Too many brands, too many sites. New Barrel picking.

I'd like a pre-fit because I'm lazy but if my desires can't be met with one then I'll just pony up and buy a Lilja and pay the install costs and have it step shoulder headspaced.

I want a 7mm Rem Mag chamber, a slightly heavier than sporter profile (I'm flexible), 26" length, and here's the kicker... it has to be of sufficient quality that I'd not be out of my mind to expect sub-minute groups. I consider a rifle inaccurate if I can't print .75"@ 100yrds or better regularly with it and some developed handloads.

I see the Criterion and factory pre-fits and Shilens. Shilen has a good reputation and I've had good luck with their tubes in the past but I'd like some generalized feedback as I've never heard of Criterion and all my savages have been terribly accurate guns out of the box.

Order the brands you know about according to quality, fit, accuracy, or whatever you like.

The gun is a 110 sporter of not inconsiderable age currently in 7mag with probably several hundred rounds down the tube. I've never worn out a 7mag barrel before but the condition of the muzzle has me thinking about replacing this one. I have worn out many other tubes so this is not a new process to me. I can install and headspace a new barrel pretty easily.

Yes I searched but in the hundreds of results nothing answered my question.

I think the best info is not only about brands but where to get them. Some sites have sketchy reputations or histories of lag. I won't play that game.

E R Shaw also has prefit barrels and there carried by midway and some of the fine sponsers on this site go to the top of the page here and click on NSS or GunShack savage barrels and you might find something there

like thise shilens from NSS

26" - Stainless Match - Small Shank - Varmint - 7mm Rem Mag - 9 Twist - $299.00
26" - Stainless Select Match - Small Shank - Varmint - 7mm Rem Mag - 9 Twist - $339.00

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Originally Posted by r3dn3ck

Order the brands you know about according to quality, fit, accuracy, or whatever you like.

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Well there is a problem with this requestand that is each barrel has its own personality, You can buy 2 barrels by a top name that was made right after another, chambered at the same time, by the same smith, with the same tooling, and it is garenteed that they will preform diferently. As fasr as aftermarket barrels go, most of the manufactors are producing a quality product, and preformance will depend on the barrels personality. I can say that I have owned Krieger's, Bartline's, Brux's, Shillen's, Harts, Douglass's, and Shillen's, and they will all preform well and on par with each other. I have had bad kriegers, and I have had good kriegers, there is a possiblility of getting a bad barrel in all makers including Lilja, but chances are slim. I own a Criterion, and I would say that it ranks up there with the others. If I had to pick a barrel I have had the best luck with it would be a Brux, my second choice would be a Krieger. If you looking for a factory replacement that would be in the same ball park as a Fatory Savage barrel I would consider ER Shaw.

I have shot pretty much most of the barrels from the different manufactures out there except Criterion. I have not heard anything bad about Criterion and so much good that I really will make Criterion my next barrel purchase brand. Price is great and being part of the Kreiger family they have a track record of shooting quite well..

I find that customer service when a problem arises with a barrel as equally as important to me as how well a barrel shoots. Jim at Northlander is tops and he will never blame you for one of the barrels problems. Great guy to deal with.

I have an armload of Benchmark barrels and recommend them very highly. But my next purchase will be a Criterion just because. 82Boy said it. Buying from reputable people the chances of ever havng a bad one are very slim. I have never had a bad Benchmark nor have I ever had to call them or Jim at Northlander and tell them anything other than thank you for a great product and service.

Neal

358hammer: please splain' the "part of the Kreiger family" bit. Is this to say that they're a wholly owned subsidiary making barrels with fewer product inspection steps and/or fewer hands-on steps or just another company under the Kreiger umbrella which may have access to the purchasing power but use a lesser manufacturing method or ? I'll be looking it up myself but feel free to splain.

I'm not the least concerned about generalized initial quality from any barrel maker, experience teaches interesting lessons. I've had Shaw's, Shilens, Kreigers, BHW's and Lilja's. The Lilja barrels have actually always outshot the others after suitable load development EXCEPT for 3: the barrel that came on my Savage 10FP outshot every gun I've ever owned except my Black Hills Weapons polygonal rifled 6x45 and .223 AR's. I discount the AR's as they were on much smaller calibers shooting from cartridges that are known to be pretty accurate anyway and have histories in benchrest shooting because of it and they're on target. My Lilja barrels have stronger personalities than the others though and are more picky about what loads they like. My Black Hills barrels have very little personality. That my best barrel ever was a factory barrel from Savage of all companies (admit it, savage is a bargain brand regardless of what comes out) is a little surprising but the best on average have been Lilja's. I just hate spending 500-700 bucks and burning 6 months to rebarrel a rifle with a Lilja when I can get the same results from other brands.

MOA: what's the difference between match and select match other than 40 bucks?

What I am interested in specifically in the way of advice is the price:quality:service venn diagram and what outfit offers a barrel fitting my needs that is a resident of the center of that diagram. That and perhaps a vigorous debate which could degenerate into a pissing contest with some chair throwing at the end but y'all are too level headed to even give up a little back and forth snark. (last sentence was a joke, those with no sense of humor take note).

In any case, I think MOA might have solved my problem in the most effective way possible. Those are some great prices on a stainless barrel and man did he ever match my want list just right. So, keep chatting about it while I run off and order one.

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Originally Posted by r3dn3ck

358hammer: please splain' the "part of the Kreiger family" bit. Is this to say that they're a wholly owned subsidiary making barrels with fewer product inspection steps and/or fewer hands-on steps or just another company under the Kreiger umbrella which may have access to the purchasing power but use a lesser manufacturing method or ? I'll be looking it up myself but feel free to splain.

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Jim and others can expound, but here's the big thing IMO:

Criterions are button rifled, Kriegers are cut rifled.

Criterion Barrels have a great reputation in AR15/M1A circles, so its not a fly-by-night operation.

I'm VERY satisfied with my two Criterions (223AI and 260) and have heard precious few complaints about them. A great value IMO, especially compared with something like a Shilen at a higher pricepoint.

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Originally Posted by r3dn3ck

MOA: what's the difference between match and select match other than 40 bucks?

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Found this for ya
http://www.shilen.com/barrelGrades.html

Great news! I've found the barrel I'm going to get and it's from a maker that I've had nothing but sub-.5MOA shooters out of so far. I can't mention the brand yet as they're not ready for that announcement to be public but they've let me know that they're making the tooling and testing investment right now to make it happen and if I play my cards right I may just get a pre-production model to test out for them.

r3dn3ck, let us know when it happens.

Dennis

Brux, Krieger, bartlien!

Black Hole Weaponry tells me they're tooling up for production of their fine 3-lobe polygonally rifled barrels for non-AR type guns. I asked specifically about Savage and it appears they have a few out in the wild already for testing. My other BHW's which are on AR-15's are horrifyingly accurate so I'm going to wait for them to finish. No sense in rushing when the features I want are just about to be available.

No idea on price yet but I'd expect them to be in line with Shilen pricing. I'm pretty sure they'd hate hundreds of phone calls but they're responsive to emails so far. Drop em' a line if you're interested.

Anytime, a new barrel maker come onto the market I cringe. Just because they have a good repetation with one type of gun dosn't mean they will with another.

cringe? wow, <darth vader voice> I find your lack of faith disturbing </darth vader voice>

What about Sin Arms and their Lothar Walther barrels?

So far I have had no luck getting in contact with any others , by phone or e-mail , but Jim at Northland answer's the phone everytime that I have called , our little group of 3 have bought 8 or so bbls + accessories from him . I guess the other's are doing plenty of business without our help ?

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Originally Posted by dwt

So far I have had no luck getting in contact with any others , by phone or e-mail , but Jim at Northland answer's the phone everytime that I have called , our little group of 3 have bought 8 or so bbls + accessories from him . I guess the other's are doing plenty of business without our help ?

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I've been after a new barrel for the 308, myself...And have had an incredibly hard time getting in contact with many of them.

So far, the only people to answer the phone and actually HELP me has been McGowan...They were a tremendous amount of help and in doing some research, have yet to hear anything bad as well.

Got more detail from Black Hole Weaponry , they're capping at 24" tubes for now and are seeming to want some ideas of chamberings that people might be wanting. If you're looking for a barrel in the next year, you might give them a email.

If they want to research the market they should come to our site. Just about every type of Savage owner and interest is here.

I'm pretty sure they're lurking here already, not certain but I think so. It seems that they're working on nato chamberings first and then branching out from there. I did mention the site to them but truth be told, this site is but a drop in the bucket. The thing that's great about savage super-fans as different from those that glom on to other brands though is that they are seemingly more likely to be DIY'ers and that's good for sales.

So, we are looking at a reasonable time out before we see Savage barrels. I think that I will do my usual route. I'll wait for quite a few guinea pigs first.

I believe so. If I wanted a more common calibre then I think I'd have one already. There are already several testers out in the wild so they're clearly able to produce them and it's about buying volumes of reamers at this point for them. I don't see this as a new player in barrel making so much as a barrel maker adding a new style to their portfolio so I'll be first in line.

I am a big 7mm Magnum fan and if I were going to buy a barrel right now I would call Jim Briggs at Northland and have him get you a 26" Criterion in Light Varmint contour. My second choice would be a 26" Shilen in Heavy Sporter contour.

I've managed to trade into a 28" shilen barreled Winchester m70 post (for my stainless A-bolt in 325wsm). The barrel is a heavy magnum taper and the gun turns in .3" groups as it sits. My next barrel will be a 24" from BHW.

I just seen that bergara makes perfit barrels for savage do you guy think they would be good replacement ? At 240 bucks there not badly priced

not for my purposes.

Ed Shilen somehow was involved with Bergara getting started.

All I can say is do your research and read the reviews.

Don't risk it. Get a Criterion from Jim.

When I researched bergara I was very much not impressed. Calling spanish gunmakers highly skilled is a joke for anyone with a knowledge of the history of warfare in the last 120 years. I'm waiting for my BHW barrel.