Criterion, McGowan or Shilen barrel?

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Elkins45

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I’m going to put together a left handed 257 Weatherby on a Savage LH action. I already have the donor gun so I just need a barrel. Im going with a 26” sporter contour in stainless. Is there any particular reason that makes a Criterion or McGowan or Shilen barrel better than the other two? All three are available as a Savage prefit for around the same price.
 
Ive recently used 2 shilens, and a Criterion, and been quite happy with them. I want to try a McGowan.
My normal go to is Shaw, just because they are a bit more affordable, except that McGowan offers good prices on their stainless barrels, bringing them inline with shaw.
 
I have a McGowen barrel for a AR-15 wildcat and it's rediculous how well it shoots. It's a 25 caliber blank too. I've not shot a Criterion or a Shilen. For a bolt rifle I tend to stick with the 3 B's (Bartlein,Brux,or Broughton) for a semi auto I use X-Caliber mainly but this McGowen has me wanting some more from them.
 
I’m going to put together a left handed 257 Weatherby on a Savage LH action. I already have the donor gun so I just need a barrel. Im going with a 26” sporter contour in stainless. Is there any particular reason that makes a Criterion or McGowan or Shilen barrel better than the other two? All three are available as a Savage prefit for around the same price.
My Criterion is hand lapped I’m not sure about the others.
Don’t sleep on Douglas barrels’ ol Stan will pick ya out a good one, no problem.
J
 
It would be nice to see the 3 compared side by side. All the shilens I have used were great, just look at bergara barrels a nd what shilen showed them, i do want to try a McGowan for my next project.
 
McGowen has been my go-to for a lot of my Savage prefits, predominantly because they’re easy to order, they are adequate for hunting purposes, and the barrels are externally marked (as opposed to marked on the breechface) so that the chambering isn’t a mystery. The last couple that I got are shooting OK for my needs, but there were chatter marks in the grooves that I would not have expected to see in a hand lapped barrel.

McGowen, Shilen, and XCaliber are all advertised as hand-lapped.

I have a Shilen Select Match chambered in 257 Roberts that shoots very well (for my needs).

For my last 257 Weatherby, I went with McGowan because I wanted a 1:9“ twist rate that others didn’t offer. My next 257 Weatherby will probably be an XCaliber; they are a little more expensive, but the borescope certainly flatters them.

I am not proficient enough, and I do not use these rifles at long enough distances, to be able to tell you that one shoots demonstrably better than the others. Others can probably provide that insight where I cannot.
 
I have a Shilen select match in 300wm and while doing a load workup the accuracy nodes were wide and frequent with very tiny groups.

D
 
Don’t sleep on Douglas barrels’
I absolutely agree. Unlike McGowen, Shaw and some others who make barrels for the budget market, Douglas as always made barrels for the upscale, quality market and offer specific grades. Their .20 cal barrels are the '10" by which other .20's are judged, and they will also do contour duplication of older barrels.
 
McGowen has been my go-to for a lot of my Savage prefits, predominantly because they’re easy to order, they are adequate for hunting purposes, and the barrels are externally marked (as opposed to marked on the breechface) so that the chambering isn’t a mystery. The last couple that I got are shooting OK for my needs, but there were chatter marks in the grooves that I would not have expected to see in a hand lapped barrel.

McGowen, Shilen, and XCaliber are all advertised as hand-lapped.

I have a Shilen Select Match chambered in 257 Roberts that shoots very well (for my needs).

For my last 257 Weatherby, I went with McGowan because I wanted a 1:9“ twist rate that others didn’t offer. My next 257 Weatherby will probably be an XCaliber; they are a little more expensive, but the borescope certainly flatters them.

I am not proficient enough, and I do not use these rifles at long enough distances, to be able to tell you that one shoots demonstrably better than the others. Others can probably provide that insight where I cannot.

Interesting you should say XCaliber is more expensive because The Barrelman website lists their Savage prefit for about $100 less than the ones I listed, but the website looks like it has been abandoned and there isn’t any contact information. The lower cost coupled with the fact I hadn’t heard of them before is the reason I discounted them. Maybe I should consider an XCaliber barrel?
 
Availability and delivery time?
Life is short...
MidwayUSA has Weatherby brass on sale...

I’ve got a Vanguard in .257. Don’t hunt much with it. Too heavy! Gave me bursitis in my left elbow carrying for several days... For a beanfield Rifle, I prefer it even over my .300 RUM. My only criticisms are besides the weight, the barrel is only 24”, 26 or even 27” would be better. Also, factory trigger was terrible, Timney replacement is only marginally better.
 
nteresting you should say XCaliber is more expensive because The Barrelman website lists their Savage prefit for about $100 less than the ones I listed, but the website looks like it has been abandoned and there isn’t any contact information. The lower cost coupled with the fact I hadn’t heard of them before is the reason I discounted them. Maybe I should consider an XCaliber barrel?
I've only ever ordered direct:

http://www.x-caliber.net

I'm not gonna say that they're any better than a Criterion or a Shilen Select Match, because I really don't know. I do know that they offer lots of Savage prefit chambering options that others may not (as well as lots of fun AR15/AR10 options), they make it easy to order, and the borescope tells me that the bore finish and chambering / leade concentricity looks good.

For basic goofin' around, I've done a lot of McGowen and I can't say that they've disappointed in the flexibility-of-offerings and cost-for-value-received categories. Having said that, I'll reiterate that my last McGowen didn't look as well finished as my last X-Caliber, which surprised me because the handful of McGowens that I'd previously received were better finished. At this point in time, with what I've seen of late - iff'n I was planning a longer-range build, I'd probably start with X-Caliber or a Shilen Select Match.

It should be noted that I currently have a McGowen on order (450 Bushy, Savage small-shank prefit), and a Match Grade Machine (300AC, Savage small shank prefit). This will be my first MGM Savage pre-fit, so I'm kinda anxious to see how it looks.
 
Last edited:
Availability and delivery time?
Life is short...
MidwayUSA has Weatherby brass on sale...

I’ve got a Vanguard in .257. Don’t hunt much with it. Too heavy! Gave me bursitis in my left elbow carrying for several days... For a beanfield Rifle, I prefer it even over my .300 RUM. My only criticisms are besides the weight, the barrel is only 24”, 26 or even 27” would be better. Also, factory trigger was terrible, Timney replacement is only marginally better.

I have one as well. In addition to agreeing with all of your criticisms I will add that I don't care for the stock ergonomics and the bolt is on the wrong side for me.
 
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