Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Opinion of Jarrett rifle's

Came across an older Jarrett rifle (1987)built on a 700 action,Hart barrel 280Ackley.Anybody own one?

You might find this of interest

http://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/7971019521/m/7281052621

Could be 1 of my old rifles, around Augusta they sell for $1,2500-1,800 at that price they are a deal.

I had one in 280AI back in the '90s. Nice rifle and it shot well but I never fell in love with the cartridge as some do...my friend's 7mmSTW did everything better and he could buy factory ammo. I should have just had the gun rebarreled but I sold it instead. I kept it's brother, a 300 Jarrett, for many years after and it too was a great shooting rifle.

Wow... a jarret rifle and he's killed some deer at 200 yards... I can do that with my iron sighted ARs, muzzleloaders etc..... probably with my 44 mag pistol if I practiced enough....

The general idea I always heard was if you get one stupid cheap - great but don't kill yourself or wallet getting one.

Same performance can be done at a better price by more than one guy type of thing...

Same can be said for H&H and other high end builders. But come sale day, the name on the barrel will bring more dollars back.

I once tested 3 Jarrett rifles extensively, including loading for them myself. They were the most accurate big game rifles I have ever fired.

Two things must be added, however:

1) The rifles I shot were after Kenny started making his own barrels.

2) Please note the I did NOT say Jarretts were the most accurate rifles made--but the most accurate I have ever fired. I have, however, shot quite a few rifles from very good makers.

How accurate were they? Group size....

Three shots touching at 100 yards, almost every time--in other words, well under .5". And with a variety of bullets as well, not just "accuracy" bullets. Just very, very consistent fine accuracy.

I have written about my Jarrett rifle many times on this forum and am still in love with it after 25 years or so. It is now on its third barrel, chambered in 280 AI. To say it is accurate would be a gross understatement. It's first barrel was a Hart and it would group in the teens...little ol bugholes. I can't tell you how many groups it shot measuring .135, .150, .160, etc....she was a hummer. Being a Hart barrel, it didn't last forever and was soon replaced by another which eventually shot out as well. This year she got a third barrel from Kenny and the old rifle has not missed a lick, shooting in the teens again. The first shot I fired with the rifle with its new barrel (other than sighting in) was at a very nice 8 pointer at a verified 610 yards away. I watched him feed for about 20 minutes in some peanuts and when conditions were right (no wind, good rest, buck broadside and still) I squeezed off the shot. The shot took out his heart and a chunk of lungs and he was dead right there. The second deer shot was a doe at 475...same stand, same results.

I always bragged that the rifle was magic, as it has yet to miss a deer for me. I wish to point out that three barrels in 25 years might raise some eyebrows, but it has been used extensively for legal culling operations and given the number of shots fired over the years, barrel wear was quite normal.

Like Mule Deer states...they are a very fine rifle and very very consistent from shot to shot. My longest shot with this rifle was a one shot kill on a nice buck at 719 yards...anything longer than that and I can't attest to its accuracy!

I also love the 280 AI caliber...I am averaging 3213 fps with a 140 grain bullet.

Good luck should you decide to purchase it.

Sounds like I have to make room in the safe.Thanks J.B.

Interesting, I would have thought that Charlie Sisk's rifles would would have shot at least as well.

I don`t want to hi-jack this thread, but it moves in a direction I`ve always had interest in.
In your opinion, what factors make these rifles shoot so well.
If time allows, please elaborate.

jwp,

Charlie's rifles shoot very well, as do those of any of any number of other makers. But the Jarrett rifles I tested shot a little better, and more conistently with a wider variety of bullets.

Hey John-were any of those rifles lightweight (say sub 8?) or were they heavier and in the 8 plus to 9 range? Also are the barrels he's making cut or buttoned?

Thx
Dober

CGPAUL,

Darned if I know what factors make Jarrett rifles so accurate--and Kenny claims that some of his techniques are secrets.

I do know that when he was getting his barrels from other manufacturers, he often put several barrels on one rifle before finding one that would shoot the way he wanted. Which is the big reason he started making his own barrels. He says that now most his rifles shoot the way he demands with their first barrel.

OK..just wondered if you had a chance to "take them apart" so to speak.
I`m just a basement mech. who like working on guns that don`t shoot. I do not do any metal work, but do consentrate on how the rifle is assembled, in particular it`s bedding. I started doing this when I was 15, my own firearms...I`m now 67, and have learned a few things along the way.
The most important is the guns bedding, IMHO, which includes the floor plate and mag box. I would think Jarrett knows this too, but probably not apparent in the guns looks, only it`s overall performance, as I have found one of your statement to be very true. A well set up firearms will shoot all bullet weights consistently well.

Mule Deer, you didn't mention the calibers, but were any of them 7 STW or 7MM Rem. Mag?

The reason I asked, if they were, did you have any problems with erratic pressures as mentioned on other threads with some of the 7MM mags?

I read, somewhere, that one of the custom makers refuses to built a rifle in one of the 7MM cals., the 7STW I think, because of the difficulty of getting it to shoot consistantly, but I am not sure of this.

On the subject of 7 MMs, do you think it could get any better than taking the 7 WSM case and lengthened it 1/2 inch, or else take the 7 RUM and making the case about 2.5 inches long?

In my imigination, I have always thought that a 7mm in either of these configerations would be ideal.

I have been using a 7 MM Wby. since about 1963 and I always felt this was the best thing going for North America, but I wouldn't turn down a rifle built on one of the other cases mentioned.

A 160 grain or thereabouts 7mm bullet at about 3250 FPS should be awesume.

Mark,

One was a fairly light rifle in 7mm-08 AI, as I recall under 8 pounds all up, and the other two were .300 Winchester Magnums that weighed in the 8-1/2 pound neighborhood with scopes. The scopes were bigger Swarovskis so weren't exactly lightweight.

The reason I got to test two .300's was that the rifle they originally sent was one that was ready to be shipped to a customer. I had shot it some when the folks at Jarrett called and asked me to send it back. They sent another, just about identical rifle that I got to shoot some more.

They will build any style rifle you want, including lightweights.