Brux vs ace barrels

[crazymonkey]

I have a brux on my 7-08 and couldn't be happier . It's stupid fast shoots good and cleans up easy even running the barns ttsx copper thru it.

 

[jjmp]

Sorry if I made a mistake.

 

[HandgunHTR]

At this point I'm convinced it doesn't matter. Buy the one you can get the soonest for the least money and get shooting

I am pretty much in the same boat. If my livelihood depended on shooting the smallest groups possible, I may have a different opinion, but over the last 10 years of building rifles, I have used quite a few different barrels and either I am the luckiest man alive (which I am definitely not), or makers are getting better. Both cut and button rifled barrels in all of my guns shoot great. All of them clean up well and finding loads for them has been very easy. Some a little pickier than others, but when I say that, the bad groups are 1.2MOA and the good ones are .75MOA. Heck, I even have a couple factory barrels that will shoot better than I can.

Long story short, if you have a favorite, great. I am sure that they will continue to do right by you. If you don't, then I am in the "get the one that is available or meets your budget" camp as the odds are you won't be disappointed unless you have unrealistic expectations. The barrel alone isn't going to make you a .5MOA shooter at 600 yards.

 

[VinceMule]

Start with bore scopeing the barrel before chambering. Use a 24" grizzly rod with proper fitting bushings to gauge uniformity in the bore dia from front to back.

Assume NOTHING due to the name on the barrel!

Cull:
Rough barrels
Barrels with machining defects or defects from the foundry
"Trombone" barrels, Which are barrels that are tight at the breech, then open up gradually toward the muzzle
barrels with loose spots in the middle of the bore
Barrels that are tight at the muzzle and breech, loose in the middle

 

[Beluebow]

I have shot out 39 Brux 7mm barrels and a few 6mm barrels.... I've had some great ones and a couple that were just okay but still good. Brux is top notch in my book.....they stand behind the product.

No experience with the other company.

 

[VinceMule]

Brux is my first pick, with Muller and Krieger being second for cut rifle barrels for good reason.

Hart, Shilen, Lilja, and Criterion are my picks for button rifle barrels.

Gunsmiths should bore scope the barrel before chambering, check uniformity of the bore dia, and bore scope after chambering while the barrel is still in the lathe, insist on it! This an expensive lesson to learn from!

I have shot out 4x as many Hart barrels as other brands.

Service after the sale, some barrel makers could really up their game on this issue.

 

[cjl2010]

Trend seems to be that Brux barrels are fast. The barrel I have now is chambered in 260 rem and is 16.5". Load is 43gn h4350 and a 129 ablr at 2770fps.

 

[VinceMule]

Lilja and Pac Nor three groove are the fastest barrels I have owned.

X caliber makes a 22 caliber three groove, 3 R barrel. I am testing one in 6 Dasher, 8T now.

 

[Mike D Texas]

I have a Brux barrel on my 260AI and am currently having another chambered for my 257 Wby with a 7.5 twist.

I don't have an ACE barrel yet but am looking at them for a 22-250AI (rebarrel) or 22CM (to replace the 22-250AI. I see they offer 4 groove and 6 groove barrel and my question is, I'm thinking of going to a 6.5 twist for whichever above I go with. Currently my 22-250AI is shooting the 90 grain A-Tip at just over 3300fps in a 25" barrel; it is a Bartlein 5R 7 twist barrel. My calculation show that to have a bullet RPM of 339,428. So far I haven't seen evidence of bullets coming apart. I also plan to try 88 grain ELDMs. Quickload predicts they will run around 3350.

Assuming that the ACE barrel runs similar velocities (it will be 1" longer) that has RPMs approaching 365,500 rpm or even higher with the ELDM.

So which would be easier on jackets, 4 groove or 6 groove? I've always run 5R rifling because allegedly they are less stressful on thin bullet jackets.

Any thoughts?

 

[Flintlock shooter]

I have a Brux barrel on my 260AI and am currently having another chambered for my 257 Wby with a 7.5 twist.

I don't have an ACE barrel yet but am looking at them for a 22-250AI (rebarrel) or 22CM (to replace the 22-250AI. I see they offer 4 groove and 6 groove barrel and my question is, I'm thinking of going to a 6.5 twist for whichever above I go with. Currently my 22-250AI is shooting the 90 grain A-Tip at just over 3300fps in a 25" barrel; it is a Bartlein 5R 7 twist barrel. My calculation show that to have a bullet RPM of 339,428. So far I haven't seen evidence of bullets coming apart. I also plan to try 88 grain ELDMs. Quickload predicts they will run around 3350.

Assuming that the ACE barrel runs similar velocities (it will be 1" longer) that has RPMs approaching 365,500 rpm or even higher with the ELDM.

So which would be easier on jackets, 4 groove or 6 groove? I've always run 5R rifling because allegedly they are less stressful on thin bullet jackets.

Any thoughts?

It would be worth a phone call to Ace and ask them. I'm sure you would get a very detailed answer to that question. I'm also thinking you may not need quite that fast of twist. I am running 75gr ELDM's thru a 8 twist and it works great, even tho Hornady says they require a 7 twist.

 

[Mike D Texas]

It would be worth a phone call to Ace and ask them. I'm sure you would get a very detailed answer to that question. I'm also thinking you may not need quite that fast of twist. I am running 75gr ELDM's thru a 8 twist and it works great, even tho Hornady says they require a 7 twist.

I plugged the data into JBM and I'm right at 1.5 at my elevation @ 59°F.

Any colder than that and it drops into the 1.3 range.

Berger shows marginal stability under same conditions shooting their 90 grain VLD.

 

[Flintlock shooter]

I plugged the data into JBM and I'm right at 1.5 at my elevation @ 59°F.

Any colder than that and it drops into the 1.3 range.

Berger shows marginal stability under same conditions shooting their 90 grain VLD.

If I input the info for my setup into JBM it gives me 1.303 @ 59 degrees. If I drop the temp to 10 degrees JBM shows 1.180
That being said, targets and coyotes show me that everything is fine.
Look at my opening post and then go to post #63 on page 5. Temps were around 37 for the target pics and the video was at 26 degrees.

I jumped on the 22 Creedmoor bandwagon

About 4 years ago I bought 600 pieces of Alpha SP 22 Creedmoor brass, Whidden dies and a reamer. A couple years before that I had gotten a Defiance Deviant Elite action off a prize table. Never used any of it.....until the day before yesterday. I got a 8 twist barrel blank from Ace Barrels to...

www.longrangehunting.com

 

[WapitiBob]

I bought an Ace on Saturday. I've never gotten the impression some of the bigger, old time barrel makers have really drilled down the how and why of what's going on with bullets and barrels like the Ace guy did on the shoot2hunt podcast. Could be wrong, time will tell.

 

[Mike D Texas]

If I input the info for my setup into JBM it gives me 1.303 @ 59 degrees. If I drop the temp to 10 degrees JBM shows 1.180
That being said, targets and coyotes show me that everything is fine.
Look at my opening post and then go to post #63 on page 5. Temps were around 37 for the target pics and the video was at 26 degrees.

I jumped on the 22 Creedmoor bandwagon

About 4 years ago I bought 600 pieces of Alpha SP 22 Creedmoor brass, Whidden dies and a reamer. A couple years before that I had gotten a Defiance Deviant Elite action off a prize table. Never used any of it.....until the day before yesterday. I got a 8 twist barrel blank from Ace Barrels to...

www.longrangehunting.com

I don't get much opportunity at Coyotes or other varmints. I'll be looking to use this for whitetail and below sized animals. I want to maximize stability for live game terminal performance. Sometimes they may shoot great groups on paper but do funky things when an animal is shot.