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Where did all the barrels go?

Kracken McGraw said:
Anyone in the know, is their any truth that barrel steel comes from overseas?
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I buy a lot of steel, just not 416R Stainless.

unless you are buying from a specific supplier who has their own domestic facility, you do not know where certain steels come from.

We buy all of our large bar stock from NuCor, they are domestic and make the majority of their steels from remelt, (scrap). Their steel is very consistent in it’s cleanliness , a very important factor when used in operations such as ours where we do submerged arc SS welding on the shafts.

Our domestic barrel makers probably use all domestic, but they would have tell you for sure. 416R is a specific alloy, it has to meet the requirements as set forth by ASTM.
 
jmoeller22 said:
What is up with the lead times on barrels lately, if you can find them at all? Why do they seem impossible to readily source these days? Every 'smith and barrel manufacturer I find has a lead time of 6 weeks minimum, and others aren't offering the services at all anymore. Are the days of instant purchasing for major firearm components behind us for good?

Seems like steel bar should be one of the most abundant options out there as far as raw materials go. What am I missing (and please don't say "but the covid supply chain issues...")?
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Government contracts. There is no "shortage".

There are two threads in this very forum talking about declining shooter numbers. Yet when you discuss the shortages and bring up the fact that it's not shooters drying up the supply chain the general response is something along the line of "conspiracy theory".

I've been saying for years that there has never ever actually been a "shortage" . Any momentary lapses in supply chain remedied themselves pretty quickly. What you have is complete reworking of the entire industry, and target shooters and their supply needs are no longer a factor. There are new customers for the suppliers and they are the ones that are drying up the supply chain.

It's not a conspiracy theory.
 
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mauser284 said:
No one has actual explained things well though. The number of new hunters or new shooters starting with a custom action with no barrel or trigger or stock has not increased. If it had than stocks, triggers and everything else would be just as back logged and that is not the case. OEM's are not short on stocks, trigger's, actions or barrels.

Who are the people purchasing so many barrels at one time that the small cottage custom barrel makers can not keep up with demand? If it is a problem why don't custom barrel makers put a purchase limit on the number of barrels one person can purchase not only at one time but per quarter or year. Clearly the barrel makers do not give a crap about customer base being made to suffer due to the greed of a few!

The barrel makers always whine and complain like the same liars I deal with in Detroit. They can not find qualified help because of where they are located. If there was a premium barrel maker inside 100 miles of my mid-Michigan home I would commute each day and even work just for gas money to learnt he trade. That said if they where near me they would never hire me because they could have anyone of 10,000 machinist and tool and die guys retired from GM, Ford, Chrysler and all the tier 1, 2 and 3 suppliers in the area to choose from. So when I hear them cry about lack of quality help they can go pound sand for all I care. They want Purple Squirrels just like all of the companies in and around Detroit! They want people with decades of experience and industry certification that will drive 2 hours each way and work for close to nothing!

You can not set up a semiconductor plant in Appalachian Coal country and expect to find pre-qualified staff that you can hire and start churning out world class competitive semiconductors with. I am 50 years old and if I had not learned to work a lathe, mill, metal shaper in middle school I would have been screwed. They told my generation do not become engineer's, tool and die, machinist, carpenters, mechanics or plumbers we have too many of those. Now look where that has gotten us.

All of the manufacturing and technology jobs that we got rid of have not been refilled with quality high paying jobs they are service jobs with no future once all the retired boomers die off. The places you can find qualified help are not located in the places that are still manufacturing. Who the XXXX wants to move to Wisconsin to make rifle barrels? If that job falls through you are not going to collect your tools and drive 3 buildings down and get on with the next machine shop!

I still want to know who is buying up all of these barrels just like where the heck is all of the ammo and primers still going 3 years latter? To date no one has actual dropped anything like a fact that has been backed up with actual data on this site or any other site!

None of these barrel makers will give you honest answer just like the primer and bullet makes wont either!

No one is going to come on this sight and say something like the reason your Brux Barrel is taking 11 months is because Eric Dusseldorf put in an order for 1500 barrels and paid in full in advance 30% above full retail!

All of the barrel makers on this site should be treated as suspect when it comes to the reasons they give for delays and shortages and long lead times. It is like asking a teenager to tell the truth when the truth would only hut them and get them punished. The best you can hope for is most of the truth with just a few lies of omission in the tale! Just like they will never give any factual data that makes their product look like anything other than the best. It is "mostly honest people" which is to say they only lie when they have to!

How many barrels do you think honest working men are purchasing at one time? You actual think it is middle aged men building a project rifle that is sucking up the supply? Must be nice to be a fool!
Click to expand...

I think that about sums it up.

Who is Eric Douseldorf?
 
Tesoro said:
I dont know much, if anything about machiniing, but I do know with the influx of cheap capital over the last while, many start up small companies may have been able to buy some pretty damm hi-tech automated 'in the box' machines that can do barrels as good as the big guys. They dont have a name but end product could be acceptable to the many of us. Who are they? Where are they?

www.kays-dehoff.com

DeHoff Gun Barrel Machines | Kays Engineering

Kays Engineering offers the only complete DeHoff gun barrel machine manufacturing package. Go from empty factory to making finished barrels.
www.kays-dehoff.com www.kays-dehoff.com
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Ain't nothing but money!
 
Its nothing new, been this way for years now. I just had to change my ordering to adjust. I keep at least 50 barrels on order for BR and F-class. That way I get them in every couple months and keep a running list for guys that need them. I dont order sporter barrels because theres too much variety, but for BR and F-class the contours and twists are pretty standard. I tell guys to get at least 2 up front and when the first one is done, let me know and we'll get another one before you burn out the other. Its no problem once you get on the schedule.
 
What I have started doing is, when I have the new rifle in hand, usually after a long wait, I order a new barrel for it. I then have a replacement on hand when the current barrel is shot out.
Mike
 
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F Class John said:
@Rset touched on this with staffing and demand but one thing to also consider is that it's easy for us to say 'just add a machine' to increase production and reduce lead times but that isn't as easy as it sounds. Even IF they wanted to, I can tell you in watching interviews with both Ken from Brux and Frank from Bartlein that because making a barrel takes so many steps to produce, that adding a machine means also finding a way to prevent truncating the flow anywhere else in the production line and this usually means adding staff at every position along the way. That adds additional overhead, headaches and not to mention each of those positions requires considerable training on top of the fact that this isn't exactly a world where people are beating down the doors to work hard labor jobs anymore so it's tough to even staff those new position.

6-12 month barrels has been a thing for a few years now, especially for the good ones. On my channels I always recommend people order barrels before they need them based on how much they shoot. Especially for those who compete and shoot a lot, it's easy to figure out how many barrels you need and once you get past that initial order it's easier to stay ahead of it.

From my perspective I can at least be thankful that when I've dealt with Brux or Bartlein they are almost always dead on with their lead time estimates instead of giving people false hope it'll be sooner which helps plan as well. In many cases you may be surprised and get a barrel sooner.

Lastly, this is also where having a good relationship with a gunsmith comes in handy as well. As an example, I know a couple local smiths orders 50+ barrels at a time so they have them ready to go for their customers. Some smiths only use those barrels for complete builds, some reserve them for existing customer and other just chamber them.

You may try contacting Jeremy Smith www.jtsprecision.com or Jay Christopherson www.jrcprecision.com as I believe both often have barrels in stock (mostly for F Class) and do almost nothing but barrel work so turn around is pretty quick, but you can't just buy barrels from them, you have to use them for the chambering as well.

Here's a quick list of places I'm aware of to look including some previously listed above:
  • Brux bruxbarrels.com
  • Bartlein bartleinbarrels.com
  • Krieger Kriegerbarrels.com
  • Blake Barrels (fclassproducts.com)
  • Bugholes.com
  • Bulletcentral.com
  • Riflebarrels.com
  • Benchmark-barrels.com
  • Shilen.com
  • Hartbarrels.com
  • Mcgowenbarrel.com
  • Proofresearch.com
  • Acebarrels.com
  • Criterionbarrels.com
  • www.theurbanriflemanstore.com
  • @Greg Taylor (forum member and good guy to deal with)
  • www.jtsprecision.com (must also have them do the chambering)
  • www.jrcprecision.com (must also have them do the chambering)
Click to expand...
REDHAWK RIFLES
OTM Tactical
PACNOR
 
urbanrifleman said:
I'm hoping they're going to start framing my building tomorrow. Then once the new building is done things are going to get serious.

View attachment 1477016
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I'll be keeping you in mind for my next barrel. Thank everyone for the feedback. I'm getting into my third month of waiting for a "prefit" for my Seekins and it just feels like the light at the end of the tunnel just keeps getting pushed further and further back.
 
I am for sure not the most informed on this forum about barrels. I would have thought most all would be listed in a post like this, but not so. Also include Lilja, Pacnor, Lederer, Green Mountain, Hawk Hill, Schnider, and I am sure many more.
 
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