I am going to rebarrel a badly burned out .257 Weather by Mark V and I'd like some input on who makes the best barrel as far as accuracy and durrabilty goes, or if there is really much of a difference from company to company. I know the .257 is fairly notorious for burning barrels so I want something that will last.
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looking to rebarrel a rifle, which one is the best?
- Thread starter skookum
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shortgrass
Well-Known Member
When it comes to the components of a rifle, barrels are considered 'expendable',,,,, like the tires on your pick-up. I don't think you can differentiate between custom barrel makers which barrel will last longer. Whatever your choice, have the new barrel Melonite/Blk. Nitride treated. That process increases surface hardness which will increase barrel life. Choose your barrel blank from one of the known makers, like Hart, Bartlien, McMillian or Lilja, among others.
elkaholic
Well-Known Member
+1 on the melonite. It also cleans up like a dream with little copper fouling! I like Krieger very well, as well as the barrels Shortgrass mentioned. You can usually find them in stock, and they are very reputable. The 3 groove Liljas have shot well for me and I feel that the wider lands give a little more barrel life, but with the Melonite, it may not matter so much............Rich
Outlaw6.0
Well-Known Member
Best, with the definition of the word in comparison to the context in which you use it does not exist. If it did, there would be one barrel manufacturer left out there.
From my point of view, each has their own spin on what is "best" or better or cooler or more cutting edge. That is for the end user to decide; a pure Ford vs Chevy pie fight.
There have been at least two new manufacturers coming to the table this year that are making waves & getting solid reviews. Mullerworks is one of them, the name of the other escapes me. This also leads me to believe that there is no best, just good.
I'm not typing all of this to jab you in the ribs or make light of your question, only to show you that a myriad of manufacturers exist that produce high quality products that will suit your purposes. Don't get caught up in a preference debate.
Heck, I'm the only one on this forum that I know running Obermeyer barrels (maybe the others are just quieter than I am
). Does that mean they suck? No, again, just my preference based on my working knowledge of them.
Check out the stocking dealers for what you want. Find the Material, twist & contour of what you're looking for & order it. Running all of them side by side chambered in the 257Roy will, in my wildest of SWAGs probably only yield a throat life spread of a couple hundred rounds from best to worst. Again that is a SWAG but not entirely without merit.
If I was dead set on maximum throat life & that alone, I'd probably order a polygonal Schneider; have it melonited & see what happens.
Excuse the long post & please take it with a grain of salt; for some reason I felt like rambling today
Here are a few suppliers I am familiar with: at least my post was somewhat useful!
BARRELS
Grizzly.com® -- Product Categories
Custom Rifle Parts
t
From my point of view, each has their own spin on what is "best" or better or cooler or more cutting edge. That is for the end user to decide; a pure Ford vs Chevy pie fight.
There have been at least two new manufacturers coming to the table this year that are making waves & getting solid reviews. Mullerworks is one of them, the name of the other escapes me. This also leads me to believe that there is no best, just good.
I'm not typing all of this to jab you in the ribs or make light of your question, only to show you that a myriad of manufacturers exist that produce high quality products that will suit your purposes. Don't get caught up in a preference debate.
Heck, I'm the only one on this forum that I know running Obermeyer barrels (maybe the others are just quieter than I am
). Does that mean they suck? No, again, just my preference based on my working knowledge of them. Check out the stocking dealers for what you want. Find the Material, twist & contour of what you're looking for & order it. Running all of them side by side chambered in the 257Roy will, in my wildest of SWAGs probably only yield a throat life spread of a couple hundred rounds from best to worst. Again that is a SWAG but not entirely without merit.
If I was dead set on maximum throat life & that alone, I'd probably order a polygonal Schneider; have it melonited & see what happens.
Excuse the long post & please take it with a grain of salt; for some reason I felt like rambling today
Here are a few suppliers I am familiar with: at least my post was somewhat useful!
BARRELS
Grizzly.com® -- Product Categories
Custom Rifle Parts
t
Thanks for the info guys I appreciate it. Your responses were as I expected but I still wanted to get an outside opinion. I guess what made me curious is PacNor barrels are $300 and Hart barrels are twice that and I know people have great success with both and everything in between. I think I'll just do some more shopping around and see who has the best sales pitch.
shortgrass
Well-Known Member
Huuuuh? Current price list from Pac-Nor says $310 for match S.S. blank, Harts list $315-$320 for the same. Are you comparing an installed barrel to a barrel blank? I know Harts' price includes shipping. Does Pac-Nors' price?Thanks for the info guys I appreciate it. Your responses were as I expected but I still wanted to get an outside opinion. I guess what made me curious is PacNor barrels are $300 and Hart barrels are twice that and I know people have great success with both and everything in between. I think I'll just do some more shopping around and see who has the best sales pitch.
Ya most every barrel maker is in the $315-340 range for a stainless match barrel.
pwrdbycotn
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Dec 15, 2010
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- 589
Check out Hawk Hill Custom. Shawn is great to work with and his barrels perform with the best of them. They are cut rifled
Letzgoracin301
Active Member
I have been curious about hawk hill. Has anyone done a thread on them yet. I tried searching and can't find much info.
idaho elk hunter
Well-Known Member
I know that Lothar Walther does not have the fancy name with the benchrest people but in high stress and heat they hold up better than any other manufacture. They use a alloy that is harder and more resistible to barrel burning. I have several that I have used with 2 of them in the in the 257 Weatherby. The current one is in a 26 Nosler.
A good example is the Nosler. The original barrel went out in 400 rds. Then I rebarreled it to a Nitrided Lother. It now has over 1300 rds in it and shows very little if any signs of wear.
They are as accurate as he next guys barrel. The best barrels that I have shot are Lothars and Broughtons 5c.
On the extreme overbores I always go with Lothars.
A good example is the Nosler. The original barrel went out in 400 rds. Then I rebarreled it to a Nitrided Lother. It now has over 1300 rds in it and shows very little if any signs of wear.
They are as accurate as he next guys barrel. The best barrels that I have shot are Lothars and Broughtons 5c.
On the extreme overbores I always go with Lothars.
shortgrass
Well-Known Member
That LW barrel couldn't/shouldn't have been Nitide treated before chambering. If it was, the chamber would have had to been cut with a carbide reamer. Few 'smiths have carbide reamers. Even if it was Nitrided before chambering and chambered with a carbide reamer, the throat gets cut during the chambering process and the nitride layer would have been machined away, leaving the parent steel exposed. I've tried to cut Nitrided steel with HS tools,,,,, all they do is squeek and squeel and dull quickly without removing any metal. I've heard (LW is not telling) what the corresponding grade of steel is in terms recognizable to Americans, that would be 4150, which is harder to machine than 4140 (higher carbon content) (Europe uses a different jargon for steel identification than is used in the U.S.). In conclusion, any barrel from any American maker, that's been nitrided will stand up to high intensity cartridges. .22-243s that have been treated run 2000+ rounds as do 6.5/.284s. I have personal experience with both calibers and others being treated, too. In theory, the LW barrel that's not been treated should out last others, but that's slicing the bread pretty thin. Barrel making has to reach a "happy medium" with the steel the maker chooses, longevity & strength verses machinability. If the chosen material is too tough it won't make a 'good' barrel (because it'll wear out tools quickly and the "harder " the material is the' harder it is to lapp), if it's too easy to machine it won't have the characteristics to last.
D
Deleted member 46119
Guest
I had always thought of LW as a 22rimfire barrel. Never considered them for centerfire.
I checked out their website. It would be worth giving them a try on future projects.
Where/how do you send barrels for nitriding?
I checked out their website. It would be worth giving them a try on future projects.
Where/how do you send barrels for nitriding?
There's no appreciable price difference between any of the better barrel makers. I've had both Pac-Nor and Hart barrels, I'd pick Hart over Pac-Nor. The last three rifles I've had barreled have been with Bartlein barrels and I'm liking them better than anything I've used before. Availability is a big issue nowadays, it can take upwards of 6-8 months to get a barrel if you have to order it from the manufacturer. Southern precision rifles keeps a lot of barrels from the majors in stock and that's where I've gotten a couple of my Bartleins. If I were looking for a .25 cal barrel I'd look there, they've got a bunch of them in stock right now. Waiting for parts for a build sucks and I try to avoid it as much as possible.
BARTLEIN
BARTLEIN
