. Dang!! WD

 

[Eddie Harren]

More "Hogwash" please!!!!

 

[butchlambert]

Robt.,
I understand. I had a barrel by one manufacture checked by another. The guy was having problems. They have a fixture to spin the barrel with a light showing through it to see if a bore is straight. They air gauged it and it was near perfect. It was slugged and had approx .0001 choke at the muzzle. A borescope showed it to be very smooth and not fouled. The twist rate was checked and it was constant.
The shooter is one that some of you may know and you would then know it wasn't a shooter problem.
As has been said, anybody that can pick the good ones including the mfg. could make a lot of money.
Wylie WD, I can't agree with your premise.
Butch

 

[BoydAllen]

Not everything, that affects accuracy can be measured, for example, stress that has not been adequately relieved.

 

[dreever]

Robert,

I think this all goes back to claims made by Bill Calfee that he could pick out the best barrels, even Hummers everytime. He doesn't post here, or on Benchrest Central anymore. Correction he never did, his friend "Kathy" always did the postings. (YA right!) because he was called on it to prove his claims.
If anybody could do that they would be making six figures working for a major barrel maker who would then sell the "Hummers" at quadruple the price.
It all comes down to how good the barrel maker is and the people who work for them. Even then it's a crap shoot if you'll get the super barrel or just a really really good one. I've never gotten a bad Kreiger or Bartlein so that's what I stick with.

Danny

 

[Dgd6mm]

I Will 1 day buy a barrel from Robert when he is selling what I'm looking for, and do it with CONFIDENCE!!

 

[Eddie Harren]

Danny, Bill never claimed to be able to tell a "Hummer" centerfire barrel, as far as I know. He did claim great success with determining the best place to cut and crown a rimfire barrel by slugging it, and then cutting and crowning at the tight spot. His RF BR rifles have won far too many matches for me to doubt his opinion on this.

 

[rain164845]

I think that some people may request that a barrel be inspected with a borescope first, just to weed out one that may have a defect. I am sure they are few and far between, but if that could be sorted out before the gunsmith puts $300 of labor into a defective barrel, that might be worth the cost of borescoping.