Aftermarket barrels? Which one to pick???

[schoolcraft]

Just purchased a left handed stainless/laminate Ruger Hawkeye in .30-06 and am thinking of upgrading the factory 22" barrel to an aftermarket 24" barrel.
I hear VERY good things about Pac-Nor barrels, as well as Shillen.
I know there are many other great companies out there making quality barrels, just looking for feeback from folks to customized their rifles as to which companies they chose and why....

[Pawildman]

I have Shilen barrels and Dan Lilja.... But have you shot that factory tube yet? Putting a custom barrel on a gun is not a perfect guarantee that it will become a "tack driver".... particularly if you don't handload. If you haven't given the gun a good workout, you may want to do so before you invest a bunch of money in a custom barrel.....

[Ridge Runner]

one of the smiths that it seems I keep on retainer, builds superbly accurate long range hunting rifles, he says, if my rifles won't shoot 1.5" groups at 500 yards they won't leave my shop. I'll use any barrel you want but if you use lilja, hart, broughton, kreiger, or rock creek you'll make my job alot easier.

[jeepkid]

Is it shooting bad? As PA said, an aftermarket barrel may not help...

If you are going to true the action, bed the stock and re-barrel then the odds of getting an accurate rifle go up...

[Vapodog]

if my rifles won't shoot 1.5" groups at 500 yards they won't leave my shop.

And does anyone actually believe this?

Pure bullpucky!

[bigbulls]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that if this smith's rifles didn't produce what he claimed they produced RR wouldn't use him or shoot his rifles.

[skb2706]

I have only ever used Shilen and I have 4 of them. With nothing else to compare them to I can only make that suggestion. They are extremely accurate, easy to clean and worth every cent I spent on them.

[Vapodog]

just looking for feeback from folks to customized their rifles as to which companies they chose and why....

Most of my barrels are from Douglas.....and the reason is that I've not found a reason to switch.

I have several from Shilen and while I've used some from E R Shaw and Abbott & Bennett for others folks I stick with Douglas and Shilen.....

I just ordered a .338 caliber barrel from Mcgowan as a trial and have heard good things about them too.

Actually I rarely hear bad news about any of the aftermarket barrel makers.

Consider this; of the two most accurate production rifles ever produced, both of them were also far and away the cheapest!!! I'm referring to the Remington 788 and the current Savage bolt rifles. It is doubtful that anyone ever rebarreled either of these and actually improved accuracy! If one agrees with this then please tell me why we should spend a lot of money on a replacement barrel.....in some cases far more than the entire rifle cost in the first place. As a matter of fact....one can trade rifles for a new one for the same as replacing the barrel with a Douglas or Shilen!

I say all this to make a point.....you can spend a lot more for higher priced barrels but I seriously doubt that you'll ever be able to show any gains in accuracy.

Lilja, Hart, pac-nor, wiseman, Kreiger, and a dozen more all make fine barrels but I really can't figure out why one wants to pay more than for a Douglas or Shilen.....BTW....Shilen now costs less than Douglas.

Get whatever you want....it's your money!

[Ridge Runner]

Originally Posted by Vapodog

And does anyone actually believe this?

Pure bullpucky!

3 shots .34" with a 140 Berger running 3160 fps
at a lazered range of 752 yards, get a clue vapo!
RR

[Vapodog]

Originally Posted by Vapodog

And does anyone actually believe this?

Pure bullpucky!

Let me repeat this.....

Bullpucky!