Why does everyone look down on Shilen Barrels

[howl 1 up]

i recently received a 6mm 1-8 from a distributor popular to this site. that was a bad egg, so bad so my gunsmith, of seventy years of age, said the runout was 25 -30 thous when he chucked on lathe, what ever that means, he refused to put it on , or his name on the job, sent back and received no hassel refund.i have used shillen for years exclusivly with great results. the bore looked great but out side straitness looked like it had been ran over. i would still order one, i just think quality control was out to lunch

 

[FBecigneul]

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

I copied this from Frank Shuster. It was easier than typing it all over again but it mirrors my sentiments.

 

[skeetlee]

I bought a used (100 rounds) shilen 6ppc barrel from a fella down around St Louis and this barrel is awesome. I put 4 shots in a group that measured .030 yesterday using George Ulrich 66gr BT bullets. There is definitely nothing wrong with this shilen barrel!!!! All the major companies make good barrels these days. Once in a while you might get one that has some tool marks and most folks freak out when they see them. Most likely had they never looked inside the barrel to begin with it would have been just fine. I believe it's the fella from rock Barrels that posted over on the hide, that he shoots all the barrels that folks return because of tool marks or whatever, and he says they shoot fantastic! I dont own a bore scope simply because i dont want to know what the barrel looks like inside. Just one more thing for me to worry about. The barrel will tell me if there is a problem when i shoot it. Lee

 

[butchlambert]

You're learning faster than most Lee.
Butch

 

[RJinTexas]

I especially like looking down my Shilen 29", 1.300 dia full bull slectt match barrel chambered in 22br and obsrerving the red mist.

RJ

 

[TRECustom]

I think I know what Howl 1 up was talking about. I have been checking O.D. runout on several different top barrel maker's blanks. If you set a barrel (new blank or factory take off) between centers in a lathe and turn it by hand and indicate the breech end, muzzle end and middle of the barrel, it might surprise you. A 24" Remington sporter takeoff had .055" (almost 1/16") t.i.r. in the middle, the worst I've ever seen. I once checked 6 new Sendero takeoffs for a friend. They ranged from .005" to .014" in the middle. Lilja's blanks have less than .0005" on either end and lately less than .002" in the middle. I checked a Lawton that had less than .001" at either end and .002" in the middle. A 32 1/2" Brux had .0055" in the middle and less than.001" on either end. A 33 1/2" Krieger had less than .001" either end and .0025" in the middle. I considered that to be exceptionally good. I don't know how bad it has to get before it starts to affect accuracy, but I think about .006" or .007" in the middle would be the limit for me since I know they can make them straighter than that.

Finally to the Shilen's. I've never seen a Shilen that wouldn't shoot, but they used to average .004" t.i.r. on the breech end, and had to be turned true before doing anything else. I never thought to check one in the middle. I haven't checked one in 2 - 3 yrs, so I don't know it this is still true. Also, the outside was a little too rough to leave alone. Bottom line, good inside, a little rough outside, but the 2 most accurate rifles I ever saw both had older Shilen barrels on them. I think it's Tony Boyer who calls them "hummers".
I don't know who owns or runs the company anymore. That may be the source of some of the skepticism about Shilen.
But if Frank Schuster uses them, they're doing something right.

Tom

 

[butchlambert]

Tom,
Wade Hull is the majority stockholder. He is the son of Bill Hull that has run the machining part for about 25yrs. You will find nobody that tries harder to produce fine products than Wade. The outside finish is as good now as any and Ed Shilen is back in the shop.
TRE, I would think it has been a few years since you have tried one.
Butch

 

[TRECustom]

Butch, I really appreciate the update on Shilen. Several years ago, my brother and I drove the 500 mile round trip to Ennis and got the royal tour from David Robinson. I had never been to a barrel shop, and was impressed, except for the contour lathe. They were HOGGING the metal off, I thought way too fast. No follow rest could hold against that kind of pressure. It explained the fairly rough finish.

I hope they are doing well, and I only know of one bad barrel that got out of their shop and it was instantly replaced. If I get a chance, I'll get another one.

Thanks again, Tom

 

[NorCalMikie]

I've had a "few" Shilen barrels in the last 2 or 3 years. Never had a reason to check the OD runout of the barrel or check the bore or chamber with a scope. In my book, a bug hole is a bug hole. The target tells me if the barrel is any good.
Did run into a "slight" problem a few years back. Ordered a Savage spin on and recieved a Remington in it's place by mistake. Wade Hull called me in person and bent over backwards to get it straightened out in a real hurry. Good products and excellent customer service.

 

[TRECustom]

NorCalMikie, I didn't use to check either, but a few years ago, when I couldn't get the runout out of the breech end of my .338 x 10 Shilen Select Match, I took it out of the chuck and slid it down to put the breech end on the live center and held the muzzle end in the chuck to spin it. I ended up turning it true right where it was. It was .004" off concentric from the bore. I don't know if it was eccentric or not. I didn't think to mike it. Then when I moved it back into the chuck to cut the tenon and chamber it, I fiddled with it until I had .0005" t.i.r. I don't know much about this stuff, but I figured that if I couldn't get it under a mil, I shouldn't cut or chamber it. Been checking it ever since. On the 3 or 4 that I reported on, I thought to check both ends and the middle before chucking up. In the middle, I was just checking for straightness. Like I said, I was surprised. It never occurred to me that they wouldn't be perfectly straight. Dumb.

I've learned that to compensate for being dumb, I have to be really careful, so if I could think of something that could be checked or measured, I started doing it.

I decided that if the outside could be fixed and the inside was good, no problem. But if after doing all the work, it won't shoot bugholes, you can't help wonder if there is something wrong with the bore. At this point, the reputation of the barrel maker is what you depend on. So far, my rifles with Shilens shoot as well or better than any other barrel I've tried. I put Lilja's on the last couple of my rifles just because when I checked one for my son-in-law, it had virtually no runout anywhere, and didn't need any surface refinishing. They both shoot better than I can, and broke in and cleaned up faster than any other barrel I have.

However, after hearing from Frank and Butch, if I wanted to barrel something up right now and a Shilen was available, I'd use it in a heartbeat, and expect it to be a "hummer".

Got long-winded again. Too much time on my hands? Tom

 

[4xforfun]

I put a 1.45" strait 1-10 30 cal on my heavy bench gun. Just getting the load development done. Seems like it will be a winner!!! Cleans like dream!!!!!

 

[dtucker]

YEA what skeetlee said, i agree with what he said a 1000 percent. It's hard to go wrong with so many great barrel makers out their. I have used a lot of different barrel makers and different people to chamber and never a dud yet.