Shilen Barrels

aelizondo · #1 10-31-2005, 01:43 PM

Hey, I´m thinking of changing my barrel to a shilen cause I heard they are one of the best. I am building a rifle with a Long Weatherby Action and I want the rifle to be incredibly precise so as to shoot game at 500yds and paper at 1000. I really want to make it a 300 win mag but I am not sure about the contour, length, weight, etc. Since I live down here in Mexico and don´t know any qualified gunsmiths here so I tought of ordering my Shilen barrel completely finished with chamber and everything. What do you guys think.

James Jones · #2 10-31-2005, 09:11 PM

Unless the gun is a Savage your gonna have to have to have the barrel instaled by a smith anyhow to set the headspace correctly.
As for your choice I don't care for the Shilen barrels as I have personaly found them to not last as long. I would check out Broughton , Hart or Kreiger.
and get in touch with a good smith to do the work.
The only thing worse than trying to save money on a cheap barrel is having it put on wrong or a crappy job

Centre Punch · #3 11-01-2005, 07:31 AM

Alex, welcome to the forum.
I had a Shilen Ultramatch barrel on my 6mmPPC HV benchgun and it was incredibly accurate resulting in a screamer of .068" @ 100yds, It also shot in very quicKly and cleaned up easily.

Ian.

"I meant to shoot the pike but the duck got in the way"

Waffen · #4 11-01-2005, 10:41 AM

My best friend had Shilen rebarrel his Weatherby Mk5 to 338-378 with a 29" Contour #5 stainless match select. I managed to put 2 rounds in the same hole the first time I fired it.

It's extremly accurate even after 1000 rounds. I believe he left the gun with Shilen and had them do the whole process for about $650. Turnaround time was 6 weeks IIRC.

You being in Mexico makes Shilen a pretty good option. They are closer to you than any other "well known" barrel maker. From what my buddy said Ed, and Doug Shilen were great people to deal with.

aelizondo · #5 11-01-2005, 10:54 AM

What´s wrong with having the Shilen guys chamber, crown, (and everything else) my barrel? I would really prefer to order my barrel and have it completely finished when they deliver it to me so as to just install it here in Mexico. I really am new to this whole barrel exchange business, and I heard some guys talking about head-space and throat-space and all other kinds of technical mumbojumbo. The real question is, Can I order a complete barrel from Shilen without sending them my Weatherby action and still get a great work? I ask all these because here in Mexico our gun laws are equall to a bag of crap and its pretty difficult to get anything related to firearms.

Waffen · #6 11-01-2005, 11:21 AM

I don't think getting the barrel the way you want is going to be the hard part. I think importing the barrel would be the hardest.

Aside from that I don't see why it could not be done.

Centre Punch · #7 11-01-2005, 11:23 AM

Alex,
Shilen will do what you ask, check out this link:
http://www.shilen.com/#question6.

The barrel would have to be installed by a gunsmith so that he can set the head space to the correct length.
The headspace is the length of the chamber from the bolt face or base of he cartridge to a datum point on the shoulder angle.
This is checked with "GO" and "NO-GO" gauges which resemble cartridge cases without necks. If this headspace is not within the specified limits you can end up with a short chamber, with which you cannot close the bolt on a loaded round, or more dangerous, a long chamber or excessive headspace which can result in a case head seperation upon firing and a destroyed action.

Ian.

"I meant to shoot the pike but the duck got in the way"