• This Forum is for adults 18 years of age or over. By continuing to use this Forum you are confirming that you are 18 or older. No content shall be viewed by any person under 18 in California.

x-caliber barrels

I just got off the phone with Jon from X-caliber he cleared a lot of things up for me. He told me that he and about half of the X-caliber guys have worked at MRC at one time or another. Also several used to work for Remington before they pulled up stakes in MT. Jon left MRC and was one of the guys instrumental in starting McGowen barrels, but left there about 4 years ago over differences with the others. He started X-caliber and improved a lot on what Mcgowen is doing to make much smoother more concentric rifle bores. He said they use state of the art CNC gun drills with less than .0005 run-out instead of the old Pratt and Whitney WWII drills Mcgowen is using that average .002-.004 run-out. Also they use an inert gas over instead of kiln to eliminate scale that is formed by O2 during the button rifling process. Reducing the need for and time spent hand lapping each barrel exponentially. He said they have been moving slow trying to get tooled up over the last 6 months and are finally up to 100%. I was impressed with the down to earth attitude and 4 week lead time. I ordered a .270 5r 1-10 barrel that will be a 270 AI. I cant wait to try it out.

Have any of you guys received your barrels yet and had a chance to take them out to shoot?
 
ttt for more accuracy reviews.

Any BR, 1K BR shooters using these barrels?

I'm almost certain that I will order one for a 40x project I'm working on. Its going to be a 22BR and looking to get a 1.25" straight, 12 twist, SS tube. For the price and being hand lapped, sounds hard to beat.

Anyone have a pic of their targets?
 
Timgunner said:
I just got off the phone with Jon from X-caliber he cleared a lot of things up for me. He told me that he and about half of the X-caliber guys have worked at MRC at one time or another. Also several used to work for Remington before they pulled up stakes in MT. Jon left MRC and was one of the guys instrumental in starting McGowen barrels, but left there about 4 years ago over differences with the others. He started X-caliber and improved a lot on what Mcgowen is doing to make much smoother more concentric rifle bores. He said they use state of the art CNC gun drills with less than .0005 run-out instead of the old Pratt and Whitney WWII drills Mcgowen is using that average .002-.004 run-out. Also they use an inert gas over instead of kiln to eliminate scale that is formed by O2 during the button rifling process. Reducing the need for and time spent hand lapping each barrel exponentially. He said they have been moving slow trying to get tooled up over the last 6 months and are finally up to 100%. I was impressed with the down to earth attitude and 4 week lead time. I ordered a .270 5r 1-10 barrel that will be a 270 AI. I cant wait to try it out.

Have any of you guys received your barrels yet and had a chance to take them out to shoot?
Click to expand...


Tim,
You either misunderstood. Ain't no scale during the buttoning process. Most of the reputable barrel makers have furness's that do not scale the outside during stress relieving. You must have not understood what he was saying as none of it makes sense.
 
I got mine a few weeks back and have not had a chance to fit it yet, but it looks good. Hopefully in the next week or two I'll get mine finished.
 
The guy at Apache gun works does prefits with X caliber blanks and has some info about hem on his site.
 
I got one of the $105 straight 1.25" 21" 8 twist .224 blanks off of Ebay. I'm chambering it in 223. I should be shooting it by next weekend. I'm curious to see what it does.
 
I ordered a 27", SS, 1.250" straight in 12 twist for a 22BR 40x project. $120 plus $15 shipping. Turn around time is 4-5 weeks. Will be a few months before I can see how it does...
 
I wanted to get my hands on one, so I ordered a 6mm, 10 twist, 27" unturned blank.

Wanting to check it out to see how the run out was. First thing I did was fit the correct bushing to the barrel ID. Using a 24" Grizzley rod, the bushing went the entire 24" without binding, then placed it through the muzzle end, same thing. So, there was no curve or Sweep in the barrel...good so far.

Next, took the Interapid Indictor with the 2.7" needle. Checked the grooves every .100, everything looked good. Next, ran the indicator on the top of the lands, again, everything looked good. I won't say which barrel maker did not pass this test, but this one sample is looking real good.

Also, when I pushed a tight patch through the barrel, it felt smooth as glass.

I am waiting on a reamer from PT&G to get it chambered to 6 BRX and see what kind of accuracy and fouling issues are encountered.

I would be shocked if I did not shoot some very small groups with this barrel.
 
They are in Kalispell, Montana.

My father-in-law's cousin started the business for the owner with his brother and former lead salesman for Mcgowen barrels. I have seen their operation from the start of wiring up the new building to setting the machinery and getting all the bugs hashed out. They are dedicated to making high quality barrels with the best steel money can buy. The owner has invested a ton of money in a top of the line drill and prgrammable CNC machines.

Their barrels are button pulled by a special machine my father-in-law's cousin designed. The hydraulic arm pulls the button through the bore in a constant controlled speed motion for the entire length. The barrels are hand lapped by experts and the barrels are heat treated to relieve stress. The tolerances for their high end barrels are every bit as tight as Hart or Lilja. If any of you have looked inside one of their barrels with a bore scope, you can attest to the hand lapping quality. The very faint lapping lines all run perfectly with the twist of the grooves. Everyone who has shot one of their barrels has given great reviews of phenomenal accuracy. I have a 6mm 1 in 8" twist X-caliber barrel on a 6XC that I plan to shoot once the stock is finished.

They were going to price their barrels much higher originally, but when we were talking about it, I suggested they start low until they get their name out there due to the amount of quality competition. Would be hard to get a piece of the pie with high prices against known quality manufacturers. So they are pricing them low right now to build a name for themselves. The prices will go up eventually as good reviews and demand continues to rise. So if you are planning on trying one, now is the time to order. They have produced a few barrels for some of the top 1K BR Willaimsport shooters to test out, Leo Anderson being one. We have yet to hear back from Leo, but hope to hear good things as Leo will scrutinize the barrel in every way before taking the time to even mount the barrel on an action.

NEMO firearms (the company that makes 300 win mag AR's) has a contract with them as well. They are making almost all of the barrels for NEMO right now.

Although I have not shot one yet myself because my rifle is not ready, I believe they are a barrel you can buy with confidence. If anything is ever wrong with it, I know they will do everything to take care of your concerns and replace it if need be. They are committed to excellent customer service.

If you have any detailed questions or concerns, you can let me know and I will get a hold of Gary (father-in-laws cousin) to get you the answers you need. You can also call them directly and they are always more than willing to spend all the time you need to answer all of your questions. Ask for Gary Sutton. Take care.
 
I received mine yesterday...about a 4 week wait. Started machining it and machines very nice. Its also extremely straight. Other than that....not much else to say until load testing...
 
Got mine chambered and its almost ready to test. Chamber came out flawless with zero run out! Cut and finished up very nice. Just for kicks...ran the DTI on the OD of the barrel after I dialed the bore in....003".

Note...the hole in unfinished tenon is just a prebore hole. No pics of finished chamber/tenon. Also, just put a quick finish on it with a worn 600 grit belt and my barrel spinner. Finer work to come...

Waiting on scope, mounts(mfg sent wrong rear base) and install the trigger...

picsay-1427768253.jpg.jpg

picsay-1427768294.jpg.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Upgrades & Donations

This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.


Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.

You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.


To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.

Classified Ads

Forum statistics

Threads
165,822
Messages
2,203,894
Members
79,142
Latest member
DDuPont

Share This Page

Back
Top