Barrels 2020

[Coldfinger]

Thanks for the reply Sir Feenix.

My rifles are plain-Jane .270 Winchesters; so the data you kindly provided for your AI version wouldn't quite work. However, I too have had good results with H4831SC, in some guns, and better luck with H4350 in others. They all shoot Sierra bullets well. Congrats on your results with .75 MOA at over 900 yards. Very nice.

I've heard good things about the long-for-caliber Matrix Canadian bullets, but I've also read they're not available in the US anymore. I've not checked recently though, so that could be out-dated information. Where do you source them?

Berger took the plunge, bless 'em, and is making their "Extreme Outer Limit" Elite Hunter bullet at 170 grains. It's a beauty, but I've not even tried to shoot them in a 1:10 barrel. I also like the looks of the Nosler 150 ABLR, but have read mixed results on terminal performance.

The percentage of .270 owners who are interested in and willing to re-barrel to a faster twist is likely pretty small . . . which I suppose explains the market's general hesitancy to design and market longer, heavier, high-BC pills in .277 diameter. I'm completely invested and satisfied with the .270 Winchester cartridge, after hunting for so many years with it in various rifles. The easy fix for long range, I suppose, would be to go with a .280 / .280 AI for the much-better bullet selection. Not for me though.

Funny how you can get a LOT of heavy bullets for the .264 diameter, but again that's driven by the common availability of 1:8 barrels.

Fingers crossed that Sierra will make available a high-BC .277 Game Changer sometime soon. Something in the 165 - 175 range would be terrific.

Happy hunting Sir!

SF -
Brad

you said the s word, I thought I was the only Sierra shooter here!!!

 

[22Kreedmire]

I've ran 2 Bartlein (223 and 22 creed) , A kreiger (22 creed) , a Lilja ar barrel (204) , shilen (223 ar barrel, bolt action 204,6.5-284,2-6creeds from northland , criterion 300wm from northland , proof carbon 6.5 creed shoulder prefit , proof comp contour steel 223 Wylde shoulder prefit .. a 6 creed xcaliber . 2 WOA 223 AR barrels. A McGowen 338 edge.. In my close knit group there's 2 more shilen in 6 creed. One in 223 rem,270wsm ,22cheetah mk1, 338edge. A kreiger in 338edge, A criterion 6.5 creed and 243win. A proof tikka shoulder prefit in 6.5prc. 2 ragged hole barrels (Wilson) in 6.5 creed and 6 dasher . I'm sure I'm missing a handful . The shilen for me in every caliber have absolutely hammered right out of the gate. .2-.3"s every time out with the loads they like. So far my 2 proofs are .4" or less with their loads consistently. One of the bartleins (223) is the most forgiving barrel I have. Everything and I mean everything I run through it is .5" or less at 100. Doesn't matter what ammo. The other (22 creed ) shot like garbage . Nothing less than 1" at 100 with 4 different bullets and 2 powders . Currently at Bart for inspection. Replaced it with a kreiger just because a buddy had it laying around and it shoots extremely well. Usually around .3-.4" . Lilja 204 ar barrel is .5 or less with factory ammo. Criterion 300wm shoots .5" The xcaliber 6 creed shot good with 108 factory ammo about .5" at 100 it was 17" long.. never loaded much for that barrel. All other shilen in my group are tack drivers equal in accuracy to my person barrels. Buddies 6.5 creed and 243 criterion both shoot under .5". The proof 6.5 Prc tikka of my buddies hasn't shot a group yet without all touching with factory 143eldx. We have also had 2 McGowen.. a 6.5-284. Absolute tack driver. And a 338 edge. .75" or less on average . Both Wilson barrels in 6.5 creed and 6 dasher shoot extremely well . There's a couple benchmarks also. 6xc and 223 rem. Both are hammers. Only bad barrel I've had so far is a bartlein. And I believe whatever is wrong is just a fluke, They have an excellent reputation , and I hope to hear back soon if they find something funky with it .. the one mcgowen in 338 edge shot "OK" but not really up to my standards for a bolt gun .

 

[Vol1975]

Awesome feedback guys! Thank you. I'm kicking around the idea of getting a couple new barrels in the future and I'm thinking about going out on a limb and trying something new. I also am working for Pierce Engineering now so working there gives me a lot of insight on what people are using and having success with. Recently, I read some posts from Alex Wheeler and he was saying how impressed he was with newly made Lilja barrels. He says the newer ones are really good. I never really hear a ton about Lilja. I know who they are, but to me it's exciting to see manufacturers improving their products, especially barrels. I also know that Hart has new machines and a new 5 groove rifling they're using that's supposed to be doing really well. Keep the feedback coming. Thank you!

Hawk hill and benchmark.

hawk hill is s small shop and Shawn is very good.
bench Mark is good and fast.

 

[41magnut]

Pac-nor has been reliably consistent and cost competitive
Carbon 6 if you puke carbon fiber barrels also very good quality especially for a prefit

Pac-nor facilities were destroyed by fire sometime in the last couple of years.
I have been told they have rebuilt, and back in operation.

 

[Stevenstl86]

I'm surprised to not see a lot of carbon proofs or the new carbin bartlien.

I've had a few bartlein barrels that always shot excellent. I had a light weight .308 built on a tenacity action with a 22" proof sendero 10 twist last year. Gun broke in and shot ok with factory ammo. Suppressor on that gun was all over the place. Took almost 8 months to get it right but needless to say it went back to the smith, back to me and then back out to proof. My current build was switched to a bartlein from another proof after that. I really like my proof now that it shoots great but I would like to have another one and try bartlein carbon barrels

 

[PNWdude67]

I have been thinking about this for awhile and I want to make a thread discussing barrels and their quality as of now. Barrels like all things go up and down and change over the years. I know of a few barrel manufactures who have stepped their game up in the last couple years and seem to be producing better results. I currently am running Bartlein barrels and have no complaints about them. I however am very curious and I always like to experiment and learn more.

Having said that, if any of you could just give me a brief review or opinion on recent barrels you have used/installed/inspected I would really appreciate it. This is not a bashing thread, but I want it to be sort of a guide and understanding of where barrels stand as of 2020. I'll start off and say from my experiences , I see mainly Bartlein, Brux, Krieger, and Proof barrels. Those all seem to do well, but how about all the other guys?

Since falling into the precision rifle rabbit hole in 2017:
A few Hawk Hill
A few Bench Mark
1 Bartlien carbon fiber and few SS
Two Proof Carbon fiber and a few SS
All the above listed barrels were chambered and inspected by a master gunsmith who said they looked really good. We will continue to buy whatever is in stock and meets our needs from these makers with a very high level of confidence they will shoot.

 

[crazyhorse]

I've used Bartlein, Benchmark and Pac-Nor in various builds.

Pac-Nor in a .260 that has always been a hammer. Easy to load for and cleans up quite easily.

Benchmark in a 7RM that was meh... Very picky to load and copper fouled something terrible.

Bartlein in 300WM, 7-08, 6GT, and 7RM - Once I discovered Bartlein I've never looked back!

I'm probably jinxing myself here but since I tried my first Bartlien they've all been awesome shooters that clean up easily. None have been picky to load for despite the fact I use a fairly diverse bullet selection (Accubonds, Berger, ELD's and some Sierra's).
I've been using the same smith for years who has worked with almost every barrel maker out there, and he now recommends Bartlein on any build where the customer doesn't already have a preference. He says they just seem to machine better and have been consistently super straight.

 

[Bryant Buttars]

I don't know if they have been mentioned yet, and you probably already know better but I bought 3 barrels from Bear Creek Arsenal. One .223 barrel will shoot about MOA. The other two won't shoot minute of barn door. Shot gun patterns at best. I won't spend any more money there.

I did buy a .224 Valkyrie Barrel from Faxon Firearms that I have been totally happy with. It shoots very well.

 

[Andrew Massi]

Pac-nor facilities were destroyed by fire sometime in the last couple of years.
I have been told they have rebuilt, and back in operation.

They're back open. Albeit in a limited fashion. I havent ordered a post burn barrel so cannot comment on any changes

 

[blueprairiedog]

I have been thinking about this for awhile and I want to make a thread discussing barrels and their quality as of now. Barrels like all things go up and down and change over the years. I know of a few barrel manufactures who have stepped their game up in the last couple years and seem to be producing better results. I currently am running Bartlein barrels and have no complaints about them. I however am very curious and I always like to experiment and learn more.

Having said that, if any of you could just give me a brief review or opinion on recent barrels you have used/installed/inspected I would really appreciate it. This is not a bashing thread, but I want it to be sort of a guide and understanding of where barrels stand as of 2020. I'll start off and say from my experiences , I see mainly Bartlein, Brux, Krieger, and Proof barrels. Those all seem to do well, but how about all the other guys?

I have bartlein ,lija,I have a criterion on shelf for my 03A3 I have seen 3 criterion barrels shoot good and clean up quick

 

[GunHawk]

Bartlein; easy to communicate with, best product and service, and they get it right the first time.
duckklr

Absolutely right, and they win a lot in the PRS and NRL. Those competitors don't compromise (or at least not often).

 

[Apex Custom Rifles]

Not saying Bartlein isn't a great barrel, but I bet $$ if you give any of the top shooters in any discipline custom barrel X, Y, or Z when properly put together, those barrels would become top dog in a year or two. Can be said for any component. Of course you need a great barrel to compete at the top, just because guy #1 is winning with barrel X, doesn't mean it was all the barrel. That being said, just because a barrel maker isn't at the top today, doesn't mean they weren't 5 years ago, or won't be in another 5 years. I can think of at least 10 barrel makers that are capable of this level of accuracy consistently.

There's a lot of follow the leader when it comes to components and competition.

 

[GunHawk]

Not saying Bartlein isn't a great barrel, but I bet $$ if you give any of the top shooters in any discipline custom barrel X, Y, or Z when properly put together, those barrels would become top dog in a year or two. Can be said for any component. Of course you need a great barrel to compete at the top, just because guy #1 is winning with barrel X, doesn't mean it was all the barrel. That being said, just because a barrel maker isn't at the top today, doesn't mean they weren't 5 years ago, or won't be in another 5 years. I can think of at least 10 barrel makers that are capable of this level of accuracy consistently.

There's a lot of follow the leader when it comes to components and competition.

Agreed. They don't build their own machinery so they are probably using the same machines. After that it comes down to Quality Assurance/Quality Control.

 

[Deleted member 103481]

Personally, I don't see PRS as a best measure for barrels as it's not a shooting discipline that actually measures accuracy.

Not that bartlein isn't also high on those list as well, I've no experience with them other than good CS when I almost ordered one, but heard many good things by people in BR,f-class as well.

I just think PRS is too often used as the benchmark for "accuracy" in components when that's not really what differentiates the winners.

I am not a good enough shooter or tuner to recommend any barrel makers. I've had proof, Krieger and rock creek now. Just bought another rock creek for a large frame ar and will be using whatever my smith prefers on the next build.