Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing What barrel maker would you recomend

Lilja and Brux are my two favorites. i usually gather all of the parts for my builds and then contact the smith. never had a problem with a good barrel not shooting.

The worst 6.5 barrel I ever had was one of Douglas air gage barrels when the old man was still alive back from 1966. That rifle shot groups at 100 yards that looked like it came from my shotgun, it stills sets in my shop as a reminder that any of them will give you sour barrel from time to time.

I have three broughtons and a hart barrel because that is what the gunsmith recommended. My 338 brougton just shot a 200yard five shot group that I covered with a nickel. Lucky day for the shooter but the gun could do it everyday.

I'd talk with the gunsmith and get his recommendation on what barrel to use.
My two go-to barrel makers are Hart for Stainless builds, and Douglas for CM barrels so they can be blued. Equal in importance as to what barrel to use is getting a good gunsmithing job.

Lothar Walther are very good for the price and seem to out last many of the others. The steel is harder to work so some smiths don't care for them. Krieger has a pretty flawless reputation and Pac Nor too, although it is not the darling of the bench rest crowd many bench resters use Pac Nor for their varmint rifles.

I have one Douglas, two Pac-nors, a Hart, and three (gasp) E. R. Shaws. All shoot very well. all installed by concientious (? spelling) smiths. The Hart was by Bobby.

Haven't heard em' mentioned.

I'm partial to Badger Barrels, myself.

Great wear characteristics, and their "Northern Competition" line of Gas gun barrels have been racking up decent scores.

They're re-organized, and knee deep in Government contract work, so waiting is probably part of that deal.

Like Utah 708 says,.....it's really pretty good pickin's,.......all of our major brand names are very good, and like any Manufactured item, sooner or later you can encounter one that gives you the bird.

.......interesting to watch the somewhat non-partisan overlap of quality testimonials on that old Cut Rifled v. Buttoned divide, to me......

That's good news.

GTC

Schneider: 280AI. Many years ago. It shot great.

Hart: 300WM. Again many years ago. It shot great.

Bartlein: .308W. Two years ago. Scary good.

Douglas: 7mm-08. Should be here in 2 weeks on a LW rifle. I
expect I will be more than satisfied.

Four factory rifles tweeked by a good smith that became consistent inch or slightly larger, and I can't remember any bone stock factory that I could blame for a miss.

Put your toe in the water with a good GS and things should be good.

Only had one rifle rebarreled, a pre-64 M-70 FW. My gunsmith recommended Douglas as the pre-64 FW contour is a standard stock design for them. It is a shooting tube - I couldn't be happier with the outcome.

+1 on the Pac Nor Super Match Grade. I'm on my 3rd one (different guns) with very good results.

Equally as important as barrel make is the smith installing it. I think a yet more revealing question would be "which gunsmith to not recommend."

It is unlikely that you would get candid responses to that question.

That's one reason why so many poor businesses just keep on going, not just gunsmiths.

Just one man's opinion based on years of experience.

Paul

Most are far better than a factory tube, but in light contours, I have had far better luck with a cut rifled barrel than a button barrel. My 260s wear Krieger tubes. I had a Hart on the first one and it was no bueno.

Many barrel makers are quite arrogant and so folks don't want to deal with them. I have found this to be true with some of the ones mentioned here. I will still use Gary Schneider's barrels in spite of his personality.

I would like to put a plug in for McGowen Precision Barrels. Have been pleased with several barrels purchased when they were located in St Anne IL...now located in Kalispell MT. I don't think being located at 2950 ft elevation versus 600 ft would change the quality of their barrels

But management would change a bunch.

Please translate... what about management.

Thank you and best regards

McGowen has promised a lot that they haven't delivered.
Butch

Did you purchase a barrel or barrels and was not satisfied?

Did you buy barrels from them recently and were not satisified?

Some feedback would be appreciated because an amigo and I going to start a new gun on a VZ24 action and re-barrel a M70 pre-64 .220 Swift.

Thank you and best regards

Where are the receivers that they promised?
Butch