affordable savage prefit: if not apache then who?

[greyling]

so I'm looking for a replacement barrel for an old savage, and I hear great things about apache. when I go to their webpage, it says Orders are closed except for REPEAT customersI assume that is pretty self explanatory and means I am out of luck with them. So who is left? I could gamble with shaw, but I was wondering if there was another option. Mcgowen, shilen and pacnor all offer barrels, but they are all over $300. I can't get a pricelist for criterion, so I have no idea who much they run.

I don't need the worlds most accurate barrel, but I would like it capable of 1 moa or better. any suggestions?

[22 Mag]

Call Jim at Northland Shooters 1-763-682-4296. He will be able to tell the prices for Criterion and Shilen AND sell you a barrel for that price.

22 Mag

[Kadams1563]

CBI are $300 out the door I'm pretty sure.

[bythebook]

Call Jim like 22 mag says. I would not be afraid of Shaw either as I have 3 or 4 of them and they are all good shooters.

[stomp442]

What are you wanting exactly? MidwayUSA sells prefits from shaw and Shilen with shaw barrel kits around the $200 mark. EABCO.com also sells Shaw barrel kits. Lat one I ordered was $255 delivered and shoots like a dream.

[greyling]

I'd love a 308 barrel around 20-22" long, in blued (but I suppose I could make stainless work) but it needs to be heavier than sporter contour. I'm replacing an aftermarket barrel on a pawn shop special that I just cannot get to shoot. Old barrel was made by shaw many moons ago and is some sort of heavy contour tapered barrel. I can open the stock up a little if I need to, bit not a whole lot. muzzle end is about .68" at 23" from the front of the receiver. The midway barrel is so thin I think it would make weird gaps between the barrel and stock.

[dcompton]

Gunshack?

[snowgetter1]

eBay. All kinds of barrels pop up on there. Or you could try this guy. http://bisongunworks.com/index.html

I have never ordered from him but prices look ok.

[Robinhood]

Order from the barrel maker. Shillen, Pac-nor or X-caliber. Wait and be happy.

[Matno]

X-Caliber is great. Mine took about 5 weeks, but I also had them thread the muzzle and make me a brake. Best barrel I've ever shot.

[Bolthead]

I agree with Snowgetter about Ebay. Bison has a blue 308 varmint new for $165 as a "Buy It Now". Never shot one of his barrels, but have heard good things.

[LongRange]

Order from the barrel maker. Shillen, Pac-nor or X-caliber. Wait and be happy.

^^^this right here...if you do go with a pre fit call jim and do yourself a favor...pay the few extra bucks and get a shilen.

[Breeze]

Just received a 6.5 creedmoor barrel from Jim at Bison gun works,
barrel & workmanship look very good,great great guy to deal with.
He uses Green Moutain barrel blanks, not a high end barrel blank but would be good for a budget build.
just waiting on some brass to see how it performs

[scooterf79]

Skinner gun works is another. I cant remember who posted it now (Id have to find it but someone said its Jims (Apache) son.) Prices seems reasonable and work is supposed to be very good.
Scooter

[greyling]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'll look into them.

[CarolinaShooter]

I bought a prefit Shilen from Jim at Northland Shooter Supply. It has turned my rifle into a tack driver, best 339 I've ever spent

[CriterionBarrels]

We would be more than happy to lend a hand with your build restoration. Northland Shooters Supply keeps an inventory on hand, and should be able to provide you with a quote. If they don't have it, we can make it!

[greyling]

well, I was trying to rebarrel a gen 1 savage, but in my research I discovered the old bolt is not compatible with the new barrels. Because of the costs involved with replacing the bolt as well as the barrel, I think I am going to pass on rebarreling this gun. At least for now. Now if somebody has upgraded their left hand bolt and or bolt head to something like PTG parts and has stuff in a drawer they want to donate........

[CarolinaShooter]

What caliber is it and what are you wanting to switch to?

[greyling]

its a .257 ackley and I'd like a 308, though the 358 win is interesting. I'd like to shoot lead.

My understanding of the the problem is that while they use the same bolt face, my gen 1 bolt has a protruding bolt face that makes it incompatible with the prefit barrels. So I was going to replace the bolt head, but savage changed the bolt body, firing pin, and a couple retaining pins between the very first guns and the more modern ones. So I need a new bolt, and when I add the bolt into the cost of a barrel, (not counting any tool I might need such as barrel and action wrenches) well it just stops making financial sense. I can get a ruger american or savage axis in 308, with a decent scope for less than a rebarrel at that point. Now it wouldn't be as nice, but $$'s tight at my house right now. New baby's spoiling all my plans for toys.