I definitely think the late 60's thru 80's the barrel quality was better, by how much I don't know. All the ones and any subsequent ones I purchased were great shooters. Just little annoying things like safeties,triggers and some rough spots on the rails were problems I had with their entire lineup including custom shop rifles. I bought a 700 FS in 7 rem mag in 1988 and sent it to Shilen for "accurizing" about that time... they ran an air gauge on the barrel and told me it rivaled their own barrels.