Preferred Barrel for LRH

[7mm Eclipse]

Good Morning.

I am a newbie to the forum. I have been reading for the last few days about custom rifles for the LHR of large game. There is a lot of information and a large number of members with incredable amounts of experience. That a great site. Any assistance y'all can provide is appreciated.

Most of my experience has been at ranges of 400 yards or less hunting whitetails in the southeast. THe average range for whitetails here is 75 yards. It is possiblel to get some longer shots if you hunt over corn or soybean fields or hunt in pulp wooded hardwood stands.

I am in the process of getting the equipment and learning how to hunt Antelope, Muleys and Elk out west. I am going to rebarrel a rifle to learn to shoot 1000 yards. Then at some point build a custom rifle. I like the 7mm, and I am rebarreling a 7mm WSM to shoot 168 and 180 Berger VLDs.

If you have experience with either rebarreling or custom builds for LHR, would you vote in the poll for the barrel manufacturer that you prefer based on accuracy and throat wear.

Thanks.

Mike

 

[Boss Hoss]

Mine is not listed---Krieger and I have used Hart in the past. I use Krierger on all of mine competition and sporters.

 

[James Jones]

Of those posted I like Brux , their customer service is great and the turn around time is better.

I have had Kreiger , Bartlein , Broughton , Rock Creek , Obermeyer , Hart , Shilen , Pac-Nor and Brux and have to say that all shoot great and the 5r barrels from Obermeyer , rock and Bartlein do shoot a little faster.

Right now I'll be buying Brux barrels , from what I'm seeing from a couple guns built with them they shoot as well as Kreigers and are cheaper and take WAY less time to get

 

[Derek M.]

The only cut rifled bbl on your list is Brux. I have been hearing some very good things about them although they are relatively new. Here is a video of a guy shooting IBS 600 with a Brux that set some record:

YouTube - BENCHREST SHOOTING

You didn't mention Broughton, Krieger, Bartlien, Obermeyer, Rock, and many others.

I spoke with one of the gentlemen at BAT Machine yesterday and they prefer Krieger and Bartlien, with the latter apparently impressing them quite a bit.

I really like the 5R/5C style rifling. My Obermeyer bbl has really impressed me.

I would buy a Brux in a heartbeat, but I voted for Hart as this company does NOT seem to discriminate their bbls based on its intended use. i.e., if you wanted to build a plane jane 270, they will lap and manufacture that bbl no different than a heavy bench bbl in 6mm or any other cal knowing it will be used for bench competition.

I have heard that Tim North, maker of Broughton bbls will redo his bbls more than anyone. If a 7mm tube doesn't turn out to his standard, he'll drill it bigger and start over as a different caliber.

 

[7mm Eclipse]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the replies. You can tell that I am a newbie by the limited number of barrels in my poll.

Thanks for the great YouTube video. If one picture is worth 1000 words, this video speaks volumes. Good Info.

Regards,

Mike

 

[Derek M.]

Mike, I can post videos where hunters are killing game at really long ranges using Bartlien and Broughton bbls too. Shawn Carlock has some videos where he's shooting over 1000 yards and I think his bbl of choice is Hart.

Quite frankly, I think most of them are of exceptional quality and some make better bbls in certain diameters than others.

One very well known engineer/smith uses only Bartlien and Hart....one button rifled, one cut rifled. If I recall correctly, he prefers one make for 30 cal and larger and the other for under 30 cal.

Dave Bruno just built my friend's 270 on an old Remington action (prior to the 700, can't remember though, think it's a 78 maybe?) in ADL. The Jewel trigger was set to 1 pound. The bbl is a 3 groove Lilja SS, #3 contour--(3 groove bbls from Lilja come recommended by BAT also). The stock is H-S Precision also bedded with Devcon steel putty. I broke in the rifle for him.

His first day at the range with FACTORY Hornady SSTs in 130 and 140 gr produced multiple 3 shot groups less than 1/2" and one group that made basically a zero inch group. Yes, literally, one caliber sized hole. Those were the 140s. He also had 150s with the regular Interlocked bullet. Also, not one group greater than 3/4" at 100 yrds.

So, was it Dave Bruno's ability to put the gun together? The lilja bbl? Ammo? All of the above? I don't know.

 

[Kevin Cram]

Kreiger is probably top on my list of barrels I use. All of the mfg's listed above will make a good barrel. It all falls into persoanl preference. To me the companies that make one grade of barrel (top grade) are the best. The ones that have second rate barrels are just that... second rate. You can't go wrong with any of the choices mentioned so far.

 

[30-338]

I have 2 Kriegers and they both shoot. I have a Pac Nor which is "almost" as good. On a 300 RUM I have a Hart and am satisfied...My next rifle will be a 7mm in some short mag...I will order a Bartlein 5c or a Rock with 5r rifling. My buddy just got an Edge with a Broughton and it is a shooter. Seems like they can all make a good barrel. I do prefer cut rifling although the button rifled barrels can be excellent as well....From your list I might take a flyer and try Brux...30-338

 

[screech]

iM a krieger fan. all I have used have shot very well, easy to machine. I have aslo had good luck with shilen, they can be hard to machine sometimes, I dont think they have there heat treating down 100% so you can get hard spots. I have seen harts that shoot lights out and wouldnt be scared to shoot one at all.

I havent had the best luck with lilja but that could have been a fluke.

If it was me I would look at krieger and hart with shilen nipping right on there heels. the other brands I havent used so I cant say yeah or neigh.

 

[Derek M.]

I have 2 Kriegers and they both shoot. I have a Pac Nor which is "almost" as good. On a 300 RUM I have a Hart and am satisfied...My next rifle will be a 7mm in some short mag...I will order a Bartlein 5c or a Rock with 5r rifling. My buddy just got an Edge with a Broughton and it is a shooter. Seems like they can all make a good barrel. I do prefer cut rifling although the button rifled barrels can be excellent as well....From your list I might take a flyer and try Brux...30-338

Just curious here and I may be wrong but I don't think Bartlien offers a "5C." I think theirs are also 5R and Broughton offers 5C.

 

[davewilson]

5R...5C...the same thing. R stands for Russian. i think they are credited with being the originator of this type of rifling. the C means canted. same thing.

 

[Derek M.]

5R...5C...the same thing. R stands for Russian. i think they are credited with being the originator of this type of rifling. the C means canted. same thing.

True. However, I was told (hearsay) that there is a very subtle difference and that is that the "C" is canted on one side only as a button wouldn't work on both sides of the land. Regardless, it is splitting hairs.

 

[davewilson]

the rifling that's only canted on one side is the "ratchet style" i think, not as sure on that one. 99% sure the C and the R are the same.

 

[Fiftydriver]

I will be honest, I use Lilja barrels for 90% of my customers rifles as well as my personal rifles. That said, if you get a top rung barrel such as those from Lilja, Hart, Broughton, Krieger, Rock, etc, the final accuracy potential of your rifle will have more to do with how its fitted to the receiver and the condition of the receiver itself then the actual barrel.

What I am saying is if you have a quality barrel, it will shoot very well if installed correctly. Not all barrels will shoot ALL bullets or loads amazingly well but a good barrel will have many loads it shoots very well.

I personally do not feel barrels such as Shilen, Douglas or Pac Nor barrels are top rung barrels. That said, I have fitted many dozens of these and they all met my 1/2 moa accuracy potential requirement. Again, the most important thing is getting them installed correctly by a quality smith of your choice.

I have installed several A&B barrels that only cost $90 per barrel and most of them shot extremely well. In fact my very first rifle I built was on a commerical mauser 98 with an A&B barrel chambered in 6.5-06 AI and its still punching 1/2 moa groups.

What you get with the top end barrels is consistancy from barrel to barrel and generally better grades of bore finishes which generally means less work to break them in and also easier cleaning in general.