I'm interested to know if anyone has used (shot) any of the Ragged Hole (Wilson) barrels and how they do, cleaning and grouping. I read the 1 thread on here about the poster having some trouble with CS but I want to know about the barrels themselves. I'm thinking about another build and I'm undecided on the brand of barrel and caliber at this point. I've got 4 Creedmoor's (all 6.5) so I think I will go with...........
What's the deal? Nobody has shot or used one? With the specs they advertise, should be the same as a Shilen Select Match. I've got a Shilen Match CM and it shoots very well. I can't believe nobody has one. Guess I need to get one, thread and chamber it, and see for myself. They offer a very good price for a contoured blank. Still looking for anyone who has any experience with these. Thanks
give it a couple of days joe.
I hope a few folks chime in. I have readt heir site but advertising is not reliable.
I have one of their Wilson chromoly barrels in 257 Roberts that I purchased a couple of years ago. I'll provide you my experience with these guys. I purchased the barrel via ebay. Communication was very good and we texted back and forth frequently through out the process. It only took a few weeks to deliver. When I installed the barrel I noticed it was a very loose fit and without the nut tightened I could wobble the barrel excessively in the action. I notified Ragged Hole and they told me to return it. At this point in time they had not done a lot of Savage pre-fits and told me the thread tolerances were off. They corrected it and sent the barrel to me within a couple of weeks. This time the barrel appeared to fit well and I had no trouble installing it. I have since tried various powder/bullet combinations in that barrel but have not been unable to consistently get groups in the .5 to to .75 inch range which I have come to expect from my other Savage rifles. I am able to get the occasional 3 shot .5" group but generally groups in the 1" to 1.25" range. The barrel does have a tendency to foul more than my Criterian barrels but somewhat less than a Savage factory barrel.
Hope this helps
Thanks. That’s what I’m looking for. Real life experience.Originally Posted by BigDad
Wilso barrels are usually very good barrels. I've installed a few on CZ527 actions and Remington actions and all were .75 or better, 5 shot group rifles.
I believe Cooper uses Wilson barrels and I have a collection of Cooper rifles and all are near one hole rifles.
I just bought one off ebay for a Remington clone I'm building in 6.5 PRC
Thanks for the info. I haven’t decided on a caliber yet but I’m still looking.
Sounds like you could go new take off or a real custom barrel like you might get from Bugholes.com. No reason to spend money on a maybe.
I paid for a wilson prefit, I'll report when it gets here.
Kind of what I was thinking. I’ve been looking there too. Thanks
I bought three barrels when I was first getting into building my own. My 7mm rem mag shot .25 MOA at 200 yards with handloads. Got me so excited I bought another 7mm rem mag barrel in carbon fiber for mountain hunting, so haven't done much with the Wilson since. Another is a 25-06 that was moa with factory loads, haven't done much more with it. The other is a short barreled .243 with is moa/sub moa with factory varmint loads. It is a slow twist. All have been easy to clean.
Communication was good and I don't have complaints about the barrels.
Thanks for the info. I just got a Shilen contoured blank and I’m trying to decide if I want to chamber and thread it for my Savage or use it for something else.
I just got one. LV .30 cal. Barrel, well... looks like a barrel. The communication with John was great, shipping was prompt. Hope to get a chamber in it in the next month or so. Thinking 30-338!
They certainly have a good price on them. Let us know how it does. I’m not really in to the heavy hitters. I have a 7mmRM and it has about as much recoil as I can shoot accurately. I like the power and the amazing accuracy of the 300 Win but a little too much for me.
Oh this sucker is gonna be heavy. It'll kick like a .243
I finished up my build over the weekend and was able to get out on Tuesday with it. I put 5 rounds into the sand pile at my shop, doing the abbreviated break-in that I like to do. The barrel does not have any tendency for ugly copper fouling what so ever...sometimes I think the barrel maker gets the blame for that when in fact it happens at the throat that the chamber reamer cuts but that's a story for another time. Anyway, here are some results, bearing in mind there has been no load development for this rifle. These are the first shots downrange fireforming .338 cases.
6 rounds of 168 AMAX Re19 powder:
4 rounds 212Eldx Re19 powder:
In my opinion, this early experience tells me that the Wilson barrel I have from Ragged Hole gives up nothing to the other button rifled barrels I've used including Hart and Lilja for twice the money. Very happy with the entire experience.
Thanks for the write up. That barrel does look like it will be a shooter. Most people don’t understand that breaking in a barrel is actually smoothing out the throat and leade where the reamer has left machining marks. I sometimes use a little JB Bore paste in that area if it doesn’t want to clean up after 20 or 30 rounds. Thanks again.
Agree. I like to use the JB, sparingly, in the throat while I'm still set up in the lathe after the chamber is cut. Sort of a "pre-break in". I use a patch wrapped bore brush on a rod that I reference off the reamer to get me to the lands. Not sure about the wisdom of that but I do it anyway and I like the results.
Can’t argue with success. As the saying goes “ more than one way to skin a cat “.
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