Highest quality aftermarket Savage replacement barrels

[reddeluxe]

I know of the familiar aftermarket barrel manufacturers that produce better quality replacement prefit replacement barrels for Savage 110 series rifles. Just wondering what the consensus is on who makes the very best quality premium barrels currently? I understand there will be differences of opinion, but is there a barrel maker that clearly stands above the rest? This would be for a dedicated bench gun for myself, (6mm bore) and not having to follow any limitations or restrictions as to sanctioning bodies for competition. Strictly for static target and long range varmint shooting for my individual enjoyment....but with accuracy as the highest priority. Look forward to the discussion.

[GaCop]

You really can't go wrong with Bartlein or Pac-Nor.

[celltech]

It's not benchrest, but the world's best PRS shooters choose Bartlein 2:1 over anything else:

https://precisionrifleblog.com/2019/01/05/best-rifle-barrel-2/

[Ted_Feasel]

I know of the familiar aftermarket barrel manufacturers that produce better quality replacement prefit replacement barrels for Savage 110 series rifles. Just wondering what the consensus is on who makes the very best quality premium barrels currently? I understand there will be differences of opinion, but is there a barrel maker that clearly stands above the rest? This would be for a dedicated bench gun for myself, (6mm bore) and not having to follow any limitations or restrictions as to sanctioning bodies for competition. Strictly for static target and long range varmint shooting for my individual enjoyment....but with accuracy as the highest priority. Look forward to the discussion.I'm partial to shilen and criterion

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[Nor Cal Mikie]

Any and all of the above listed. Maybe add Douglas. Never had a bad one. All mine are ordered/cut/chambered to MY specs.
Happened to pick up a pre chambered A&B in .221 Fireball from Midway that was a natural bug hole maker from round one.
Even got a Wilson at auction for a song for a Wildcat project that was KILLER accurate. Was told they were JUNK cause they wern't lapped? Turns out it's one of my BETTER bug hole makers!! ;) Had most all of them listed and NEVER had any issues.:cool:

[Fotheringill]

A qualifying factor is how long you are going to have to wait for a particular barrel.

[tobnpr]

Accuracy is the result of a complete system, with the barrel itself being #1 on the list IMO.
Chambering job comes next, receiver work (receiver and boltfaces, lugs) followed by stock/chassis fitment (bedding job), trigger, handload development, etc.

That said, Bartlein doesn't sell off-the-shelf prefits as do some others. If you're capable of shooting the cost difference (and don't mind the price tag), most concur that cut-rifled barrels are the top tier- Krieger, Proof Research.

Just screwing a $600 barrel into a receiver isn't going to guarantee optimal results at the target.

[Nor Cal Mikie]

"Just screwing a $600 barrel into a receiver isn't going to guarantee optimal results at the target"....
but it will put one hell of dent in your wallet.:eek::eek:
And a HIGH price doesn't make one barrel better than another.;)

[Shooter0302]

Contact Frank green at Bartlein and ask him about the new 400MOBB barrel material. That is if you plan to keep this one bbl. for a long time.

[Robinhood]

The great thing about owning a high end savage prefit is that if or when you decide to upgrade to a custom action with 1 1/16 -20 barrel tenon you step right into the transition ready to go. In alphabetical order ...........Not a complete list but close. Some of these are single point cut and some are button rifled.

Bartlein
Brux
Hawk Hill
Krieger
Mullerworks
Pac Nor
Proof Research
Rock Creek
Schneider
Shilen



Also
Criterion
McGowan

then
X-caliber
There may e others but not many.

[charlie b]

Mine will be a Bartlein, but, I am also putting in the budget for them to true the action and fit the barrel. As stated above, no need to spend the bucks for a premier barrel and then put it on a 'bad' receiver.

[olddav]

I can’t offer any info on who make the best barrel but I can tell you that getting the most out of a quality barrel is a never ending quest. Every piece of the system and subsystems will need to be tweaked and or replaced.
Enjoy the journey.

[Dave Hoback]

I would say either Brux or Bartlein share the crown. But quite honestly, You won’t see a difference, no matter what premium barrel you choose. The two mentioned, Krieger, Douglas, Proof, Shilen, McGowen, Pac-Nor, and a bunch I didn’t mention....will ALL perform.

Think about this: every US barrel maker is using the SAME steel, bought from the SAME resources.. They don’t make their steel. They are pretty much using the the SAME machines & Tooling, purchased from the SAME resources. Again...they don’t make their own tools & machines! And they all for the most part use the SAME rifling methods, as there are only so many ways to skin a cat.. Soooo, think about it.

[Fuj']

From the original post; If you are strictly talking "pre fit" button barrels,
Criterion or Shilen is a toss up. Some barrel smiths have been doing pre-
fits on the cut rifle blanks for awhile now. Your looking at more money
for these. Just a couple of months back, my smith and myself did a nut
job barrel on a Bartlein blank, for one of my wild cats. I have a Brux blank
in the vault waiting on the same, though I may shoulder this one on the
target action.....Bartlein does have a new flavor of 400 series steel out
there for longer wear attributes. May look that over ,and do a carbon wrap.
My son's inheritance will just be smaller.....:cool:

[Dave Hoback]

Be careful of the excitement over this new steel. Only so much can be done with 400 series. Typical 416R is .12-.15% carbon, 12.5% Chromium, and has small amounts of Manganese, Phosphorus, Silicon, Molybdenum & even some Sulfur. To understand differences of steel, 416R while a fantastic barrel steel, would never be used as a knife. The lowest grade of 400 steel to use as blade steel is 420, which has a good deal more Carbon, & alloying elements. Yet it would make horrible barrel steel!

Understand that Bartlein wasn’t mixing & alloying these steels in their basement or something...LOL! They haven't RE-imagined anything new here. My thinking is they are using a slightly modified Mir50 and giving it a different name. But 2 times the wear resistance? LOL...ok.

[Robinhood]

Dave are you saying two times the wear resistance is something to get excited about?

[BMEP]

Hello Dave, good article. Would like to discuss it in detail.
Best,
Levon Pentecost

[BMEP]

Hi Dave, did you get my comment. L.;)

[tmalcombe]

Definitely happy with my Criterion. I lucked not and they just so happened to have what i was looking for in stock so there was no wait time.

[Texas10]

I would say either Brux or Bartlein share the crown. But quite honestly, You won’t see a difference, no matter what premium barrel you choose. The two mentioned, Krieger, Douglas, Proof, Shilen, McGowen, Pac-Nor, and a bunch I didn’t mention....will ALL perform.

Think about this: every US barrel maker is using the SAME steel, bought from the SAME resources.. They don’t make their steel. They are pretty much using the the SAME machines & Tooling, purchased from the SAME resources. Again...they don’t make their own tools & machines! And they all for the most part use the SAME rifling methods, as there are only so many ways to skin a cat.. Soooo, think about it.

That's pretty much the case, there's no new materials in the US, however Lothar Walther patented it's special steel decades ago and AFAIK are still producing barrels made from their steel which is produced in only two mills in the world and not available to other barrel makers.

Their website used to detail the history of this special steel, but I can't seem to find it anywhere recently. From what I've read, most gunsmiths were hesitant to turn a L.W. special steel barrel because of the difficulty in working with it. Special cutters, lubricants and machining talents were needed to get an acceptable finish, and it was just too much trouble to be able to make a profit with LW steel.

I do see Savage prefits in their catalog. https://www.lothar-walther.com/drop-in-gun-barrels/savage-small-shank-rifle-barrels/

Some History of LW.https://www.lothar-walther.de/media/pdf/21/a8/1d/ProspektEnglisch.pdf