philnie

There are 10,000 stories about Spanish Barrels. The rub centers around the proofing markings on the barrel, which are low... Spain has a law that all barrels made in Spian must be proofed in Spain by the House of Elbar, a case of a country protecting a businessinside their borders. The barrels imported in to the states a proofed at the minimum required to get them out of Spain. Remember there are only two proofing houses in Europe - one in Spain one in England and ironically there are no proof houses in the US or Canada. I can not even speculate how many of these barrels are in the states and being used every day.

Most of the controversy started over Spanish barrels is being generated by Randy Wakeman. He really is the crusader and he definitely believes what he says. Both Traditions and CVA have refused to tell him if they have conducted additional tests here to verify the barrels, and in actuality they probably haven't... they are distributors - the testing has been done in Spain by the manufacturer... On the other hand Austin&Halleck have conduted tests stateside and have proven to Randy's satisfaction they are safe, my satisfaction also I have a 320 that shoots great.

The real thing is as it should be with any muzzleloader - follow the directions in the manual. Not all muzzleloaders are built the same - I think you can see that in the prices being charged.

I also believe if you get a knight or TC of some variety you would be in great shape... The only problem there is finding one that will qualify for Washington, either the Bighorn or the Black Diamond - they are OK but nothing to jump for. NEF is another American provider but they really justtrying to stayalive in a very competitive market. I do not like the looks of the NEF or the fact that it still uses deep grooves in the riflings. Lots of people like them and a lot of people have had problems getting them to perform consistently...

Good luck - get a White if you can for Washington.