Wilson barrels

[Larryh128]

I've used a bunch of Wilson blanks and AR barrels, I have never had one fail to shoot very well. BR ? Probably not but very accurate for the $$ figure. I have many brands of barrels but most of my hunting rigs all wear Wilson. Quite often I'll be testing/tuning one at 300 yds and someone watching the results thinks they need to own it. Sometimes they do. LOL.

 

[urbanrifleman]

I've used a bunch of Wilson blanks and AR barrels, I have never had one fail to shoot very well. BR ? Probably not but very accurate for the $$ figure. I have many brands of barrels but most of my hunting rigs all wear Wilson. Quite often I'll be testing/tuning one at 300 yds and someone watching the results thinks they need to own it. Sometimes they do. LOL.

I outshoot fancier brand barrels all the time.

So I make my own barrels right? So that being said I can buy any blank I want. I would get the only the best blanks for myself right? Every time I make a new caliber I chamber up a Wilson. Thinking to myself well let's see how this does. I've never replaced one with another brand. I've never had a bad barrel. I've never had a barrel not satisfy me unless I pick the wrong twist.

 

[Tesoro]

Are 'fancy brand' barrels the Chinese ones?

 

[NorCalMikie]

Been probably 10 + years now but, I was working on a Wildcat build and didn't want to invest BIG $$$$ on a barrel and not like the chambering so, I was looking for a barrel on the Cheap!
Got turned onto a couple of Wilson "gunsmith" barrels for sale at auction. Only able to snag one @ $125.00.
Shipped it off to "my man" and had it threaded and chambered.
Was told the Wilson barrels were JUNK because they wern't lapped???
My JUNK Wilson unlapped barrel prints a 5 shot group that is covered with a dime with ease. Cleans like a dream and is smooth as silk.
Just because Wilson isn't on THE LIST, don't EVER count them out!!
They have been around a LOOOONG time and STILL going strong.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

I have lots of customers competing in benchrest and f class in their club matches. I've had customers that have gone from expert to HIGH MASTER with my stocks and barrels shooting mid range f class. I had a HIGH MASTER shoot the best score he ever shot in his 35 years of shooting across the course with one of my 6xc barrels.

I honestly don't spend much time fretting about the "short line benchrest" crowd and if they want to shoot my barrels. That is a tiny crowd. I'll stick with f class, PRS, across the course, varmint, and hunters.

You're right about it being a tiny crowd but that tiny crowd is still the pinnacle of accuracy when it comes to getting the very best from the shooter and the components used. There's not another game out there where you routinely need to shoot teen aggregates to win group. Score is even tougher IMO but that's another debate in itself. Bottom line is if a Wilson gave me a better chance of winning, I'd use them in a heartbeat. All the shooting sports are tough and demanding. I'm not taking anything away from that fact in the least bit. But for decades, sr br has been a proving ground for what works and what doesn't. I want my products to go head to head at the highest level. If they can win there, they can win anywhere. It's just a totally different mentality is all. I would not be happy making products that I felt like can't compete in any discipline. Instead, I look at it as an opportunity to prove their worth in any discipline. Long range and rf are both extremely demanding also but both have more variables to the outcome, such as conditions, than is in sr br, hence more falling on the shooter. Short range simply minimizes some of those variables that can make equipment look great...or not so great.

 

[urbanrifleman]

You're right about it being a tiny crowd but that tiny crowd is still the pinnacle of accuracy when it comes to getting the very best from the shooter and the components used. There's not another game out there where you routinely need to shoot teen aggregates to win group. Score is even tougher IMO but that's another debate in itself. Bottom line is if a Wilson gave me a better chance of winning, I'd use them in a heartbeat. All the shooting sports are tough and demanding. I'm not taking anything away from that fact in the least bit. But for decades, sr br has been a proving ground for what works and what doesn't. I want my products to go head to head at the highest level. If they can win there, they can win anywhere. It's just a totally different mentality is all. I would not be happy making products that I felt like can't compete in any discipline. Instead, I look at it as an opportunity to prove their worth in any discipline. Long range and rf are both extremely demanding also but both have more variables to the outcome, such as conditions, than is in sr br, hence more falling on the shooter. Short range simply minimizes some of those variables that can make equipment look great...or not so great.

Most of the younger customers today couldn't give a hoot what anyone is shooting in short range when they go to buy a barrel for their PRS rig or f class rig. The older guys maybe. But the vast majority of the customers that are buying barrels out in the market today are looking for a prefit for their action that they purchased that will drop into a chassis or a stock so they can go shoot.

I would say that people more care about what the internet influencers are saying then the scores at the local short-range benchrest match or nationals. If Eric Cortina were to say it's the thing to have I would start to get calls about it.

 

[rijndael]

Most of the younger customers today couldn't give a hoot what anyone is shooting in short range when they go to buy a barrel for their PRS rig or f class rig. The older guys maybe. But the vast majority of the customers that are buying barrels out in the market today are looking for a prefit for their action that they purchased that will drop into a chassis or a stock so they can go shoot.

Spot on.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

"If" is a big word sometimes.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

A lot of them don’t do all the homework that they should do either. And I’m not slamming anybody’s barrels either, because it’s great to have options.

 

[Larryh128]

If you look at the list of manufacturers who use Wilson barrels, They aren't on the low end of a price point. And probably a whole lot more that we don't know about. I sometimes laugh when I see someone recommend a certain brand AR barrel that hammers over a Wilson, they don't realize they are recommending a Wilson. Too funny.

 

[urbanrifleman]

If you look at the list of manufacturers who use Wilson barrels, They aren't on the low end of a price point. And probably a whole lot more that we don't know about. I sometimes laugh when I see someone recommend a certain brand AR barrel that hammers over a Wilson, they don't realize they are recommending a Wilson. Too funny.

Absolutely. The most premium AR-15 on the market for decades was the ArmaLite. Wilson Arms made every single barrel for ArmaLite. And not just their AR-15s. All of their bolt guns including the 50 BMG were Wilson barrels.

I know the owner of Wilson Arms and no one takes more pride in their product than him. No one I've ever spoken to works harder to provide a premium product at a reasonable price than the owner of Wilson Arms.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

If you look at the list of manufacturers who use Wilson barrels, They aren't on the low end of a price point. And probably a whole lot more that we don't know about. I sometimes laugh when I see someone recommend a certain brand AR barrel that hammers over a Wilson, they don't realize they are recommending a Wilson. Too funny.

I love their barrels and I have a couple on guns now. One is a fairly high end hunting rifle that shoots .5 moa, easily. That's about all I expect from my hunting rifles and they do it well. It may do better with more tuning but I usually call it good when I get to .5 moa in a hunting gun of my own because I know there are so many other factors that are much bigger in whether I make a shot on a deer or not while in the field.

 

[Larryh128]

Absolutely. The most premium AR-15 on the market for decades was the ArmaLite. Wilson Arms made every single barrel for ArmaLite. And not just their AR-15s. All of their bolt guns including the 50 BMG were Wilson barrels.

I know the owner of Wilson Arms and no one takes more pride in their product than him. No one I've ever spoken to works harder to provide a premium product at a reasonable price than the owner of Wilson Arms.

Good to know, I always thought that part of the price point was that they didn't cater to 1 offs. Minimum purchase 50 barrels, that eliminates a massive amount of phone time. I sometimes handle 50-60 calls a day so I know how demanding it can be. It certainly doesn't get barrels made.

 

[Sniperhandle]

Absolutely. The most premium AR-15 on the market for decades was the ArmaLite. Wilson Arms made every single barrel for ArmaLite. And not just their AR-15s. All of their bolt guns including the 50 BMG were Wilson barrels.

I know the owner of Wilson Arms and no one takes more pride in their product than him. No one I've ever spoken to works harder to provide a premium product at a reasonable price than the owner of Wilson Arms.

My Armalite AR-30 was fitted from the Factory with a Lothar Walther Barrel, And it was a Hammer. Several long range wins with it, Moons ago.

So not every Armalite came with a Wilson Barrel. I did have an Armalite AR-10T that shot very well, I do not know who made that barrel for them, But for a gas gun it shot very, very well!

 

[AlNyhus]

Would be interesting if someone would chamber one up in PPC and shoot it side by side with a major brand barrel using the same setup. That would tell some.

Actually, a better approach would be with a .30 barrel for the 30BR shooters.

A savvy barrel vendor that wanted to prove the barrel quality of his wares could have Wilson do a 17 and/or 18 twist .30 cal. button and offer those barrels as a proprietary item. The majority of HV 13.5 lb. guns for registered IBS and NBRSA Score competition are built around LV profile barrels so the contour is already in place in the Wilson line.

Regardless of the type of competiton, 100-300 registered Benchrest is where products make their bones. This trickles down to all levels of formal and informal competition.

Nothing to it but to do it.

 

[Jud96]

Most of the younger customers today couldn't give a hoot what anyone is shooting in short range when they go to buy a barrel for their PRS rig or f class rig. The older guys maybe. But the vast majority of the customers that are buying barrels out in the market today are looking for a prefit for their action that they purchased that will drop into a chassis or a stock so they can go shoot.

I would say that people more care about what the internet influencers are saying then the scores at the local short-range benchrest match or nationals. If Eric Cortina were to say it's the thing to have I would start to get calls about it.

The problem with that mentality is when all of those old guys that care are dead and gone there will only be a few of us younger guys left who did give a hoot. Going out and shooting is a great time, but I get just as much enjoyment out of everything that goes along with it. I love the finer details and ins and outs of the rifles, ammunition, gear etc. If no one cares, then the people making our shooting products will also stop caring as much. Why try hard if no one cares? As some may know, I work at Pierce Engineering manufacturing custom actions. If I and everyone else only aimed to please the PRS and hunting crowd then we wouldn’t be doing our best. Nothing against those guys, but my goal is to please the most anal, picky, demanding, and precision driven gunsmiths and shooters. Everyday I’m thinking of a better way to do what I’m doing. I guess it’s just how my brain works and the mindset that I have when it comes to this stuff. I struggle to accept “good enough”. I’m not trying to come at you. I’m just saying in general I feel more young people should or need to feel the same way as I do in order for us to continue testing the boundaries and making the best barrels, actions, stocks, bullets, triggers, etc well into the future. Sorry for the rant, I’m just really passionate about all of this stuff. It is rewarding to hear Wilson’s owner cares and works hard to make a good product. Whether they’re BR level or not, it sounds like he’s doing his best which is all any of us can do.

 

[urbanrifleman]

The problem with that mentality is when all of those old guys that care are dead and gone there will only be a few of us younger guys left who did give a hoot. Going out and shooting is a great time, but I get just as much enjoyment out of everything that goes along with it. I love the finer details and ins and outs of the rifles, ammunition, gear etc. If no one cares, then the people making our shooting products will also stop caring as much. Why try hard if no one cares? As some may know, I work at Pierce Engineering manufacturing custom actions. If I and everyone else only aimed to please the PRS and hunting crowd then we wouldn’t be doing our best. Nothing against those guys, but my goal is to please the most anal, picky, demanding, and precision driven gunsmiths and shooters. Everyday I’m thinking of a better way to do what I’m doing. I guess it’s just how my brain works and the mindset that I have when it comes to this stuff. I struggle to accept “good enough”. I’m not trying to come at you. I’m just saying in general I feel more young people should or need to feel the same way as I do in order for us to continue testing the boundaries and making the best barrels, actions, stocks, bullets, triggers, etc well into the future. Sorry for the rant, I’m just really passionate about all of this stuff. It is rewarding to hear Wilson’s owner cares and works hard to make a good product. Whether they’re BR level or not, it sounds like he’s doing his best which is all any of us can do.

It honestly seems like a trap every time the subject comes up. No matter how gorgeous the dog, it's never a horse. And some people just want it to be a horse. Because they like horses... dang it. And until you make a horse we won't like your dog.

My solution is I just keep making barrels and let them do the talking. To offset all the chatter.

 

[AlNyhus]

It honestly seems like a trap every time the subject comes up. No matter how gorgeous the dog, it's never a horse. And some people just want it to be a horse. Because they like horses... dang it. And until you make a horse we won't like your dog

-Dogs owner states his dog is as fast as the best horses out there.

-When it's time to race, the dog always has a sore paw.

-Dogs owner enjoys the chatter. That's what it was really about in the first place.

All in good fun!

 

[butchlambert]

-Dogs owner states his dog is as fast as the best horses out there.

-When it's time to race, the dog always has a sore paw.

-Dogs owner enjoys the chatter. That's what it was really about in the first place.

All in good fun!

I luv you Al!

 

[urbanrifleman]

-Dogs owner states his dog is as fast as the best horses out there.

-When it's time to race, the dog always has a sore paw.

-Dogs owner enjoys the chatter. That's what it was really about in the first place.

All in good fun!

Dog goes to race.
Beats horses.
Horse owners say it wasn't the right race.

My point is that my barrels are beating "premium" barrels nearly every weekend somewhere in America. Do they beat ALL OF THEM? No.