Rifle barrel ideas

[elk hunter]

I'm about 1/2 way through my Rem 700 barrel accurate barrel life and am starting to consider the replacement barrel. It's a hunting rifle and so I wont be putting on anything that's a heavy barrel. It will be in the sporter magnum weight and length. Any ideas on a good barrel at reasonable money? I'm positive I want a Moly barrel as Stainless Steel is not my thing.

Regards
elk hunter

[sigstroker]

Look for new gun take-offs? Where people replaced a brand new barrel before even shooting it. Also, people will buy ADL's just for the action, so the barrels are basically throwaways for them.

Downside is if they don't headspace you'll have to have a gunsmith set it back.

[elk hunter]

Thanks sig, I didn't see much response last night to this. Yes I thought about a new take off but not knowing what they might cost vs what a new one would be I decided to go new and direct. Called Douglas this morning and ordered a moly barrel. Thanks
elk hunter

[ar15barrels]

I'm about 1/2 way through my Rem 700 barrel accurate barrel life and am starting to consider the replacement barrel. It's a hunting rifle and so I wont be putting on anything that's a heavy barrel. It will be in the sporter magnum weight and length. Any ideas on a good barrel at reasonable money? I'm positive I want a Moly barrel as Stainless Steel is not my thing.

Douglas or Shilen both make very good quality Chromoly barrels.
Even less expensive is ER Shaw.
Shaw barrels are very good for the money without jumping up to the price of a Douglas/Shilen/Pacnor or the likes.
The quality of the chambering job will have more effect on the net quality of the gun than the barrel will when you are not looking into benchrest quality barrels and chambering jobs.

[ar15barrels]

Look for new gun take-offs?

Take-off factory barrels suffer all the same poor chambering problems of mass produced barrels.

[elk hunter]

Douglas or Shilen both make very good quality Chromoly barrels.
Even less expensive is ER Shaw.
Shaw barrels are very good for the money without jumping up to the price of a Douglas/Shilen/Pacnor or the likes.
The quality of the chambering job will have more effect on the net quality of the gun than the barrel will when you are not looking into benchrest quality barrels and chambering jobs.

Yep they are pretty good, Shilen seems t be a little more than Douglas for the same thing. I have never shot one of the Shilen barrels but would imagine they are good barrels, they are highly recommended by a friend. I have some experience with Douglas and E.R. Shaw and shoot both. Shaw is a good barrel for the money but Wilson is as well. The way I read the info Shaw and Wilson are behind so I ordered a barrel from Douglas, they said in a week or so. Pretty much a shoulder and screw in job with a little touch up. Then I have to decide what finish. This barrel should last me to the end of my useful part in this world unless I start shooting ground squirrel's and jack rabbits with it. Thanks for your input.
elk hunter

[elk hunter]

Take-off factory barrels suffer all the same poor chambering problems of mass produced barrels.

Don't you think in the law of averages one that's right wont pop up once in a while? I'v seen lots of messed up factory barrels things you would think couldn't happen but it did. Like a chamber drilled at a angle off center, goofy stuff. One of the strangest I have seen is a Savage .17HMR marked with a .22LR chamber and a 17 cal smooth bore, hang over day at the plant.

[ar15barrels]

Don't you think in the law of averages one that's right wont pop up once in a while?

They do.
If you know what you are looking for, it's very easy to grade them from bad to great.
The good ones are uncommon.
The great ones are exceedingly uncommon.

I have threaded hundreds of factory bolt rifle barrels.
As part of threading, I dial in the front 1.5" of the barrel to less than 0.00025" runout.
In doing that, a straight barrel will run pretty true at the breech end where the reciever is hanging out of the lathe spindle.
It's exceedingly rare for a factory barrel to run closer than 1/8" at the receiver then the muzzle is running as perfectly true as I can get it.
1/4" of runout over the length of the barrel is common.
Occasionally I run into one that exceeds 1/2" that I can not thread perpendicular to the bore because there is so much curvature.

[elk hunter]

Randall, I really don't know how Douglas chambers or threads a barrel. It would be a kick in the @ss to go back to WV and watch them take a blank/billet and make one from scratch to end product. Contour, threading, drill, rifle and chambering. With the new tools and methods I don't know if they do any stress releaving. I'm still not sold on that Chryo stuff. Years ago I watched Barny Lawton make some on his machines, very interesting watching them all working on actions and barrels in his shop.

[ar15barrels]

Randall, I really don't know how Douglas chambers or threads a barrel. It would be a kick in the @ss to go back to WV and watch them take a blank/billet and make one from scratch to end product. Contour, threading, drill, rifle and chambering. With the new tools and methods I don't know if they do any stress releaving. I'm still not sold on that Chryo stuff. Years ago I watched Barny Lawton make some on his machines, very interesting watching them all working on actions and barrels in his shop.

I can tell you that they don't do it anything like remington, savage or Winchester would.
Douglas does them one at a time.
That hopefully means they take more care.
I have never ordered a chambered bolt gun barrel as I always start from a contoured blank so that I can put the chamber and threads on it myself, as perfectly concentric to the bore as possible.

[elk hunter]

I believe they have a pretty good idea on how to do a good barrel. And your 1,000 percent right that they do it a whole lot different and better than any of the major gun makers do. Those folks have a reputation of good stuff and I would bet they want to make sure they send out as good as can be humanly done. Good smiths are helped by good barrel makes. I'm confident that their barrel is going to be first quality and done right, my action might be a piece of chit but the barrel will be good LOL.

[ar15barrels]

I believe they have a pretty good idea on how to do a good barrel. And your 1,000 percent right that they do it a whole lot different and better than any of the major gun makers do. Those folks have a reputation of good stuff and I would bet they want to make sure they send out as good as can be humanly done. Good smiths are helped by good barrel makes. I'm confident that their barrel is going to be first quality and done right, my action might be a piece of chit but the barrel will be good LOL.

I had a douglas XX stainless barrel that I chambered/threaded into a 700 action that shot 3/4" 5 shot groups at 400yds.

[elk hunter]

A good one for sure. Sounds like you like their product. These later 700 actions are pretty good, I'm thinking about laping the lugs of the PT&G bolt, might just as well get some more engagement.

[ar15barrels]

I'm thinking about laping the lugs of the PT&G bolt, might just as well get some more engagement.

If it's a new bolt with razor sharp edges on the lugs, I break all of the edges with a medium diamond hone.
Then I roll the two leading edges to at least a 0.015" radius so that they move nicer on the cams as the bolt is closed.
New PTG bolts with sharp edges often won't even make it around the corner until you knock back those two leading edges.

[elk hunter]

It's (this bolt) been running for a couple of years in this Rem. so far so good but some lap and touch up would probably be of some benefit when hitching it up with the receiver and new barrel. In the old days we would take some oil stones and work on lots of places in the action and bolt, made er smooth as a baby's @ss. The thing that really surprises me is how fast I could see erosion in this Remington barrel, 300-350 rounds and I can see the goings on. Maybe I just got a bad one or maybe it's today's new industry standard. What made me do a good clean and look see with my glass was the last time out I was throwing a flyer or two, yes I can do that all on my own with a good barrel but the convincing part was I could see the erosion with my eye and the glass. It does not speak well of the barrel life of a .300 RUM or the weakness of the steel in that barrel.