Reply With QuoteI've got several McGowen barrels and they are all shooters!
I've been trying to get the magic load to make a Model 10T-SR .223 from Cabelas shot consistent bug holes and have finally given up. I've put over 700 test rounds down that barrel, changed the sock and pillar and glass bedded the action into the new one. No luck. Today I finally called McGowen in Montana and ordered another varmint barrel from them. Stainless steel, 8 twist, four groove, 26 inch, small shank Savage pre-fit with an 11 degree target crown. The chamber will be rough cut shallow so my gunsmith can use my custom reamer to finish the chamber. That reamer cuts a short throat so I can get close to the lands. I also ordered a heavy precision recoil lug and trued barrel nut from Northland SS.
The first McGowen barrel I ordered is on another model 10 .223 and it shoots 1/2 inch groups at 200 yards. I pray this next one will be as good.
I've got several McGowen barrels and they are all shooters!
The one I have now sure is a shooter. I've got about 4000 rounds down the tube and it still shoots great. Really looking forward to getting this one.Originally Posted by mudpig
I've got several McGowen barrels and they are all shooters!
McGowen is a solid choice, upper "mid-tier" in my book, along with Shilen, Pac-Nor, Douglas.
Keep in mind that an accurate rifle is the result of a perfect system. IMO the quality of the barrel is paramount- but stock fitment/bedding down to action screw torque can and will affect consistency.
Since you're having a smith install/finish your short-chambered factory barrel ( since you have a custom reamer, I would have preferred to cut the entire chamber with it rather than finish a short chamber with it; no big deal but there are sometimes differences in reamer geometry). Suggest you have him check action fitment in your bedded stock to be sure it's not at least partly responsible for the previous inaccuracy. Bedding isn't rocket science, but done incorrectly will stress/bind the action under torque from the action screws; your smith will know how to check this.
I am curious what groups sizes you were getting with the Savage barrel. I know some people think 1/2" at 100yds is horrible. I think it is great.
I had no problems getting my 10t-sr 223 to shoot into .3 consistently. I had great luck with w748, Lapua brass, and 53 grain v max.
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this x2! A true .5 MOA gun is truly hard to achieve, especially without reloads, and especially with factory rifles. For a factory rifle, anything sub MOA is great in my book. That being said, if the OP simply desires a .5 MOA gun then by all means make it into a semi-custom rifle. I have 2 savage semi-customs. One has a barrel from Apache gun works which cost me 230$ and the other has a criterion barrel which set me back 350$. Both shoot sub MOA with many different factory loads all day long and with my reloads they both achieve .5 MOA or better, when I do my part.
If you have been following my other threads I also have another savage which shoots something awful! 3-5inch groups. Makes me sick. I am now committed to making this one a semi-custom as well as I would NEVER sell that piece of crap lemon to another fellow shooter/hunter.
Keyboard warriors that punch a single, 3-shot group out of 50 in a day and proclaim "1/2 minute rifle"....
No one in their right mind wouldn't be tickled shit pink if they lucked out with a TRUE, 1/2 minute factory rifle.
Charlie, I could not get anything consistent. On day it would shoot 3/8 inch and the next day that same load would open to just over an inch. I bought a Boyd's Pro-Varmint stock and did and pillar and glass bed job on it and it still acts that way. Very frustrating. My other .223 has a 26 inch McGowen varmint barrel and it is awesome. It shoots 1/2 MOA or better regardless of what bullet I put through it. I prefer 75gr ELD-Match for chucks. That rifle is a joy to shoot. Maybe I expect too much from a factory rifle but that's just me. I've got a Vortex Gen III PST Viper 2-25 ffp scope on it so I'm sure the issue is not the scope. This rifle has a nicer trigger than my first one so I have great hopes for it. Just a waiting game now for the barrel to get here.
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