7.62 Gunner
Well-Known Member
Sure but I didn't build a BR rifle
McGowen vs. Others
- Thread starter rootacres
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woodnut
Well-Known Member
Years ago, I bought a lot of his barrels. But the premium barrels weren't much more expensive, so I bought them. They were all good shooters. One was put on a Ruger #1 and in an odd cal. of 17/222Mag. But I still have it and it shoots, honest, 1/2 inch at 200 yards! Three shots. Today, I don't know about the products, but I think the orginal McGowen owner has left it to his son?
RAGGED EDGE
Well-Known Member
Mcgowan makes a right nice rifle barrel for the money. Some people think the most expensive barrel they can buy will make them a better shooter. A barrel is a small part of the equation.
Huntz
Well-Known Member
I have two McGowen barrels. One is 22 Practical 24" heavy Varmint 10 twist on My RRA AR 15. It shoots one hole 10 shot groups with 32 grain bullets . I liked it so much that I ordered a 6.5 -284 cut rifled Norma Prefit shouldered barrel for my Tikka T3x.It shoots 5/8 th in 100 yard 5 shot groups using Nosler brass,140 Berger bullets,Fed BR primers and H4350 powder. I never even worked up a load for it. I am impressed with them. I also have rifles with Brux ,Bartlien barrels and can not say they are any better. Maybe just luck of the draw, but I am happy.
For those that don't know, McGowan and Carbon Six are owned by the same person. I have some Carbon Six barrels ordered and I'll evaluate them with slug and borescope before I chamber them. I have high accuracy requirements, as do my customers. Any rifle leaving my shop must shoot under 1/2" @ 100 yards with match grade ammunition. If I see anything about the barrels that I don't like upon initial inspection, I'll send them back.
Bang4theBuck
Well-Known Member
I really struggle with things like this and I think that we do not do ourselves any justice when we either ask questions without definition of what makes a barrel (or any component) better and what makes it worse, or we answer the question in a way that is not directly correlated to the qualification of good, better, best.
I didn't get to read through the whole thread, but, there should be a spec/guarantee that a barrel is plus/minus .xxx" in straightness, .xxxx" in bore dimension, Air gauged or not, or whatever else the qualifies/quantifies a good barrel.
My example of why would be with savage barrels. I have owned a number of savage rifles that shot sub 1/2moa out of the box. And I have never even owned one or their target models. If you ever have a chance to stick a bore scope in a savage rifle, they look like crap....scratches, chatters, voids, etc, etc. but most of them shoot lights out! If someone were qualifying quality of the barrel based on how it shot, that would be a very poor qualification.
I am not one of those haters or thread busters, but this group is very steeped in technical experience and I would hope to hear from gunsmiths/premium rifle builders that have used certain brands, and can speak to the part of the quality of a barrel, in technical terms with technical data.
Just my personal feeling on it.
I recognize 2 on this thread are gunsmiths.
Eagleye242
Well-Known Member
I have 2 McGowen barrels, both on Remington 700 Actions.
First one is a 26" sporter, chambered in 308 Norma Magnum.
This rifle is very accurate, often shooting ragged hole groups
at 200 meters.
Second is a 24 inch sporter, chambered 8x57JS. Also a very
accurate rifle, around ½moa out as far as I have shot it [400M]
I own other custom rifles with Shilen, Benchmark, Kreiger, Jury,
and Brux on them. All are very satisfactory.
I believe a good 'smith is vital in building accurate rifles. Dave.
First one is a 26" sporter, chambered in 308 Norma Magnum.
This rifle is very accurate, often shooting ragged hole groups
at 200 meters.
Second is a 24 inch sporter, chambered 8x57JS. Also a very
accurate rifle, around ½moa out as far as I have shot it [400M]
I own other custom rifles with Shilen, Benchmark, Kreiger, Jury,
and Brux on them. All are very satisfactory.
I believe a good 'smith is vital in building accurate rifles. Dave.
I have used McGowen barrels for several builds over the last few years. I will say that I think the labor market has really impacted their ability to deliver on good machine work. I've had to send two barrels back in the last year or so. They always fix them but it's a pain. All of them shoot though. My carbon six barrels stack them on top of each other.
D
Deleted member 125160
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The very first custom barrel I ever ordered back in about 1985 or so was a 300 WBY McGowen for my much tweaked and improved 1917 Enfield build because that is what my gunsmith suggested and at the time thier reputation was very good. BUT, at this same time, a 1" group at 100 yards was considered outstanding. Truth be told, that is really more accurate than most peoples hunting rifles need to be. Not many years or rounds later the accuracy of this barrel went south so I had it re bored and re chambered to my first self originated wildcat. An 8mm Rem Mag case necked to .338 which I reffered to as my 340 Tyrannosaur. At the time in matched exactly the performance of the later arriving 338 Lapua. I was launching 225gr Barnes LRX bullets at 3200fps and this rifle served me and my clients very well in Alaska, Zimbabwe etc. as an oft used loaner rifle and as my own primary big game rifle in the lower 48 until I aged out of the fun side effects like gout in my hands, arthritis etc. making the recoil from a 9lb rifle so chambered untenable. As far as I know, it is still in doing great service for its new owner.
At the time of that build, the barrel conversation was between McGowan, Shilen and Douglas "air guaged" barrels. My 1950's Al Biesen stocked Sako Riihimaki in 222 with its 60 year old Douglas is still a fantastic, cloverleafs accurate little (and much favored!) rifle.
Since those days, however, MUCH improvement in barrel steels, heat treating, rifling methods etc. have been made and IME and opinion the new breed of barrels such as Brux, Benchmark etc are all simply head and shoulders above the old brands, even though those old brands are still more than good enough for 99% of the rifles and shooters out there.
When building my 264 Claiborne Super (Radically modified 300Win necked down) on a pre 64 model 70 wrapped in stunning wood I mixed in a little new with the old school and installed a 28" Benchmark barrel and so far I could not be happier.
Spend your money and get what you pay for is what I am seeing.
At the time of that build, the barrel conversation was between McGowan, Shilen and Douglas "air guaged" barrels. My 1950's Al Biesen stocked Sako Riihimaki in 222 with its 60 year old Douglas is still a fantastic, cloverleafs accurate little (and much favored!) rifle.
Since those days, however, MUCH improvement in barrel steels, heat treating, rifling methods etc. have been made and IME and opinion the new breed of barrels such as Brux, Benchmark etc are all simply head and shoulders above the old brands, even though those old brands are still more than good enough for 99% of the rifles and shooters out there.
When building my 264 Claiborne Super (Radically modified 300Win necked down) on a pre 64 model 70 wrapped in stunning wood I mixed in a little new with the old school and installed a 28" Benchmark barrel and so far I could not be happier.
Spend your money and get what you pay for is what I am seeing.
I got a McGowen prefit for a Ruger M77 tang safety last year. Debated whether to mess with rebarreling that rifle at all for a long time, but it has some sentimental value so finally decided to take a chance. McGowen was one of the only prefits I could find for that Ruger, and I was absolutely suspect that it wouldn't headspace. I do a little gunsmithing with a buddy on occasion so we could fix it if we had to. For about $600, I got a custom contoured (matched the factory pencil contour out to .750 then straight to 24" so I could have enough shoulder for a can), fluted (to make up for a little of the weight added from the contour), threaded 7mm RM barrel. It screwed on and headspaced as tight as you could ask for. Minimal break in with some old ammo, then have only worked a little on a load. A little was all I needed. 400 yard ladder, found a group of 3 (.3 grain increments) that went under an inch total and about half vertical. Loaded the middle of those 3 and verified with 3 shots into about .3" at 100. More verification needed to have any confidence that it wasn't just a fluke, but, I'm very happy so far.
I have no loyalty to any particular barrel. Have Shilen, Kreiger, Bartlein, Hart, Shaw, Lothar, JP, Larue that I can remember off hand on bolt guns and ARs. This McGowen shoots as good or better than any of them. Just 1 data point, so not worth much, but I'd buy another.
I have no loyalty to any particular barrel. Have Shilen, Kreiger, Bartlein, Hart, Shaw, Lothar, JP, Larue that I can remember off hand on bolt guns and ARs. This McGowen shoots as good or better than any of them. Just 1 data point, so not worth much, but I'd buy another.
Elk Hunter 338
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Im so sorry my man!!
I see your point, I could have been more clear on what information I was seeking. You have a good point on clearly defining what makes a component better or worse than another. I guess for me it was purely performance based. Sure I like fit and finishes to look good but I would take a super accurate rifle 10 out of 10 over a pretty one. I would probably even take a rifle with worse tolerances if it still performed.
I have learned a ton about this since I started this post a couple years ago. I suppose the OP could just state are brand "X" barrels inherently more accurate than McGowen. It does seem that the quality in manufacturing with some brands are superior to others which typically spits out a more accurate rifle in the end. The Proof that I spun on back in 2021 has shot lights out for me thus far. I have been very impressed. It was the right move for me.
Sanford338
Well-Known Member
Well said!Shortgrass makes some good points.
I would also add that it is not just the quality of the barrel which makes a rifle accurate. It is the whole system; barrel, action, stock, bedding, bullet, powder, and cases. Then include the person doing all the work and their attention to every detail in that build. Their skills and attention will be the plus to every rifle.
You, the shooter will be the deciding factor in the end. If you have the skills and ability to shoot consistently then you might achieve small groups. A great barrel just makes it a little easier.
