Why does everyone look down on Shilen Barrels

[summitsitter]

I am thinking of using a Select Match Shilen or Krieger for my new build. Everyone seems to look at Shilen as a lesser barrel and I've noticed they seem to bring less money when the gun is sold. Why is that so? I noticed that the select match Shilen has tighter tolerances than the Krieger ( can't find specs on any other barrel makers). I know they are rifled different so that may be compareing apples to oranges. What is all the dislike about Shilen about?

 

[NorCalMikie]

I guess it's all in who you talk to. I've had 3 different Shilen barrels and think they're great. Got one (Blued CM) on my XP rifle (.221 Fireball) that shoots bug holes on a regular basis. Real easy to clean and looks like brand new. My second one was a 6BR that was throated a little longer than I really wanted. (I prefer lighter bullets jammed into the lands) Sold it and got one with a shorter throat.
Even with the lighter bullets (50s & 60s) hanging out of the case neck it would still group at less than 1/2".
I for one think they're (Shilen) one of the better barrels made. Might take a while to get one but, "Good things come to those that wait".

 

[Steve Blair]

I have shot Shilen barrels for years and just had a new Select Match installed on a .22-250. They have always performed well, both accuracy and longevity.

 

[gunnut606]

The last 3 barrels I bought from them, the barrels themselves were good, shot very well but the chambers were very poorly cut, fired cases look like a woman that ready to pop. Will not let them cut chambers anymore.

 

[Ackman]

Who is "everyone"? Half the people who tell you things don't know what they're talking about......they just repeat what someone told them, and those people heard it from someone else, etc.

 

[82boy]

I have often wondered this myself. My experience with Shilen is very good. (But I have only gotten blanks from them and had them chambered by a local smith.) My smith has tried to sell Shilen barrels ,and most people turn their nose up at them.

As far as Krieger goes, they have a reputation of making good barrels, and a somewhat cult following in benchrest.

I remember talking to a few shooters at the Firearms industry super shoot a couple of years ago, and they all said the same thing that Shilen shoot like a house of fire, until you get over 400 rounds through them , and they don't shoot good anymore.

They blame the hand lapping procedure that Shilen uses as making the barrels soft. (They say they are over lapped.) I can not say I have seen this, and I wonder what would happen if someone took one of their barrels and had it frozen.

 

[therifler]

i shoot 600 yd bench and have put more wood on the wall with shilen then any other make . but bartlien is catching up . if you do not mind waiting most do and i will recomend shilen happily . gunnut sorry to here about the chambers that is a job i won't trust to anyone but me . The Rifler

 

[Thorbird]

I have a shilen 7WSM Select match. I don't shoot it much now because I have been having fun with my 6BRX, 6BR, and .204 Ruger. I thought about selling it and went out last week to take some pictures of how it grouped to show potential buyers, and the darn thing just reminded me how it continues to bug hole. I just can't bare to sell it. Maybe I'll change my mind again, but it is hard to find barrels that shoot like that. They chambered it as well.

 

[fdshuster]

Leave me out of the "everyone" category. I have numerous Shilen barrels and they have all been excellent. ;D

 

[Chuckw]

the ONLY reason people would look at shilen with low regard is because they cost less than others. that means they are not as good doesnt it? its a fad thing. if tony boyer was still shooting shilens, so would everyone else. just the nature of the beast. you have just as good of chance getting a world record setting shilen as any other brand.

chuck

 

[skeetlee]

There's not a dam thing wrong with shilen barrels. I know of one hall of fame benchrest shooter that only shoots shilen barrels. I have bought a couple that he didnt think shot as well as he would have liked, and they have been wonderful barrels for me. I also have a friend that had one of the best shooting 30 br's i have ever seen, and it was a shilen. Maybe folks see them for sale at places like Mid-way USA, so they assume they are not as good of a barrel as the other makers that you have to wait a year for, I dont know?? I would buy one in a minute if it was what i was after!! Shilen barrels are tops, and that over lapping thing isnt true either! Ed shilen has been making barrels for a long time, and he has stayed in buisness for a reason, and it isnt because he overlaps his barrels!! People tend to follow the leader. (myself included at times) Brand X is winning all the shoots so brand X must be the best barrel there is. Not necessarily true. We are shooting the best barrels now since the start of barrel making. The machines and tools that make these barrels are better now than ever before. All the top names are good barrels, if they were not, they wouldnt still be in buisness. You just have to take your pick really. there are hummer barrels in all the top names as there are a few, but very few barrels, that just dont shoot, in all the top manufacturers. Just pick a barrel and shoot it, I bet you will enjoy it very much, and i also bet it soon becomes the best barrel you have ever shot, and you will buy more!! Or something like that. LOL!! Im not very good with words but i think i made my point or opinion! Lee

 

[butchlambert]

Poor lapping making them soft is an old wives tale. All of the top barrel makers use Crucible 416R stainless. All of them use the same heat treat range. They are not case hardened, they are the same hardness all the way through. You can lap one until it breaks out the side and it is still the same hardness.
It is amazing to me the things people say at the range. People take it as gospel and post it on the internet.
Butch

 

[redrock]

Poor lapping making them soft is an old wives tale. All of the top barrel makers use Crucible 416R stainless. All of them use the same heat treat range. They are not case hardened, they are the same hardness all the way through. You can lap one until it breaks out the side and it is still the same hardness.
It is amazing to me the things people say at the range. People take it as gospel and post it on the internet.
Butch

even more amazing is when a question is asked on the internet and answered by "a expert" THAT becomes gospel, real life situation,
customer asks gunsmith or mechanic, or cabinet builder etc a question doesnt like the answer so posts question on the internet, get differant answer from the "Expert" that doesn't have half the information as the REAL Live person has and YET the Internet individual is always right....crazy world.

 

[Benjerman08]

I have a 26" shilen that although shoots great is a little slow. I realize some individual barrels are faster than others, so it is not a great concern at this time. I was told by a very well known gun smith that button barrels can be as much as 150 fps slower than most cut rifled barrels. I have no idea if that is true or not. Anybody else ever heard that? Thanks.

 

[Ackman]

I was told by a very well known gun smith that button barrels can be as much as 150 fps slower than most cut rifled barrels. I have no idea if that is true or not. Anybody else ever heard that? Thanks.

Never heard that about button vs. cut rifling. To me that's nonsense. Any barrel can be 150fps faster/slower than another. I have 2 that are 150 and 200fps slower than a third, all done with the same 223AI reamer....all are button rifled.

 

[Dgd6mm]

I don't look down on my shilen, just like my krieger better. I also like the krieger better then my lilja. I just try to shoot all of them as much as possible and take good care of them. They are not going to last forever, but neither am I.

 

[fdshuster]

Prove it!

 

[moorepower]

Who is everyone? I have never in person heard anyone question the quality of Shilen. I admit I like the idea of a cut rifled barrel a little better, but I own more button rifled barrels than cut rifled, including a couple on Shilen's, so I guess it does not have an impact on my buying decision.

 

[favload]

My family has bought 3 Shilen select match barrels in the last year. Two were pre-fit Savage barrels, one 26" and one 30". The other was a HV blank. All 3 shoot awesome, as good or better than some other top brands. My 26" 6BR shot the same load 150fps faster than the factory Savage barrel. I am getting VERY high velocities with moderate loads (2900+ with 30.2 Varget, Lapua 105's). The Shillen barrels i have seen more than keep up with the others.

 

[markr]

I don't think that you can go too far wrong with a barrel from any of the top makers...Shilen, Hart, Krieger, Lilja, Bartlein, Pac-Nor and many others. I've had many Shilen barrels from 17 cal to .375 and they've all shot very well.
Mark