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

Oh boy....lots of stuff here. But here is my .02 worth.

I had a .308 that was a ....yup, you guessed it!
A Savage/Stevens 200 in .308. Anyway- it had strep throat.o_O
So we went had an Excalibur 24" S.S. Spiral fluted barrel in 9 twist chambered for a 7mm-08 A.I. made. It was screwed on by I friend of mine. It clover leafed Fed. Fusions and Rem Cor Locts. And Hornady and Win. stuff wasn't that bad either. And it's most likely gonna produce consistent "ragged-holes" if reloads keep going the way they are. This is the only non-factory gun I have ever owned besides a Gibbs I had a long time ago.
I am gonna try another Excalibur for a Savage 110 action in a Sherman of some sort here very soon.
 
Finally, put all the pieces together on this 6mm Creedmoor project today! X-Caliber 26" (27 3/4" w/brake), 1-7 twist 5R, 1" Bull. They recommended the bull, it's handlapped. Time to start load development ;)
6mm creedmoor rifle 2018.jpg
 
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My latest pre fit is a SSSM from Pac Nor. It has been a shooter from day one. I'm not bound by brand loyalty but, I'd have to have a real good reason to not get my 5th Pac Nor barrel. I don't know if I caught them at a good time or not but, I had my barrel in less then 2 months.

I bought a Pac Nor pre fit in 6.5-284 some years ago. It was a bummer - shot worse than the original Savage factory barrel with 1200 rounds thru it. Returned it to Pac Nor and they replied that there was nothing wrong with the barrel. I sold it.
 
20181215_132800.jpg
Judge the way you want, but this is how I do a custom threaded, chambered, Savage "screw on" barrel. Order a custom reamer the way I want it, drop ship the reamer to barrel manufacture I choose, order barrel, they do the machining, wait for delivery, go down in my basement= gun/reloading room, use my own tools, "screw on barrel" put rifle together,,, Done Deal,,,never had a disappointing one yet. Just did this one last week.

280AI, 1:9 tw, 26" Shilen w/brake, Bell & Carlson Stock, Nikon Black X, 1000,6x24x50, with MOA Illuminated Reticle
 
View attachment 115800 Judge the way you want, but this is how I do a custom threaded, chambered, Savage "screw on" barrel. Order a custom reamer the way I want it, drop ship the reamer to barrel manufacture I choose, order barrel, they do the machining, wait for delivery, go down in my basement= gun/reloading room, use my own tools, "screw on barrel" put rifle together,,, Done Deal,,,never had a disappointing one yet. Just did this one last week.

280AI, 1:9 tw, 26" Shilen w/brake, Bell & Carlson Stock, Nikon Black X, 1000,6x24x50, with MOA Illuminated Reticle
boratverynice.png
 
Finally, put all the pieces together on this 6mm Creedmoor project today! X-Caliber 26" (27 3/4" w/brake), 1-7 twist 5R, 1" Bull. They recommended the bull, it's handlapped. Time to start load development ;) View attachment 115223
Here's how this particular X-Caliber barrel performed first shots, with new Starline LR, 107 Nosler Custom Comp, CCI-BR2, H4350. This was at 100 yards. Velocty avg test #1-3020, #2-3013.
6mmCreedmoor 107 nosler 10 shot test.jpg
 
There are some hit or miss pre-fit barrel manufacturers out there but in my experience if you get one from a top flight company your chances of getting a good barrel are just as good as going with a barrel chambered by a gunsmith.

I say that coming from direct experience with dozens of Criterion prefit's. Google Criterion and try to find a bad review. You'll probably find very few, if any unhappy users but you will find a plethora of very satisfied ones.

Gunsmiths seem to be the only ones bad mouthing pre-fits because they significantly impact their business.
 
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