The basics of how the two barrels are made have already been mentioned so I will not add much to that.
I will however say that the issue with a button pulled barrel having more issues with stresses is only with lower priced barrels.
I use Lilja barrels nearly 10 to 1 for my customers, why, because I get what I order, I get what I order in a timely and consistant manner and I have yet to have even one barrel not easily meet my 1/2 moa or better accuracy guarantee for my customers.
That said, while I have used mainly Lilja barrels, I have also used many barrels from most of the top barrel makers in the country and will tell you that seeing a real difference between a cut rifled barrel and a button rifled barrel is really extremely difficult to do.
In fact the actual machining of the barrel and receiver has more effect on final performance then the difference between these two barrels if there is in fact any accuracy potential difference.
Now lets get down to why I prefer Lilja barrels. I can place and order and the barrel will be in my shop in 8 to 9 weeks almost to the money, try that with any of the top end cut rifled barrels and it will either take twice that long or it will be one of those god knows when it will show up. Those that have delt with some of the upper end cut rifled barrels know what I am referring to.
Krieger is very consistant, it taked them around 16 to 18 weeks to get in a barrel.
One HUGE benefit to cut rifled barrels is the option to get different twist rates and also get land width cut to your specs in many cases. That is not possible with button pulled barrels unless you pay for the custom buttons to be made, that can get spendy.
In my experience, a button pulled barrel will break in quicker on average then a cut rifled barrel. I can not say it is because the way the barrel was rifled but it may. It may also be that cut rifled barrels on average are much harder then button pulled barrels. The button pulled barrels have to be softer or the button simply can not be pulled through the bore with good results.
Some say the harder barrels will have longer barrel life, I have not found this to really be the case. I have found that land width and throat dimensions have much more effect on this then the steel used in the barrels.
Back to stresses, it was mentioned that some feel cut rifled barrels put out more consistant barrels and this is proven because button pulled barrel makers often have different grades of barrels.
I personally do not agree with this comment. The reason is because if a button pulled barrel is out of spec to some degree, at least the entire bore or cross section of the bore will be consistant and still usible depending on what you want to do with the barrel.
In a cut rifled barrel, you screw up, the barrel is basically spoiled. The groove depth would be inconsistant and there would be no use in the barrel. That is why you only see one grade of cut rifled barrels, because if they screw it up it goes in the scrap pile for recycle steel as there is no use for it as a rifle barrel as is.
As far as the different grades of cut rifled barrels, just because one maker offers several grades does not mean they all do. Lilja offers one and only one quality of barrel, true BR match grade and nothing less. If you get a Lilja barrel, you know its as good of a barrel as you can get today.
The fact that Lilja does not offer sub qualitybarrels to leave their shop is only a testiment to the commitment they have toward their customers and offering only top end barrels. Other companies simply are trying to recover money by selling lower quality barrels at lower prices which is not a problem because they tell you what your getting and you make up your mind.
If cut rifled barrels could be used you would see alot of those companies doing it as well but they can not be, again as far as I understand the process of making a cut rifled barrel.
Also, there are no more stesses in a Lilja barrel then there are in any cut rifled barrel. Lilja barrels are double stress relieved in shop so that is not even a concern as some mention it is a problem. That simply is not true.
If you compare top end cut rifled barrels to top end button pulled barrels, there will be no difference in accuracy or consistancy.
If you compare low end button pulled barrels to upper end cut rifled barrels, of course there is a difference but to lump all button pulled barrels into one class is fool hardy at best.
As mentioned, I use Lilja barrels 10 to 1 for my customers. That said, if a customer comes to me and asked for a Hart, Krieger, Broughton, Rock or any other well establised barrel maker, I will have no problem because I know that any barrel from any of these makers will result in a fine shooting rifle if I do my part for my customers.
Simply put, if there is a difference, and if we set asside personal opinions and preferences, the difference is so small you could not say one is really better then another.
That is my opinion, take it for what its worth.
Kirby Allen(50)