Custom barrel poll

[Will Learn]

I'm in the market for a new .308 barrel for my Savage/Stevens model 200 and these are some of the companies I'm looking at. I'm leaning to Shilen's heavy select match grade barrel(stainless) but want to get some other opinions before pulling the trigger. Weight is not an issue, this will be a prone/bench setup.

 

[rangerruck]

other than them, I like Douglas, which I have on a custom 6 mm mauser, that i am selling. It is both air gauged, and AIR GAUGE RATED, which is different, tighter tolerances than just air gauged. i know a lot of dudes that swear by Pac/nor and say that not only are they great bbls, but the price is right.

 

[dakotasin]

i have a shilen and it does ok, and i have a krieger and it does real well, but i think the best money spent is on lilja.

no first-hand experience w/ douglas or pac-nor. i had a hart on a 30-06 - it shot well, but i didn't like the gun so no longer have it. but... my next build will feature lilja.

 

[db_tanker]

I have two Hart barrels.

both on Mausers and both are excellent barrels. one in a 1-10 twist 308 on a Brno action the other in a 1-12 twist 416 Taylor with a commercial 98 action.


Shilen would also be another choice I wouldn't hesitate at getting, but these were just too hard to pass up.


D

 

[browningguy]

I like Shilen ok, and they make pre-fits for Savage. Also take a look at Lothar Walther, they have some excellent pre-fits for the Savage also, at a little lower price as I remeber. I'm going to get a .260 and .308 barrel for my model 12 eventually and it's down to those two for me.

 

[highorder]

a friend of mine builds Palma rifles and retired from Krieger. his retirement package included several blanks; one of them sits on a Sako 75 action I have and it shoots wonderfully.

 

[anymanusa]

just a quick question,... what does it takes before one needs to look at a new barrel? 2000 rounds? 20,000 rounds? Is it a function of required accuracy?

tia

 

[Charles S]

I voted Shilen because I have had good results with their barrels recently. However I have seen some very accurate rifles with Douglas and Hart. I know Pac-Nor, Krieger, and Lilja are all good barrels also.

Honestly, on a blue printed action any of the above mentioned barrels installed correctly by a good gunsmith are capable of more accuracy than I am.

If they are incorrectly installed or the action is not properly blue printed then they may not shoot much better than a factory barrel.

 

[browningguy]

Barrel longevity is a function of amount of powder burned in relation to the bore size, velocity, and how small a group you expect from it. A .243 for example normally last for 1500-2000 full power rounds before BR shooters see a drop off in accuracy. But for them that means groups increase from .2" to .3". While a 6mmBR using less powder in the same bore size might last 4000-5000 rounds.

 

[USSR]

Although I selected Krieger, because my rifles will only wear cut rifled barrels, since you have a Savage, Pac-Nor makes ready to screw on barrels for the Savage platform and would be your best choice.

Don

 

[RSVP2RIP]

Lothar Walther

I have a double 9.3x74r OU that has Lothar Walter barrels and believe it or not it is the most accurate gun I have, from either barrel, by a long shot. Maybe I just got lucky, but twice? One hole groups at 100yds all day long. I think if I were gonna buy a barrel it wou8ld be LW, but Shieln is a good second bet, I like mine on a 10/22.

 

[P-32]

I voted for Kreiger but also have a Norpac and Douglas which both shoot very well. All 3 are on service rifes. A Douglas is hard to beat when it is shooting. The Kreiger makes zero copper after a 88 shot match.

 

[YodaVader]

If I ever decide to change the barrel on my Savage 12BVSS I would probably go with the Lothar Walther. Seems like they have quite a lot of satisfied customers over on the Savageshooters forum.

I have a 700 that I am considering rebarreling and the smith said he recommends Krieger.

 

[cpttango30]

I have a douglas on my 308.

If I do another it will either a Pac-nor or another douglas.

 

[Will Learn]

I think i'm going to go with a 29'' Shilen Stainless Select Match bull barrel in .308. Its threaded and ready to drop in for $400 and i have a friend who has wrench and guages to install. I called Loather-walter and they quoted me $500 for a similar setup, Pac-nor wouldn't answer their phone, and Hart quoted me $600. lilja said they could make the barrel but they don't thread and i would have to have a gunsmith install the barrel.