E. R. Shaw barrels

Several years back I had a Remington model 7 in a .243 action rebarreled to a 6.5 Creedmoor barrel. It was SS, 26" with muzzle brake and a straight 1.25' diameter barrel full length. I eventually found a load with the bullet I wanted to hunt with that would regularly shoot 5/8" @ 100 yards. So I deemed Shaw as a good company.

Most recently, I sent in a Remington 700 in 243 to be barreled with a 26" ss Heavy varmint barrel with muzzle brake. I went by their braking in schedule of shooting X shots and cleaning. I've shot about 70 of my very best and most accurate loadings for my other three 243's. I have an RPR 243 with a 7.7:1 twist and it will shoot one hole, Berger 115 gr VLD-H at 100 yards all day long. But I wanted to get away from the tactical style platform to hunt with. So I had the latest action barreled with a 7:1 twist to stabilize the heavy 115 grainers from Berger. No such luck! Best I've been abler to do is about 1.25" 3 shot groups with Sierra 107's and Hornady 105's. I've already got 3 that will do that. This particular rifle was purposefully barreled to shoot the 115's.

I've loaded multiple powders of the type for 243 and super heavy bullets, such as my RPR loves and seated them from 2.825" to 2.960". I've got a Vortex Golden Eagle mounted on the rifle and a terrific homemade rifle rest. Still, best I can get is just over 1.125" 3 shot group. I called early this week and talked to a tec named Tom and basically he said if I was getting 1.25" groups I should be satisfied. I also shot 4 different factory loads and they barely made 2" groups.


I'm not looking for sympathy, yet, but asking for opinions or encouragement with possible things I might be doing wrong or over-doing right! Anyone have any experience with E>R> Shaw to share with me>

thanks in advance.
B

Wish I could help all my shaw barrels have shot well. Same with the rifles I got from them. Start with the basics and double check everything.

I've had 3 ER Shaw barrels and they were all decent shooters, for hunting guns. They were in the .5-.75 MOA range with the right load. They were all a little picky though.

Have you tried thinking outside the box on your bullet selection? I've had a lot of guns that wouldn't shoot the bullets I wanted them too, but were great with the right load.

Have you tried some mono's or some 115 DTAC's yet? I would keep trying to find a load, broaden the powder and bullet spectrum. Yeah it sucks you gotta spend the money to find the load, but once your powder and bullet selection becomes broad you can continue to purchase 6mm's or just sell the partial boxes. Although a PITA, its something thats worth doing in the end to find a good shooter.

Sounds like a bit like a loose barrel to me. Might need to shoot flat based bullets through it. You definitely need a bit faster powder than usual to get the pressure down as the bullet exits.
It's too bad the Hornady 100 Interlock fb was discontinued as that was the quick fix in a tough to get shooting bore.
If you want to run 100's through it I'd try v540 or Imr 4064 and a 100 Hornady or Sierra. I know slower powders will be a bit faster, but we've run 1,000's of 243's with 4064 and it'll hit 2900 fps in a 22" barrel pretty easy.

My Shaw barrels all shoot great. No one can produce perfect barrels. A friend just paid big bucks for as new high dollar , well know brand rifle that shoots terrible. . Shaw stands behind their barrels. Contact them , I'm sure they will replace your barrel.

snox801 said:

Wish I could help all my shaw barrels have shot well. Same with the rifles I got from them. Start with the basics and double check everything.

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X-2

Hespco said:

My Shaw barrels all shoot great. No one can produce perfect barrels. A friend just paid big bucks for as new high dollar , well know brand rifle that shoots terrible. . Shaw stands behind their barrels. Contact them , I'm sure they will replace your barrel.

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I contacted them several days ago. Spoke with a nice fellow. Told him all I had already done soi far as cleaning, break in, different powders, different seating depths, even coming off the 115 Bergers to shoot Hornady/Berger 105's and Sierra 107's Still nothing better than 1.25". In NICE way, he told me if I was getting 1.25" groups to be happy with it! he told me his 243 in 7:1 like the Hornady 90's. Shoot, I've already got 3 243's that will shoot 85, 90, 95, 100, 103, 105 and 107's into one hole at 100. That is not what this barrel was purchased for.

Berger is the only 115's I have shot in this weight class. I just got a box of 115 RDF's and have loaded some with RL22, RL26, Retumbo, H1000, IMR7828 and IMR 7977. Seated at 2.850, 2.875 and 2.900. Each powder has 3 different charges and three different seating depths or COAL's. While I might not be as technical or word savvy as many of you guys, Over the past 50 years I have learned/learnt how to be ever so consistent.

If These RDF's don't work out, I'll try to find some DTACs and start over. Are the DTACs good for whitetails? Never done any research on them.

thanks to all who have shared your experiences today. Hopefully I'll be able to report back with a more positive experience very soon.

B

The DTAC's are a great hunting bullet, the nose ring will help the projectile J-Hook, or it will detach and expand like crazy. The guys over at shoot to hunt like to use them in there 6 UM, and 6 Creed's. I plan on using them in my 6-6.5 PRC once its finalized.

I strongly recommend checking the actual twist on this barrel. It wouldn't be the first time a barrel has the wrong twist to stated. Its acting like its a slower twist.

Muddyboots said:

I strongly recommend checking the actual twist on this barrel. It wouldn't be the first time a barrel has the wrong twist to stated. Its acting like its a slower twist.

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just checked it with a bore brush and cleaning rod. Definitely a 7 twist.

A-Tip said:

The DTAC's are a great hunting bullet, the nose ring will help the projectile J-Hook, or it will detach and expand like crazy. The guys over at shoot to hunt like to use them in there 6 UM, and 6 Creed's. I plan on using them in my 6-6.5 PRC once its finalized.

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Thank you. I'll see if I can locate some if i can't get the RDFs or Bergers to come in nicely.

Beelzebub said:

I contacted them several days ago. Spoke with a nice fellow. Told him all I had already done soi far as cleaning, break in, different powders, different seating depths, even coming off the 115 Bergers to shoot Hornady/Berger 105's and Sierra 107's Still nothing better than 1.25". In NICE way, he told me if I was getting 1.25" groups to be happy with it! he told me his 243 in 7:1 like the Hornady 90's. Shoot, I've already got 3 243's that will shoot 85, 90, 95, 100, 103, 105 and 107's into one hole at 100. That is not what this barrel was purchased for.

Berger is the only 115's I have shot in this weight class. I just got a box of 115 RDF's and have loaded some with RL22, RL26, Retumbo, H1000, IMR7828 and IMR 7977. Seated at 2.850, 2.875 and 2.900. Each powder has 3 different charges and three different seating depths or COAL's. While I might not be as technical or word savvy as many of you guys, Over the past 50 years I have learned/learnt how to be ever so consistent.

If These RDF's don't work out, I'll try to find some DTACs and start over. Are the DTACs good for whitetails? Never done any research on them.

thanks to all who have shared your experiences today. Hopefully I'll be able to report back with a more positive experience very soon.

B

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I had a friend who built an overbore 270 wildcat with the plans to shoot the heaviest, high BC bullets available. He had 2 barrels cut, 1 K&P with a 1/7" twist and one Broughton with a 1/8" twist. We tried all the heavy weight bullets available, both jacketed and monos, with mediocre results at best. That gun never shot anything over 145gr better than 1.5 MOA. It didn't settle down and start to group well until he dropped the bullet weight and velocity. It was built to shoot 170s at 3350 fps, and ended up shooting 130 class bullets at 3400 fps to get groups better than .75 MOA.

Sometimes the rifle just likes what it likes, no matter what you think it should like.

All the Shaw barrels I have messed with have been good