Best Custom Match Grade Barrels

Best Custom Match Grade Barrels

  • Bartlein

    Votes: 50 16.8%
  • Benchmark

    Votes: 12 4.0%
  • Broughton

    Votes: 28 9.4%
  • Brux

    Votes: 41 13.8%
  • Douglas

    Votes: 11 3.7%
  • Hart

    Votes: 17 5.7%
  • Krieger

    Votes: 64 21.5%
  • Lilja

    Votes: 19 6.4%
  • Lothar Walther

    Votes: 1 0.3%
  • McGowen

    Votes: 6 2.0%
  • Obermeyer

    Votes: 3 1.0%
  • PacNor

    Votes: 12 4.0%
  • Rock Creek

    Votes: 17 5.7%
  • Shaw

    Votes: 4 1.3%
  • Shilen

    Votes: 13 4.4%

  • Total voters
    298
With 199 votes cast, I don't see a lot of surprises. I am surprised that Obermeyer has only got 2 voted. Also didn't realize Brux was so popular.


That surprises me as well. But on the other hand, I don't see a lot of the peeps on here running Oby's ('cept me). I think barrel selection for most folks is an area of little deviation. Meaning, after procuring and using a particular brand to good success; most folks I know tend to stay with what works. That's cool, more Oby's for me :D


t
 
I've used every barrel on the list but Shaw and still have barrels from all the rest except Broughton, PacNor, Brux, and Shilen. I've even used a few not on the list like Blackstar/K&P, Schneider, and Green Mountain. I voted for Bartlein because the most consistently accurate barrels I've used lately have been Bartlein's. I've used more than 150 custom barrels over the last 20+ years for my own personal guns (It's more expensive when you build your own guns. Don't let anyone tell you different.) and numerous others for guns I've built for friends. There are some I won't use as well because of the experience I've had with them. They might have fixed the issues but there are too many others that are just as good now.

The reasons I think Obermeyer isn't up there further is because before Bugholes started stocking them they took forever to get and he did a lot of military work tying up his time. I have a .338 barrel 1.5"x36" barrel from Obermeyer that took 18 months to get. I forgot about it honestly and then it just shows up one day. At the time I ordered it most barrels from other people were running 3-4 months to get. It has a 8,XXX serial number and he has made over 20,000 barrels as of last year so that tells you how long I've had it. It's also a .330-.338 barrel because it was ordered before he started the whole .010" bore to groove thing. I think people don't like that he uses different dimensions for his barrels. Most people run .008" bore to groove difference and he usually runs .010" so you need different reamer pilots to deal with them. The complications just make it easier to buy another brand and his barrels haven't dominated any competitions so people look elsewhere IMO.
 
I ordered a .308 barrel from Obermeyer once in January of 2012. He misplaced my order two different times. Many months later, after providing him with my order specifications two additional times, he built me a .338 barrel. I caught the error in his "barrel is completed" e-mail before he shipped the wrong barrel to me. Never heard anything further from him after informing him that I ordered a .308, not a .338. That explains why I'm shooting a Krieger rather than an Obermeyer.

I suspect my experience explains why more aren't currently shooting Obermeyers.
 
My experiences with Obermeyer were similar to those of IdahoCTD and phorwath , but, when I finally got one from Bugholes and got it installed, it really shot well. I have had 8 top of the line custom barrels chambered in .338 EDGE and it will out shoot them all at 200yds. It is a lighter contour than some of the others, so it is a bit harder for me to shoot as well as the heavier ones at long distance. Gary
 
I have built and used ALL of these barrels with the exception of the Shaw. I have also used Proof Research and Saturn. ALL have there good strong points from what I have experienced. The proof research shoots to the same POI from Cold bore to hot it makes no difference. They are not that great with longer heavy barrels especially in the big magnums. All of the manufactures are great and price difference and big names do not make one better than the rest. I have a old Blackstar barrel that Is one of my best . Blackstar used Lothar Walter and applied there electro polishing process.It really is great with moly bullets. I will tell you the most consistent and most of my favorites are the Broughton and Krieger. The Broughton are consistently a little faster and are a very hard steel, to the point that I used a pilot reamer with a oiling process to do the job easier. This oiling was continuous and really makes a difference on the lands. Krieger is simply a great product it totally matches the Broughton in quality. Bartlien is hard to get a barrel through and I get the feeling they do not care about your business. They do turn out a superior product. Douglass and pac nor are a little cheaper and shoot like a house a fire. They CAN be as good as any, you MIGHT have a consistency issue with quality, may be 1 out of a 100. I have heard of this but personally have never had a bad barrel through them nor have ever had a other person that I have ever personally talked to has had a bad barrel. Because if this I would take this 1 in a 100 ratio with a grain of salt.. Shlien is the only manufacture I really do not want to use any more. I think since the new owners have taken over they have changed to a softer steel. I have had them shot out in overbores much faster than any other barrel. They shoot great new. Has any other experienced people experienced these same results? I really want to state for those who have contacted me that I do not to do any builds for anyone. I am retired and old. I have my hands full with my close friends projects. Thanks !
 
I have used many Krieger, a few Hart, 1 Brux, 5-8 Douglas, 3-4 Pac-nor, 2 Shilen, and just lately I'm on my 5th Bartlein. My vote swings to Bartlein over Kreiger just because of the exterior finish and uniform bore to exterior tolerances. Had a bad experience with Shilen and a couple Harts that cleaned up extremely tough. All in all Douglas, Pac-nor, Bartlein, Kreiger, Brux have been trouble free for me.
 
I have used several Hart Rifle Barrels over the years. All have worked just fine and never found a reason to choose another. Yes, there may be another manufacturer's barrel that will out shoot them to some degree but to me it would be like trying to pick fly stuff out of the pepper.

Pete
 
When I rebuilt my .264 Win Mag. I thought about a different barrel, I was thinking I would like a 26 to 27 inch barrel instead of the 24 inch barrel it came with so I could shoot heavier low drag bullets. I also thought a little extra accuracy wound not hurt. Well after searching barrel Manufacture's & Gunsmith's, I gave up, why because Gunsmiths did not seem to want to do just a rebarrel job, they want to true action & all there other accuracy tricks also, well my problem is I did not want to spend that much period. I always thought the customer was the Boss. I also could not believe the time from Barrel Manufacture's to get a barrel. So I stuck with the factory barrel & am shooting 120gr BT Nosler bullets in my .264 Win Mag. & it shoots under 2.5 inch groups at 300 yds & this is good enough for Deer & Antelope hunting for me. Would I like it to be better yes but in truth this has performed. I practice long range & do a little Prairie Dog shooting but when hunting Antelope my average shot has been just under 300 yds & Mule Deer less. Maybe it's the country I hunt. What will I do when I need a new rifle probably just buy a Remington 700 Sendero & go hunting.
 
When I rebuilt my .264 Win Mag. I thought about a different barrel, I was thinking I would like a 26 to 27 inch barrel instead of the 24 inch barrel it came with so I could shoot heavier low drag bullets. I also thought a little extra accuracy wound not hurt. Well after searching barrel Manufacture's & Gunsmith's, I gave up, why because Gunsmiths did not seem to want to do just a rebarrel job, they want to true action & all there other accuracy tricks also, well my problem is I did not want to spend that much period. I always thought the customer was the Boss. I also could not believe the time from Barrel Manufacture's to get a barrel. So I stuck with the factory barrel & am shooting 120gr BT Nosler bullets in my .264 Win Mag. & it shoots under 2.5 inch groups at 300 yds & this is good enough for Deer & Antelope hunting for me. Would I like it to be better yes but in truth this has performed. I practice long range & do a little Prairie Dog shooting but when hunting Antelope my average shot has been just under 300 yds & Mule Deer less. Maybe it's the country I hunt. What will I do when I need a new rifle probably just buy a Remington 700 Sendero & go hunting.

There is zero point in rebarreling a rifle without truing the other mating surfaces, most smiths I know are doing as good of work as they can and will stand behind a job but there is no way to stand behind a quality barrel job if your screwing it to a out of square action and lug, so that gets you to the point that rather than stake any amount of their reputation on an untrued action they'd rather not take the chance with your business. The customer is right up to the point I would have to put my reputation and money behind his poor decision!!!
Barrels are in demand, that means time but there are multiple outlets that you can find quality barrels in stock at times, Bugholes, Third Generation Supply, and Grizzly all have quality barrels in stock at times.
 
There is zero point in rebarreling a rifle without truing the other mating surfaces, most smiths I know are doing as good of work as they can and will stand behind a job but there is no way to stand behind a quality barrel job if your screwing it to a out of square action and lug, so that gets you to the point that rather than stake any amount of their reputation on an untrued action they'd rather not take the chance with your business. The customer is right up to the point I would have to put my reputation and money behind his poor decision!!!



Here is where I will disagree. I've used custom actions, trued Remington actions, and untrued Remington actions to put custom barrels on and the most accurate guns I've built have been with untrued Remington actions. Granted that is also the majority of the ones I've built but it still proves to me that truing a action is over rated. Also when you can buy a Remington that shoots under 1/2" for 5 shots with a hammer forged barrel and a un-trued action it makes it even harder to believe there is any difference in truing a action. If your selling a guaranteed 1/2" 3 shot gun and charging 1500+ in labor to build the gun, part of that is to cover your ***** if the barrel doesn't shoot and you have to install another one. Trust me this happens. About 5% of the barrels I've used I'd consider junk, shooting well over 1". About another 5% would still probably do 1/2" for 3 shots, if you really screwed with them to find a load, but aren't really something I'd keep as they like to shoot closer to 5/8-3/4".

The barrel is far and away the most important part of a gun shooting well. We are talking 95+%. Seriously I've seen guns chambered in a 3 jaw shoot 1/4" groups so you can't tell me the gunsmith is the most important thing, or the bedding, or truing a action, etc. I'd put the other 5% on the smith and the bedding but we are talking very little difference in group size. The last 4 or 5 guns I've barreled, in calibers I know good loads for, have shot 3/8" 3 shot groups or less the first time I shot them with those loads. These are all on Remington actions with just the lugs lapped. One 7-300wm shot a .211" group with shots 2 through 4 through the barrel. It was dropped into a HS bedding block stock 2 minutes before I shot it (I have a stock I use for testing and I shot my 30-338 Norma Imp through it first). I built a .338 Edge for a buddy on a Remington with the same lugs lapped that shot between .150" and .500" groups the first time he shot it using 5 different powder charges of R-33 and 300gr Bergers. Both of which he'd never shot before. He used someone else's load data. I have a barrel I paid 50.00 for that is a Green Mountain from Midway. I chambered it in 6.5-300wm and it shoots 123 Amax's in 3/8" or less at 100yds. It shoots my normal 140gr load in over an inch.

Spend the action truing money on a Jewell trigger, a better scope, or reloading components to make you a better shot. Those things would help your group sizes more than truing a action. Experience tells me that gunsmiths true actions to make money and to give you and themselves a warm fuzzy feeling. A buddy of mine has chambered over 300 barrels for himself and he will back my findings. He has had a dozen custom actions from BAT, Nesika, Defiance, Stiller, and Lawton as well. He sold them all and uses un-trued Remington actions because he sees no difference in accuracy. He has 4 or 5 rifles right now that shoot 5 shot groups in the .2's consistently.

I guess I'm just not a Kool Aid drinker or overly anal where it blinds me to the truth. I'm sure I'll take some heat for what I know is true but so be it.
 
Here is where I will disagree. I've used custom actions, trued Remington actions, and untrued Remington actions to put custom barrels on and the most accurate guns I've built have been with untrued Remington actions. Granted that is also the majority of the ones I've built but it still proves to me that truing a action is over rated. Also when you can buy a Remington that shoots under 1/2" for 5 shots with a hammer forged barrel and a un-trued action it makes it even harder to believe there is any difference in truing a action. If your selling a guaranteed 1/2" 3 shot gun and charging 1500+ in labor to build the gun, part of that is to cover your ***** if the barrel doesn't shoot and you have to install another one. Trust me this happens. About 5% of the barrels I've used I'd consider junk, shooting well over 1". About another 5% would still probably do 1/2" for 3 shots, if you really screwed with them to find a load, but aren't really something I'd keep as they like to shoot closer to 5/8-3/4".

The barrel is far and away the most important part of a gun shooting well. We are talking 95+%. Seriously I've seen guns chambered in a 3 jaw shoot 1/4" groups so you can't tell me the gunsmith is the most important thing, or the bedding, or truing a action, etc. I'd put the other 5% on the smith and the bedding but we are talking very little difference in group size. The last 4 or 5 guns I've barreled, in calibers I know good loads for, have shot 3/8" 3 shot groups or less the first time I shot them with those loads. These are all on Remington actions with just the lugs lapped. One 7-300wm shot a .211" group with shots 2 through 4 through the barrel. It was dropped into a HS bedding block stock 2 minutes before I shot it (I have a stock I use for testing and I shot my 30-338 Norma Imp through it first). I built a .338 Edge for a buddy on a Remington with the same lugs lapped that shot between .150" and .500" groups the first time he shot it using 5 different powder charges of R-33 and 300gr Bergers. Both of which he'd never shot before. He used someone else's load data. I have a barrel I paid 50.00 for that is a Green Mountain from Midway. I chambered it in 6.5-300wm and it shoots 123 Amax's in 3/8" or less at 100yds. It shoots my normal 140gr load in over an inch.

Spend the action truing money on a Jewell trigger, a better scope, or reloading components to make you a better shot. Those things would help your group sizes more than truing a action. Experience tells me that gunsmiths true actions to make money and to give you and themselves a warm fuzzy feeling. A buddy of mine has chambered over 300 barrels for himself and he will back my findings. He has had a dozen custom actions from BAT, Nesika, Defiance, Stiller, and Lawton as well. He sold them all and uses un-trued Remington actions because he sees no difference in accuracy. He has 4 or 5 rifles right now that shoot 5 shot groups in the .2's consistently.

I guess I'm just not a Kool Aid drinker or overly anal where it blinds me to the truth. I'm sure I'll take some heat for what I know is true but so be it.
Glad to see someone that has found the same thing with Remington Rifles as i have. Thank you very much. SEMPER FI .... SARGESNIPER
 
I have a brux and bartlein, the bartlein was a PITA to find a load for, but shoots great now that i have it dialed in. Both clean easy but i think the bartlein is just barely better in that respect. I would use both again.
 
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