Hey, I´m thinking of changing my barrel to a shilen cause I heard they are one of the best. I am building a rifle with a Long Weatherby Action and I want the rifle to be incredibly precise so as to shoot game at 500yds and paper at 1000. I really want to make it a 300 win mag but I am not sure about the contour, length, weight, etc. Since I live down here in Mexico and don´t know any qualified gunsmiths here so I tought of ordering my Shilen barrel completely finished with chamber and everything. What do you guys think.
Shilen Barrels
- Thread starter aelizondo
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James Jones
Well-Known Member
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Unless the gun is a Savage your gonna have to have to have the barrel instaled by a smith anyhow to set the headspace correctly.
As for your choice I don't care for the Shilen barrels as I have personaly found them to not last as long. I would check out Broughton , Hart or Kreiger.
and get in touch with a good smith to do the work.
The only thing worse than trying to save money on a cheap barrel is having it put on wrong or a crappy job
As for your choice I don't care for the Shilen barrels as I have personaly found them to not last as long. I would check out Broughton , Hart or Kreiger.
and get in touch with a good smith to do the work.
The only thing worse than trying to save money on a cheap barrel is having it put on wrong or a crappy job
Centre Punch
Well-Known Member
Alex, welcome to the forum.
I had a Shilen Ultramatch barrel on my 6mmPPC HV benchgun and it was incredibly accurate resulting in a screamer of .068" @ 100yds, It also shot in very quicKly and cleaned up easily.
Ian.
"I meant to shoot the pike but the duck got in the way"
I had a Shilen Ultramatch barrel on my 6mmPPC HV benchgun and it was incredibly accurate resulting in a screamer of .068" @ 100yds, It also shot in very quicKly and cleaned up easily.
Ian.
"I meant to shoot the pike but the duck got in the way"
My best friend had Shilen rebarrel his Weatherby Mk5 to 338-378 with a 29" Contour #5 stainless match select. I managed to put 2 rounds in the same hole the first time I fired it.
It's extremly accurate even after 1000 rounds. I believe he left the gun with Shilen and had them do the whole process for about $650. Turnaround time was 6 weeks IIRC.
You being in Mexico makes Shilen a pretty good option. They are closer to you than any other "well known" barrel maker. From what my buddy said Ed, and Doug Shilen were great people to deal with.
It's extremly accurate even after 1000 rounds. I believe he left the gun with Shilen and had them do the whole process for about $650. Turnaround time was 6 weeks IIRC.
You being in Mexico makes Shilen a pretty good option. They are closer to you than any other "well known" barrel maker. From what my buddy said Ed, and Doug Shilen were great people to deal with.
Chambering
What´s wrong with having the Shilen guys chamber, crown, (and everything else) my barrel? I would really prefer to order my barrel and have it completely finished when they deliver it to me so as to just install it here in Mexico. I really am new to this whole barrel exchange business, and I heard some guys talking about head-space and throat-space and all other kinds of technical mumbojumbo. The real question is, Can I order a complete barrel from Shilen without sending them my Weatherby action and still get a great work? I ask all these because here in Mexico our gun laws are equall to a bag of crap and its pretty difficult to get anything related to firearms.
What´s wrong with having the Shilen guys chamber, crown, (and everything else) my barrel? I would really prefer to order my barrel and have it completely finished when they deliver it to me so as to just install it here in Mexico. I really am new to this whole barrel exchange business, and I heard some guys talking about head-space and throat-space and all other kinds of technical mumbojumbo. The real question is, Can I order a complete barrel from Shilen without sending them my Weatherby action and still get a great work? I ask all these because here in Mexico our gun laws are equall to a bag of crap and its pretty difficult to get anything related to firearms.
Centre Punch
Well-Known Member
Re: Chambering
Alex,
Shilen will do what you ask, check out this link:
http://www.shilen.com/#question6.
The barrel would have to be installed by a gunsmith so that he can set the head space to the correct length.
The headspace is the length of the chamber from the bolt face or base of he cartridge to a datum point on the shoulder angle.
This is checked with "GO" and "NO-GO" gauges which resemble cartridge cases without necks. If this headspace is not within the specified limits you can end up with a short chamber, with which you cannot close the bolt on a loaded round, or more dangerous, a long chamber or excessive headspace which can result in a case head seperation upon firing and a destroyed action.
Ian.
"I meant to shoot the pike but the duck got in the way"
Alex,
Shilen will do what you ask, check out this link:
http://www.shilen.com/#question6.
The barrel would have to be installed by a gunsmith so that he can set the head space to the correct length.
The headspace is the length of the chamber from the bolt face or base of he cartridge to a datum point on the shoulder angle.
This is checked with "GO" and "NO-GO" gauges which resemble cartridge cases without necks. If this headspace is not within the specified limits you can end up with a short chamber, with which you cannot close the bolt on a loaded round, or more dangerous, a long chamber or excessive headspace which can result in a case head seperation upon firing and a destroyed action.
Ian.
"I meant to shoot the pike but the duck got in the way"
Re: Chambering
I have an 8# 6 oz 1.250 taper to 1 inch 29 inch barrel chambered for 270 AI. It's just a beautiful handling hunting and paper rifle. Because of the weight of the rifle with bipod and 6X24 56mm scope you don't even come off the target when you pull the trigger. Out to 200 yards with a 24 power you can see the holes appearing on the paper.
IMO - You really need over 28 inches of barrel to get the most out of the slowest burning powders and the heaviest bullets.
I've had friends wonder how I can hump the mountians packing a 18 or so pound weapon, but to me it's the shear joy of knowing that you can place the bullet where you want to.
So you kind of pick out a contour as to what barrel weight you think that you would like. I have two heavy guns in 28 & 29 inch barrels and two smaller contour 26 & 28 inch rifles. For extended firering like I do when parrie dog hunting you need the heavy barrel for all the heat.
I have an 8# 6 oz 1.250 taper to 1 inch 29 inch barrel chambered for 270 AI. It's just a beautiful handling hunting and paper rifle. Because of the weight of the rifle with bipod and 6X24 56mm scope you don't even come off the target when you pull the trigger. Out to 200 yards with a 24 power you can see the holes appearing on the paper.
IMO - You really need over 28 inches of barrel to get the most out of the slowest burning powders and the heaviest bullets.
I've had friends wonder how I can hump the mountians packing a 18 or so pound weapon, but to me it's the shear joy of knowing that you can place the bullet where you want to.
So you kind of pick out a contour as to what barrel weight you think that you would like. I have two heavy guns in 28 & 29 inch barrels and two smaller contour 26 & 28 inch rifles. For extended firering like I do when parrie dog hunting you need the heavy barrel for all the heat.
RDM416
Well-Known Member
Alex,
I'm going to give my good experience, bad experience with Shilen.
I had them put a 28" barrel and brake on my 416 wby. It shoots absolutly awsome!
I then had them put a 28" barrel and brake on my 338-378 wby. After several frustrating months of inconsistancy.......the rifle would shoot bug holes one session then 1 1/2" groups the next, or group high or low from a previous session. After several scope, ring and bases changes and remounts I sent the rifle to Kirby Allen (fiftydriver) to evaluate. After dissasembly, he informed me that Shilen had screwed up the threads and had compensated by using locktite to secure the barrel in place.
Kirby installed a new Lilja tube and now all is well.....all bug holes all the time /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif
In my opinion you should look to the gunsmiths on this site who are very capable of building precision rifles for magnum high intensity calibers. Kirby Allen or Shawn Carlock can both build you a rifle that will be awsome, and probably will not cost anymore than Shilen.
Just my opinion and sugestion for what it is worth.
I'm going to give my good experience, bad experience with Shilen.
I had them put a 28" barrel and brake on my 416 wby. It shoots absolutly awsome!
I then had them put a 28" barrel and brake on my 338-378 wby. After several frustrating months of inconsistancy.......the rifle would shoot bug holes one session then 1 1/2" groups the next, or group high or low from a previous session. After several scope, ring and bases changes and remounts I sent the rifle to Kirby Allen (fiftydriver) to evaluate. After dissasembly, he informed me that Shilen had screwed up the threads and had compensated by using locktite to secure the barrel in place.
Kirby installed a new Lilja tube and now all is well.....all bug holes all the time /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif
In my opinion you should look to the gunsmiths on this site who are very capable of building precision rifles for magnum high intensity calibers. Kirby Allen or Shawn Carlock can both build you a rifle that will be awsome, and probably will not cost anymore than Shilen.
Just my opinion and sugestion for what it is worth.
