Wilson Arms SS Barrel Blanks - .17; .20; .224 - group buy

[BarrelBrothers]

I appreciate your honest input... I can assure you these are NOT reject barrels. As stated Wilson ONLY offers 10 and 12 twist on the .17 and .20 cal. I don't have much experience with the .20 cal barrels but the (8) .17 Fireball builds on blueprinted Rem 700 all shoot 1/4 MOA with 25 grain pills.

It seems most shooters on this form like the heavy pills and these twists probably won't work for the heavy pills...

As far as moving barrels - considering we sell on the average about 75 barrels per month (.17 through .375 calibers). Also we just started offering barrels to the public about 7-8 months ago. Wilson and us must be doing something right.

 

[hogpatrol]

I appreciate your honest input... I can assure you these are NOT reject barrels. As stated Wilson ONLY offers 10 and 12 twist on the .17 and .20 cal. I don't have much experience with the .20 cal barrels but the (8) .17 Fireball builds on blueprinted Rem 700 all shoot 1/4 MOA with 25 grain pills.

It seems most shooters on this form like the heavy pills and these twists probably won't work for the heavy pills...

As far as moving barrels - considering we sell on the average about 75 barrels per month (.17 through .375 calibers). Also we just started offering barrels to the public about 7-8 months ago. Wilson and us must be doing something right.

1/4 MOA at what distance and velocity? In what chambering? How much load development? 100 rounds? 200 rounds? Ten twist is NOT the preferred twist for 25 grain bullets in .17 caliber. I chambered two FBs, both nines and they shoot anything up to 30s. Why handicap ones capabilities with a bastard twist?

 

[BarrelBrothers]

1/4 MOA at what distance and velocity? In what chambering? How much load development? 100 rounds? 200 rounds? Ten twist is NOT the preferred twist for 25 grain bullets in .17 caliber. Why handicap ones capabilities with a bastard twist?

The rifles we built were blueprinted Rem 700 .17 Fireball on Wilson #4 SS 10 twist in beded HS precision sporter stocks... 100 yard averaging close to 4,000 fps. 25 grain pills - I don't have the exact load but we weren't pushing the limits either. I have been shooting a .17 fireball for a few years now... I still have (4) of those .17 fireball builds.

I know many on this form won't want the 10 and 12 twist but there seem to be plenty of shooters that do.

 

[roadkill61]

I guess this stuborness is why x-caliber can't keep up with orders.

 

[nakneker]

The rifles we built were blueprinted Rem 700 .17 Fireball on Wilson #4 SS 10 twist in beded HS precision sporter stocks... 100 yard averaging close to 4,000 fps. 25 grain pills - I don't have the exact load but we weren't pushing the limits either. I have been shooting a .17 fireball for a few years now... I still have (4) of those .17 fireball builds.

I know many on this form won't want the 10 and 12 twist but there seem to be plenty of shooters that do.

I like your efforts, even offering to buy the buttons for Wilson. Your attitude is in the right place but it seems Wilson has your hands tied. Ever thought of asking another manufacture to do a group buy? You have all the feedback you need in this thread. You get a good deal on a quality barrel in .17 9 twist and .20 10 twist I bet you see your group buy come together. I'll buy two of the .20 Cals if it's a good barrel and a good price.

 

[BarrelBrothers]

I guess this stuborness is why x-caliber can't keep up with orders.

ALL barrel makers can't keep up with orders - that is why there is 3/4 month lead time with any custom order with almost all barrel makers...

 

[hogpatrol]

I would like to know what these new barrel companies' percentage of production is for OEM, not one off orders from joe sixpack.

 

[BarrelBrothers]

I like your efforts, even offering to buy the buttons for Wilson. Your attitude is in the right place but it seems Wilson has your hands tied. Ever thought of asking another manufacture to do a group buy? You have all the feedback you need in this thread. You get a good deal on a quality barrel in .17 9 twist and .20 10 twist I bet you see your group buy come together. I'll buy two of the .20 Cals if it's a good barrel and a good price.

Thanks for the kind words! We have called every barrel maker we can think of. Shilen will offer a 20% discount off retail and orders of 25 or more 25%. X-Caliber was willing to work with us... They were willing to offer 25% off retail but it was for an order of 25 of the exact same barrel and revolving orders on a monthly basis... When retail is 230 for an X-Caliber barrel and 25% off means what we retail a Wilson SS barrel for we can buy wholesale from X-Caliber! That's before the freight charge for 25 barrels. Case and point are there 25 shooters willing to wait the 4/5 month back log of orders X-Caliber has? And are they willing to pay the order up front? Also keep in mind shipping 25 barrels is NOT cheap so that comes into play into the retail price and X-Caliber won't ship each barrel individually... The margins are just not there and most barrel companies WANT the retail business... Bartlein; Krieger and Rock are solid guys to work with if you can afford a 100+ barrel order per year.

Wilson barrels are solid barrels and factoring the price 180 shipped... They are hard to beat. Wilson does send us 50+ barrels every month and we have a standing paid 200 barrel order. We have explored other options but the margins are just not there and what limited experience we have with X-Caliber barrels - only spun about 30-35 Xcaliber barrels - they weren't any better than a Wilson.

Wilson seems to be willing to work with us and selling 600+ barrels this past year isn't too bad for (2) computer illiterate gunsmiths so Wilson and our little hobby business has done pretty well... We seem to get great results with the Wilson barrels and the reports back are very positive. No sense in changing if it's not broke!

 

[BarrelBrothers]

I would like to know what these new barrel companies' percentage of production is for OEM, not one off orders from joe sixpack.

Not sure I understand the question... But our orders with Wilson is for specific contours we submitted. The blanks are lapped and air gauged to .0002". The Wilson blanks we receive are the exact same quality of barrel Cooper uses for their rifles... As most know Cooper rifles shoot. Wilson does do a ton of AR barrels and if you shoot a Sig Sauer guess what - that is a Wilson barrel... Wilson has a 10,000 sq ft shop and they mostly run AR barrels but do offer bolt action blanks to shops willing to buy in blocks of 100 at a time.

 

[nakneker]

Thanks for the kind words! We have called every barrel maker we can think of. Shilen will offer a 20% discount off retail and orders of 25 or more 25%. X-Caliber was willing to work with us... They were willing to offer 25% off retail but it was for an order of 25 of the exact same barrel and revolving orders on a monthly basis... When retail is 230 for an X-Caliber barrel and 25% off means what we retail a Wilson SS barrel for we can buy wholesale from X-Caliber! That's before the freight charge for 25 barrels. Case and point are there 25 shooters willing to wait the 4/5 month back log of orders X-Caliber has? And are they willing to pay the order up front? Also keep in mind shipping 25 barrels is NOT cheap so that comes into play into the retail price and X-Caliber won't ship each barrel individually... The margins are just not there and most barrel companies WANT the retail business... Bartlein; Krieger and Rock are solid guys to work with if you can afford a 100+ barrel order per year.

Wilson barrels are solid barrels and factoring the price 180 shipped... They are hard to beat. Wilson does send us 50+ barrels every month and we have a standing paid 200 barrel order. We have explored other options but the margins are just not there and what limited experience we have with X-Caliber barrels - only spun about 30-35 Xcaliber barrels - they weren't any better than a Wilson.

Wilson seems to be willing to work with us and selling 600+ barrels this past year isn't too bad for (2) computer illiterate gunsmiths so Wilson and our little hobby business has done pretty well... We seem to get great results with the Wilson barrels and the reports back are very positive. No sense in changing if it's not broke!

I understand. Thanks for the reply.

 

[BarrelBrothers]

I understand. Thanks for the reply.

Believe me if I could change a few things I would in a heart beat but when we're lucky to work with Wilson I will stay quite until the time is right and again suggest the cost of a new button is MUCH less than losing a 100 barrel order for .17 cal barrels... It's a delicate dance with Wilson currently. 2017 is a new year and if we continue pace we should do 1,000 barrels in 2017... Assuming Wilson can supply it! I do appreciate the kind words and would like to have more options. So being a new business we are always open to suggestions on how to offer a better selection!

 

[hogpatrol]

Not sure I understand the question... But our orders with Wilson is for specific contours we submitted. The blanks are lapped and air gauged to .0002". The Wilson blanks we receive are the exact same quality of barrel Cooper uses for their rifles... As most know Cooper rifles shoot. Wilson does do a ton of AR barrels and if you shoot a Sig Sauer guess what - that is a Wilson barrel... Wilson has a 10,000 sq ft shop and they mostly run AR barrels but do offer bolt action blanks to shops willing to buy in blocks of 100 at a time.

Examples of OEMs are Ford, John Deere and Toyota. Cooper would be considered an OEM. I was curious as to what percentage of Wilson's production is for rifle manufacturers, not small vendors or gunsmith shops.

 

[BarrelBrothers]

Examples of OEMs are Ford, John Deere and Toyota. Cooper would be considered an OEM. I was curious as to what percentage of Wilson's production is for rifle manufacturers, not small vendors or gunsmith shops.

Wilson primarily works with major manufacturers... Wilson owns Cooper rifles but I would say less than 20% of the barrels they produce are for bolt actions. We were offered two options and we opted for the premium barrels... I assure you our 100 barrel a month order is nothing compared to the amount of total barrels they do!! I have been told that Cooper only buys about 1500 barrels from Wilson per year. We do about half that number as Wilson only sends us 60-80 barrels per month. We have a revolving account for 100 and have prepaid for 200 barrels. They send out 60-80; we pay for those and politely request the 200 order... It's a delicate dance. They don't need us but we like their barrels and most shooters love the quality for the price...