Best savage prefit barrel in 6.5CM

[Will83]

I'm about to buy a Savage prefit barrel chambered in 6.5CM. It is going on a precision target action (large shank) and I want the best accuracy possible. I am considering the Shilen Select Match, Criterion, and Mcgowen. I would appreciate all of your expertise, especially someone who has lots of experience with more than one of these brands. I'm also open to others, but please note where to find them, because these are about the main profits that I can find. Thanks for your help.

 

[Gene]

The only Savage pre-fit barrel I ever bought was a PacNor for a 6.5-284. Accuracy was worse than the shot out factory barrel. I returned it to PacNor and they said nothing wrong with it. I will never buy another PacNor. I think you cannot go wrong with a Shilen Select.

Jim at Northland Supply (specializes in Savage) is a great guy with good prices. Give him a call:
Northland Shooters Supply

 

[Dgd6mm]

I have never owned a McGowan barrel. I have had several Shilen's, Criterion's and now a X-Caliber. All have shot down to .25" at 100 yards without much work. The long range accuracy is also very good and capable of producing winning scores.

 

[desertbull]

I have a .308 McGowen and it shoots fantastic.

I just received my Criterion prefit in 300 WM. They quoted me 12 weeks and it ended up being 20 weeks. Was told told it would include a Vais muzzle brake. NOT! It is some generic no-name brake. Asked for the Match 300 WM reamer and they used the the standard reamer.

Should have stuck with McGowen.

 

[Will83]

I have never owned a McGowan barrel. I have had several Shilen's, Criterion's and now a X-Caliber. All have shot down to .25" at 100 yards without much work. The long range accuracy is also very good and capable of producing winning scores.

If you HAD to rank them 1,2,3, what would be the order? I'm very interested in the x-caliber, but not much info. All seem very good.

 

[Will83]

I have a .308 McGowen and it shoots fantastic.

I just received my Criterion prefit in 300 WM. They quoted me 12 weeks and it ended up being 20 weeks. Was told told it would include a Vais muzzle brake. NOT! It is some generic no-name brake. Asked for the Match 300 WM reamer and they used the the standard reamer.

Should have stuck with McGowen.

That's terrible! If I do get a criterion, it will definitely be chambered by Jim at Northland Shooting Supply. What kind of groups did your Mcgowen shoot?

 

[Rogmay]

+1 for the shilen select match, I bought a 6.5 Creedmoor 28" Shilen select match in S.S. from Jim at Northland, put it on a Savage single action, new barrel nut & recoil lug, shooting 308 lapua brass formed to 6.5 Creedmoor. Using 40gr H4350 with Berger 140hybrid. Gun shoots 1/4-1/2" very consistently!

 

[desertbull]

That's terrible! If I do get a criterion, it will definitely be chambered by Jim at Northland Shooting Supply. What kind of groups did your Mcgowen shoot?

I bought the Criterion through NSS.

The McGowen shoots less than 1" groups at 200 yards.

 

[Dgd6mm]

I bought the Criterion through NSS.

The McGowen shoots less than 1" groups at 200 yards.

That may be terrible as you put it, but the time that is quoted comes from Criterion and not Jim, he is just the messenger. Criterion chambered a 1-11 twist .308 for me thru Jim, they quoted 8-10 weeks, it was closer to 14..... shoots great. I'd do it again, good pre-fits are becoming more popular and wait times are getting longer due to demand.

 

[Dgd6mm]

If you HAD to rank them 1,2,3, what would be the order? I'm very interested in the x-caliber, but not much info. All seem very good.

For pure accuracy I would say they are all about the same. X-Caliber .243, Yesterday I shot 11 - 5 shot groups at 215 yards, among 20 other rounds here and 9 groups measured 1.5" - 1.75" the other 2 measured under .75".These groups are o.d. dimensions. I am shooting a new Masterpiece Arms chassis, bipod, squeeze bag. 195 rounds on barrel and chassis, the chassis is a complete different feel then my A2 stocks and am positive that groups would be smaller out of my A2. I also have not tweaked the load, this came still off of QL. It shoots good out to 850 yards on 6"x6" steel and clay birds. I believe when I get it the way I want it, it will be a .25 - .3 barrel. Oh, the bullet is a Hornaday 105 BTHP Match.

 

[desertbull]

1. I did not say it was terrible. Someone else said that.

2. Jim has sold NSS. I believe the guy he sold it to is also named Jim, but the original "Jim" is no longer the owner.

 

[Dgd6mm]

I did not quote you saying that, I was referring to the o.p. for saying that. I did however state the fact about our waiting period being extended. Also it is Jim's son that now has the business. So I think Will83 now has an idea for what he may be in for if the barrel he selects from NSS is not in stock. I have bought 1000's of dollars of firearm related items from Jim. He and his son are excellent to deal with. My Accurate Barrels for X-Caliber is also easy to deal with and fast.

Don Dunlap

 

[Will83]

I meant that it was terrible that you had to wait so long. I didn't mean to have that construed as Jim at NSS possibly having bad service. I've talked to him on two occasions, and he's nothing less than helpful. Just wanted to clear that up, because I definitely don't want to give anyone a bad name that doesn't deserve it. Jim, as far as my limited experience with him goes, is a stand up guy.

 

[Auto-X Fil]

I went with an X-Caliber. The chamber is nicely done and it shoots better than me (I average 0.4-0.5MOA for 5-shot groups from bipod/rear bag prone). Almost no copper, too. I only clean every 200rd or so and it's just to get carbon out.

I don't think you can go wrong. All of those makers are hand-lapped and carefully inspected, and will shoot aces.

If you want the BEST, just to have peace of mind, Southern Precision will spin you up a Bartlein. It'll be $50-100 more than the others, but it's the only single-point cut-rifled barrel, chambered by some of the best in the business. I'm tempted to go that direction with my next barrel, just to see if I can tell the difference.

Southern Precision Rifles

What bullets are you shooting? If it's the 140-class, consider a longer throat than standard. The Savage mag lets you really poke them out and run more powder, but it might not leave enough neck to grab the 120-130 pills as the throat wears.