Bad barrel

[Ucsdryder]

Always amazes me in the day and age of the internet companies think it's 1995 and telling a customer to pound sand is ok. A disgruntled customer has access to 10s of thousands of like minded individuals. Fix the barrel, make a customer happy, and eat the small cost.




Same thing happened to me with OMR this year. Didn't live up to his promises and our agreement and then said pound sand. I've had so many people ask me about the rifle I had them build because it just looks good! I make sure to tell every single person my story.

 

[Pittsspecial]

Sorry for the loss. Premium barrels are not cheap and take forever to get these days.

I slug and bore scope each barrel as soon as I get it. If there are any red flags, they go back. I've had questionable barrel performances. Life's too short to take a chance on bad barrel. As others have pointed out, a barrel can look good but shoot poorly. Its also frustrating when a barrel doesn't like the bullet you want to shoot.

I wished I did that. My Krieger 306 M1c bbl new shoots like C--p. Now I have all the work to do and missed time in competition. I got a new bbl because I wanted it to be more accurate. 250rds down the tube and I am at 4" at 200 yds from a rest. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[ShtrRdy]

I wished I did that. My Krieger 306 M1c bbl new shoots like C--p. Now I have all the work to do and missed time in competition. I got a new bbl because I wanted it to be more accurate. 250rds down the tube and I am at 4" at 200 yds from a rest. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh

If you've gone through the trouble-shooting steps that Krieger outlines in their FAQ then call them. They may have you send it in for a replacement.

 

[ShtrRdy]

Sorry for the loss. Premium barrels are not cheap and take forever to get these days.

I slug and bore scope each barrel as soon as I get it. If there are any red flags, they go back. I've had questionable barrel performances. Life's too short to take a chance on bad barrel. As others have pointed out, a barrel can look good but shoot poorly. Its also frustrating when a barrel doesn't like the bullet you want to shoot.

Would you mind describing how you slug a barrel?

 

[jrock]

Here's Gordy's instructions. I make my slugs by boring the correct diameter out of some 1/2" aluminum rod and then pouring in the lead.

 

[Csbc4fun]

Have a Benchmark barrel that would only shoot 0.500" groups when new. Then between 75 and 100 rounds it suddenly changed to under 0.200" at 100 Yards. Now at 1200 round count and still very happy.

 

[ofdscooby]

The orriginal post said, "After believing I just had the figure out the right combination for way to long...." I interpret this to mean some time passed before trying to get the barrel maker to remedy the situation. This could make a difference in their response.

They didn't seem to care about any of that. They based it on the fact that there was a scratch 3/4 of an inch down from the muzzle that they felt I put there. I told them there was no way we did it. They laughed at me when I suggested it was like that from the factory and maybe one slipped by.

 

[.300 Dakota]

i thought I had an issue with a shillen match barrel years ago. After the break in, I put 50 rounds down range and no group was less than 1 1/4". I took it back to the custom shop for an inspection, the gunsmith found nothing wrong with the barrel. Back to the range and another 50 rounds of various bullets, powder, brass, primer and seating depths were tried. This time, a couple of groups printed under an inch. PROGRESS. At about 150 rounds, nearly all groups were now under and inch. At 200 rounds, groups shrank to 1/2" - now, I was happy. Apparently, there was a flaw near the muzzle that wore down and took 200 rounds to do so. For the last 1000 rounds, this 300 WSM has printed 3/4" 5 shot groups religiously.

You have more patience than me. I recently canned a Wilson 6mm Remington 1:8 barrel because there was only 1 load that barely made 1 MOA. (And I figured out I didn't get my throat deep enough anyway - SAAMI chamber). Most everything was under 1.5 MOA, but nothing save 1 as good as MOA. I think it was the definition of "good hunting accuracy." If you ever hear anybody telling you a rifle demonstrates "good hunting accuracy," don't expect much better than 1 .5 MOA. If I would have thought there was a chance it would have ironed out in another 150 shots, I probably would have gotten rid of it anyway. That's too much powder and primer wastage for me to swallow in today's times. Not to mention time, since I may only have enough range days per year to count on one hand. I had a Douglas suddenly drop from 1 MOA to 1/4 MOA at 40 rounds once. Generally, accuracy will improve slightly, but my patience runs out with the first 50ct box of brass. I've got a Criterion .22 Creedmoor barrel I've been on the fence about. I got what looked about 1/2 MOA from MRP (old metal can) the first group that was ever fired from it, and most everything else has been around 1 MOA five or take an eighth. I disassembled it Friday night and sanded the barrel channel some more and installed a McCarbo spring to bring it down under 3lb trigger pull, as I noticed I was pulling it because of the way the Acci-Trigger broke the last time out. I repeated the MRP load except with 1 more grain and used Lapua 6mm Creed brass I formed and loaded with a SRP. Group was decently fast and exactly 1/2 MOA confirmed. Another group with Sta-Ball was faster but was up to 7/8 MOA. I have decided that if I only have the 1 powder that can touch 1/2 MOA, it's still a keeper. For my purposes, that's plenty good. I made that mistake with a Remington 700 LSS in 25-06 once. I could only get to exactly 1/2" with one or two loads. I spent hundreds of dollars to have it rebarreled with a Krieger and chambered in 25-06 AI. For all my effort, time, and money, I got 1/16" better accuracy on group size (7/16" - dime size) and 100 - 150 ft/sec more speed. And the headache of trying to form the brass and have it come out the same length was a nightmare. I wished a thousand times over I'd left good enough alone, and this example was all I could think about when deciding. I have close to 60 rounds through it now, so it SHOULDN'T get any better, but this thread has given me hope that it might! I will say this is the worst shooting Criterion barrel I've had if that tells you anything that it's capable of 1/2 MOA with ANY load! I'll keep buying Criterion unless I want something special like a 6.5 GAP 4S from Patriot Valley or Carbon Six!

 

[.300 Dakota]

Have a Benchmark barrel that would only shoot 0.500" groups when new. Then between 75 and 100 rounds it suddenly changed to under 0.200" at 100 Yards. Now at 1200 round count and still very happy.

I'll keep shooting my Criterion for a few more rounds, then!!

 

[4thefunofit]

They didn't seem to care about any of that. They based it on the fact that there was a scratch 3/4 of an inch down from the muzzle that they felt I put there. I told them there was no way we did it. They laughed at me when I suggested it was like that from the factory and maybe one slipped by.

If the barrel manufacture doesn't have a photo to provide visual proof of the barrel before it left their plant, then they really can't say the scratch was your fault.

 

[RAGGED EDGE]

You can get a Teslong bore scope for around $50 .

EVERY ONE of US should have one. I was 73 before I bought mine. Opened up a new world.

 

[SWHandldr]

They didn't seem to care about any of that. They based it on the fact that there was a scratch 3/4 of an inch down from the muzzle that they felt I put there. I told them there was no way we did it. They laughed at me when I suggested it was like that from the factory and maybe one slipped by.

Laughing at a customer is never good. Way before the Internet surveys indicated that unsatisfied customers share with 5X more people than satisfied ones (25 vs 5). The ratio is probably higher now.

Humans are imperfect by definition. It's better for all parties to accept a reasonable customer's complaint and make good a questionable product than to blow one off. Doing otherwise is being guilty of hubris: "We never make/ship a mistake." Imo, one way to tell a true leader in any industry is the willingness to admit _possible_ fault. At least take a customer's concern seriously - they may be letting you know about an issue you're unaware of....

Even unreasonable requests can be handled "fair, firm and friendly." More emphasis on the first two for the true PIA's.

TL;DR: Respect for folks spending their hard-earned bucks with you, who approach you reasonably, pretty much pays off. If profits are so low that's a problem, other issues exist.

 

[Ucsdryder]

EVERY ONE of US should have one. I was 73 before I bought mine. Opened up a new world.

My problem is every time I see a picture that somebody posts with a borescope I have no idea what I'm looking at! It could be the best thing in the world but it would be like me trying to read medical charts! lol

 

[.300 Dakota]

My problem is every time I see a picture that somebody posts with a borescope I have no idea what I'm looking at! It could be the best thing in the world but it would be like me trying to read medical charts! lol

Medical charts are easy to read... with several years of education and training... I doubt using a bore scope would be as difficult. Lol! I have never used one either, but have always wanted one. Basically, and guys who know can chime in, you are looking for anything that deviates from perfectly smooth and concentric. You can see chatter and roughness in the chamber from the travel speed of the lathe being too fast, the cutter being dull, where chips were allowed to pile up in the way, or overheating from lack of coolant, or some combination. In the barrel, you might see scratches or burrs on the lands or the grooves being inconsistent, etc. I just know this from looking at photos on the Internet, of which there are many out there. However, just because you see something, doesn't necessarily mean the barrel won't be accurate. Savage factory barrels have been an anomaly pointed out time and again about looking like crap on the inside, but may outshoot many custom tubes. What a rough-cut barrel WILL assuredly do is foul easily and require more work to clean, and need cleaning more often! (This I've read, too.)