I keep hearing the Ruger rifle barrels are no good becausethey are"hammer forged". What is this? Is it true? And why does it make for a bad barrel?

Ive been shooting an all weather Ruger M77 MKII in .300WM for a few years and have been pretty happy with it. But a buddy at work who is quite an accomplished gunsmith/machineist has poo-pooed my Ruger!

Is he justified? If so, what do you think of the Thompson Center Encore barrels?