Ok, since I have been seeing the same banter for a few weeks now, and I needed to call Shilen for a barrel anyway, I called and asked a few questions myself. But first, I want to point out a few things, including an excerpt from the Shilen site in the "barrel grades" section:
"Our Match Grade barrels don't quite meet Select Match criteria-- but not by much!"
Now if they were machined to be a lesser product, than why make that statement? Simple, they were never intended to be a lesser product until the barrel was air gauged. When it comes to measuring .0001" bore uniformity and .0003" groove diameter, it takes a climate controlled room to even measure steel with such precision because temperature differences will cause it to shrink or swell by that amount or more.
If the products were made by different processes with the intention of being either select or match, than they wouldn't need to air gauge them to be graded either, only for quality control purposes. And they would be scrapping thousands of select barrels that had the same tolerance as the match. That makes a ton of sense.
So since it would be nearly impossible to have a line of barrels that consistently fell within that tolerance due to variances in steel and tooling, they allow a second grade of barrel to be produced from some of the blanks that are not quite as perfect.
It would be more accurate to say they manufacture match grade barrels, and occasionally end up with a few that end up better than the rest and are sold as select match. Not because they are made differently, but because for some reason they exceed tolerance expectations and could be considered more of a fluke than a purpose made product.
Now, the response I was given when I asked about the difference between stainless barrel grades.
I was told by an employee when I called that they use one type of button for all their barrels. No difference other than the Select Match are from exceptional pieces of steel that happen almost by accident, and do not start out as anything other than a regular stainless barrel and are treated as such until air gauged and found to be of select tolerance.
As for Chrome-Moly, they make one grade that can be hand lapped at request and additional expense. There are no select chrome barrels.
When I asked about a select match and how long it would take to make one, I was told it can vary greatly as there are very few that finish all the steps necessary to become a barrel and still hold the tolerance necessary to be considered Select. So if they were using a different process and the match are a different product and they are junking all the failed select barrels, I need to go ransack their dumpster.
"Our Match Grade barrels don't quite meet Select Match criteria-- but not by much!"
Now if they were machined to be a lesser product, than why make that statement? Simple, they were never intended to be a lesser product until the barrel was air gauged. When it comes to measuring .0001" bore uniformity and .0003" groove diameter, it takes a climate controlled room to even measure steel with such precision because temperature differences will cause it to shrink or swell by that amount or more.
If the products were made by different processes with the intention of being either select or match, than they wouldn't need to air gauge them to be graded either, only for quality control purposes. And they would be scrapping thousands of select barrels that had the same tolerance as the match. That makes a ton of sense.
So since it would be nearly impossible to have a line of barrels that consistently fell within that tolerance due to variances in steel and tooling, they allow a second grade of barrel to be produced from some of the blanks that are not quite as perfect.
It would be more accurate to say they manufacture match grade barrels, and occasionally end up with a few that end up better than the rest and are sold as select match. Not because they are made differently, but because for some reason they exceed tolerance expectations and could be considered more of a fluke than a purpose made product.
Now, the response I was given when I asked about the difference between stainless barrel grades.
I was told by an employee when I called that they use one type of button for all their barrels. No difference other than the Select Match are from exceptional pieces of steel that happen almost by accident, and do not start out as anything other than a regular stainless barrel and are treated as such until air gauged and found to be of select tolerance.
As for Chrome-Moly, they make one grade that can be hand lapped at request and additional expense. There are no select chrome barrels.
When I asked about a select match and how long it would take to make one, I was told it can vary greatly as there are very few that finish all the steps necessary to become a barrel and still hold the tolerance necessary to be considered Select. So if they were using a different process and the match are a different product and they are junking all the failed select barrels, I need to go ransack their dumpster.
