Quote Originally Posted by Dave Hoback View Post
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-...rifle-barrels/

Some History of LW.https://www.lothar-walther.de/media/...ktEnglisch.pdf