Best Pre-fit Savage barrel? Better than Shilen Super select?

I am not a big fan of pre-fit barrels for many reasons. They can be good or they can be bad. If you get a good one then you are lucky, If you get a not so good one you haven't saved any money and get what you get. Pre fit barrels are mass produced and do not have any allowances for discrepancies that may be present in your action. Things that a good smith can anticipate.

Pre fit barrels are a lot like stocks that don't need bedding and are advertised as drop in. (One size fits all) There is more to installing a pre fit barrel than head spacing it. Not knocking the pre fit barrel makers just the concept of them trying to get proper thread fit, alignment to your action, proper torque, ETC.

By the time you buy a pre fit barrel, you have paid for a barrel, gun smithing, and you need proper tools to install correctly and buy this time you have spent almost as much as you would have buy using a smith, without the advantage of experience and expertise furnished buy the smith.

There are many top quality barrel makers that sell there premium barrel blanks for much less than most pre fits. of the many pre fits that I have repaired, None used the top quality barrels because of the price of the pre fit. This is especially true in the AR platform. when you can buy a complete upper for less than $400.00 how can they use a $400.00 dollar
barrel. (They don't).

Like everything else, you get what you pay for. recommendations normally come from those that have had good luck with a particular brand, but not from those that have not had good luck and probably quietly sold there pre fits and road of into the sunset licking there wounds and absorbing there loses.

I know it sounds negative but it is just a warning that you get what you pay for.

Just my opinion

J E CUSTOM
 
"there" vs "their"...when a person has no more command of our language via either a poor education or lack of attention to detail as a student...I have to wonder if this carries over into their gunsmithing. Oh, those are two different things you say...really ? No one says you have to stop learning when you leave the classroom. Competency in one phase of life usually carries over into all phases. An inquiring mind wants to know not only best techniques to thread a barrel but also how to communicate !
 
"there" vs "their"...when a person has no more command of our language via either a poor education or lack of attention to detail as a student...I have to wonder if this carries over into their gunsmithing. Oh, those are two different things you say...really ? No one says you have to stop learning when you leave the classroom. Competency in one phase of life usually carries over into all phases. An inquiring mind wants to know not only best techniques to thread a barrel but also how to communicate !

This discussion is about Savage Pre fit barrels. Please do us a couple favors 1.) Google "what science says about grammar police" 2.) Take your discussion to a grammar forum. If you have a comment about pre fit barrels by all means join in.
 
This discussion is about Savage Pre fit barrels. Please do us a couple favors 1.) Google "what science says about grammar police" 2.) Take your discussion to a grammar forum. If you have a comment about pre fit barrels by all means join in.


Thanks Guys ! I realized long ago that I was not perfect and made typo's, but look at it on the bright side, We now have a perfect member that can't make a mistake and Was placed on this earth to correct everyone else. And considers him self a "Legend in His own mind"

I think his signature says it all. :rolleyes:
"Some where between Ignorance and Arrogance"

J E CUSTOM
 
"there" vs "their"...when a person has no more command of our language via either a poor education or lack of attention to detail as a student...I have to wonder if this carries over into their gunsmithing. Oh, those are two different things you say...really ? No one says you have to stop learning when you leave the classroom. Competency in one phase of life usually carries over into all phases. An inquiring mind wants to know not only best techniques to thread a barrel but also how to communicate !
Shame on you...you can't even quote the man and include your criticism. You speak of never stop learning, but you your self have not learned how to quote a post then reply to it!

I see what JC is talking about. EA BROWN stocks a bunch of barrels then sells them at a reduced price.

While others cut them on demand.

Not sure the quality couldn't be the same...they both are supposed to fit the same way!
 
Shame on you...you can't even quote the man and include your criticism. You speak of never stop learning, but you your self have not learned how to quote a post then reply to it!

I see what JC is talking about. EA BROWN stocks a bunch of barrels then sells them at a reduced price.

While others cut them on demand.

Not sure the quality couldn't be the same...they both are supposed to fit the same way!


Yes and now we have come full circle. The OP asked which pre fits were the best. I think it is safe to say EA Browns are not. Maybe I missed it but the OP did not specify "sitting on the shelf". Pre fit to me, and most I know of, means you order a barrel, wether that be SAAMI chambered or your reamer, and they ship it to you and you install it and it is either headspaced correctly or you use a nut. Since he said Savage I think it is safe to say he is using a nut. The number of options is growing since other companies like Shilen and Bighorn(maybe others) started making actions with Savage threads. Even Proof makes a pre fit now.
 
Ive ran a few Eabco barrels, for the money they can't be beat. I thought i heard before that Eabco barrels were ER Shaw. Dont quote me on it though. I plan to order another one of his barrels very soon. Ive seen less than 5 of gis barrels and they all shot .5moa.
 
To explain my beliefs better, I will start at the beginning.

Accuracy starts with the barrel quality. No matter how good the smith is, no matter how good the loads are and the shooter, ultimately the barrel determines how much accuracy is achieved.

This is even true with identical barrels and chambers from the same barrel makers. Many bench rest shooters will buy 4 or 5 barrels, do all the work, and test for the most accurate barrel for their matches.

With my standard of 1/2 MOA or better, I have to buy the best barrels i can find. After inspecting the barrel blank the best I can for straightness and concentricity, I do the set up using the bore center line for threading and chambering.

After completing the barrel work, I like to do a complete stress free pillar bedding that I allow to cure at least 6 or 7 days before firing.
I automatically do break in on any barrel for many reasons, one being
a good way to find out the quality of the barrel. (It appears that the quicker the barrel breaks in, the better the bore and ultimately the accuracy potential.

Normally If I do my part, sub 1/2 MOA is normal. some will start around .375 and others will/have been less than 1/4 MOA. with careful load component selections the realy good barrels will drop below 1/8th MOA. I cannot predict Which barrels will perform the best, (I wish I could) only which ones should based on the experiences I have had during the inspection and build of each barrel.

This is the reason I recommend only the best barrels for any build and don't recommend cutting cost when buying a barrel. So if you buy the best quality barrel, and get a realy good one, have a top notch smith do the work, feed it only the best ammo and have good shooting skills, the odds are you will have a real accurate rifle. It anyone of these things are left out, accuracy can range from good to poor.

If everything else is done right except for barrel selection, chances are that it will never impress anyone.

A friend and excellent gunsmith likes to use the saying, "You can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear" and that sums it up for me to.

Just my experience with barrel quality and cost for what it is worth.

J E CUSTOM
 
Does anyone know who makes the Savage barrels for EA Brown?
Asked them a bit over a year ago when I bought one of their Accuracy barrel kits for my Savage....they said at that time their OEM type barrels were made by E.R. Shaw but their "Accuracy" barrels were done "in house". Course that was almost two years ago so don't know if that is still accurate. When you read their barrel specs on the Accuracy barrels it is almost identical to that used by Douglas barrels. Makes you wonder huh?
 
thank you everyone for the discussion and feedback!

it looks like the list of ones to checkout are (not in any order)

1. shilen
2. northlandshootersupply
3. bugholes
4. criterion

those seem to be the most recommended barrels.

for the questions that were raised before, when i say "pre-fit" i dont just mean something ordered from midway, i mean any barrel that can be installed by a non-gunsmith type person.
 
thank you everyone for the discussion and feedback!
You bet! Like you I have had some Shilen Select Match barrels. All were as good or better than expected...one I used to build a custom Savage in 243 for my son is crazy accurate. Only reason I get Criterion's more now is wait time. All the ones I have had were very good barrels. Good luck!
 
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