Bolt Gun Build - Barrels-

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Brilton

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Hey guys, just doing some shopping around, looking for brands of barrels. I am looking at doing a higher end build over a longer period of time so price isn't much of an issue. I want to get doing some competition precision shooting in .308, so I am looking for a heavy barrel that can handle a lot of shooting in a shorter period of time, and I intend to suppress it as well. Can anyone recommend any brands of barrels? I have looked into Krieger so far so any additional brands would be much appreciated.
 
Kreiger is good but 6 to 9 months behind. I have had exceptional results from Shilen barrels. A little less money than Kreiger and better delivery times. Usually available on the shelf for Brownells in common contours and twists.
 
Grizzly Tools stocks Bartlein. Bugholes carries a lot of barrels as well. There's also Brux, Criterion, Pac-Nor, Rock Creek, Douglas, McGowan to name some others.

AccurateShooter and Snipershide classifieds often have blanks for sale, so some savvy shopping will keep the wait down. (AccurateShooter's site does not run on the greatest code, so the search function is less than optimal. AR15.com is much the same way)

I'm assuming you are going to have your 'smith finish a blank for you on a Rem 700. If you don't have a smith picked out yet, the work I see coming out of LongRifles Inc. is really nice. I think he's doing an ongoing Group Buy on Snipershide too, so might save some cash (I haven't done business with him yet, but my friend's guns from him are stunning).
 
look no farther than bartlein, there barrels are fantastic. At the last PRS series long range rifle match where all the best shooters across the states came too 75% or more were shooting bartlein barrels and for good reason.
 
All the major manufacturers take pride in their brand, and usually produce barrels capable of great accuracy. What ever you select, a stainless barrel will cost more but will give you 25% longer life. You need to select the twist and barrel length that will give you what you want out of your rifle.
Here's a link to some good information.

http://www.6mmbr.com/308Win.html


NCsmitty
 
Back when Bart Bobbitt was still shooting Palma and contributing to Rec.Guns newsgroup, he recommended Hart, Krieger, Medesha, and Obermeyer barrels as the ones the Palma team members were using on their guns.
 
I bought a Douglas for my first across the course rifle. Showed a moderate ammount of troat erosion after about 6000 rounds. Next was an Obermeyer (not sure if he's even in business anymore) and it lasted about 9000. Right now I'm using a Hart and it has close to 5000 trough it and is still going srong. Had a Krieger in there somewhere too and it was a great shooter also.
 
Take a look at Benchmark barrels. Unless a customer demands another barrel, there barrrels are all i use.
They are hand lapped 2 times and some of the best, slickest barrels on the market.
 
So, are they entirely custom, like I can order a near cylinder taper, 20 inch, 1 in 10 twist with 6 grooves and threaded for a suppressor mount? What is their lead time?
 
Brilton said:
So, are they entirely custom, like I can order a near cylinder taper, 20 inch, 1 in 10 twist with 6 grooves and threaded for a suppressor mount? What is their lead time?
Click to expand...

Ask them, but with the pressure pretty much every maker of almost every part has seen the last two years, don't be surprised if 8-10 months goes by. And more money won't make it go faster unless someone has what you want in hand for sale. Blanks are an option of you trust your builder to chamber, profile, flute and thread your barrel (actually, your builder should cut the chamber with their reamer so they can control every aspect of the action/bolt/barrel interface).
 
Go to the competitions that interest you, and ask the people shooting in those competitions for advice. I have never run across competitors who where not eager to share info. Those folks will know what works for them, and you can watch the results.

All the brands mentioned above are good products, but without seeing groups on paper.....
 
Sorry it took so long to get back. Currently Benchmark is running about 3 months behind. Yes they are custom barrels. I order blanks which are contoured and rifled and I turn them down, thread, chamber and crown them.

Yes, I think you can get them to do all the threading work for you but you will need to send them your action and give them the specs on how you need the muzzel threaded.
 
I shoot long range benchrest and I've been through several custom barrels from Douglas, Hart, Shilen, Krieger, Bartlein and Brux. Had a Lilia, but sold it before chambering. My favorite so far is a Brux. Can't go wrong with any custom barrel maker these days!
 
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