Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Now that Pac-Nor is out of action for a while

Very nice! Not to derail the thread, but what bullet are you running in that 7-08AI?

162eldx. Lapua brass 40.5grains of H4350 cci 200 @ 2750.

I am certainly no "fan boy," but if Stick chimes in with his considerable experience? I will certainly give it serious consideration. Regardless of how the wisdom is conveyed.

Spit.

Fred is the antler restrictions in WA stating you must shoot immature bulls? Is it a management area?

Westside of cascades is 3 point minimum, east side is spike, unless you draw a branched bull tag. Please quit making fun of Fred

You have a good women who is willing to hunt the west side of the cascades. I said it many times I hunted the trask unit in Oregon one year good lord it sucked!

I have had at least 10 hart barrels, not a cull in the bunch. Barrels get blamed on a lot that is not the barrel's problem. It is rare to find a bad barrel made by a top maker these days.

Lot of guys don't know how to work up loads, bed rifles, and know nothing about how wind effects bullets. Barrel or gunsmith gets blamed most of the time.

There is also "service after the sale" issue that no one ever speaks of, and Hart is one of the best in customer service.

I’m an advocate of picking your smith, going with the smith on choice of barrel maker.

Some barrel companies back their product better than others, big names notwithstanding. Your smith will know. His reputation is on the line as well.

DF

Only bad Barrel I have is from Lilja it should have been culled and it must not have been gauged at all after lapping or they would have caught it. What was discouraging is they would not even respond to my Emails when I asked if there was anything they could do. This can happen to any barrel maker but most of them would try to make it right somehow or at least respond. Last Lilja for me.

Big name doesn't always mean "big service". Who knows the fine points of warranty and standing behind a product better than your smith, who works with barrel companies on an ongoing basis. And, don't ya think a big user of a product gets more respect than an occasional customer.... Also turnaround times can vary greatly among makers. IMO, the smith is the go to source for all this type info.

DF

I gotta give some credit to Green Mountain - I've made at least seven (might be more I'm forgetting) barrels from their blanks in the past few years, and every one of them has shot really well. To be fair, that's machining a barrel from their raw blank, not buying their complete barrels, but for a cheaper blank, their bores are pretty decent. I haven't used one of their complete barrels though, and end results depend a lot on the quality of work put into it.

I have to say the same for Black Hole as well, although I've only made a few, but those are good blanks too, and they machine really well.

That Smith preferred Pac-Nor barrels. I will have to ask what he likes now. I bought the barrel from Mid Way and they would replace it but not do anything towards the loss for chambering. Live and learn, only buy from respected companies or the original mfg. especially the latter if any service is needed or expected.

Another DA thing on my part was my smith checked the barrel and the muzzle end was bigger than the chamber end. Should of sent it back then but didn't want to wait possibly months for a new one. I thought I could lap it in but haven't done that yet.

Rifle shoots ok around .5-1" but is prone to double groups. Changed stocks and scope and same thing. For a tomato stake it kills stuff pretty good.

A couple of smiths I've used lately seem to have a preference for Shilen. Great service, great barrels and fast turnaround.

DF

Only have one Shilen and it was excellent. I have heard that they don't last as long as cut rifled barrels but this is by target shooters standards. That barrel has held up fine and I keep waiting for it to go but it still shoots and shoots just about anything I throw together. The throat looks like elephant leather but so far so good.

I've heard the cut vs. button rifling thing. I'm not a target shooter, don't count my rounds in the thousands.

I have a Krieger (cut rifling) 6.5-284 with 5-600 rounds down the tube, showing some throat erosion, but still a half MOA shooter.

I have a 26 Nosler with Shilen (button rifling), around 4-500 rounds so far, looking about the same thru the Hawkeye, also a half MOA shooter.

So, I don't really care what the Hawkeye shows, the bottom line is what happens at the range. If one loses its accuracy edge, then the Hawkeye can help determine what's going on, if and when we may need a barrel swap.

DF

I have only had one custom barrel, PacNor, 6mm, 8 tw, 22" finished; put on a trued HOWA 1500 mini, chambered in 6mm AR (Grendel) custom fitted into a Cuda stock.. Shoots 1/4 MOA with 90 gn TGK. Went to get one for a 6mm Creed build, and heard the news - sad.

So now my smith is ordering one from Lilja, with Modified Kimber 84 profile (a bit thicker pipe) which will be screwed into a donor Kimber 84m action/trigger. Keeping my fingers crossed.