SHOOT! what do I do?

[Tikkamike]

Here is My delima I ordered a couple of Krieger 6.5 8 twist barrels for a pair of 6.5's I am having built for me and my dad. I only have one custom barrel which is a Krieger and it shoots like nothing I have ever seen. I want the rifles done by christmas and the kriegers wont be done until approximatley the first part of november which will be cutting it close. I happened to look at Liljas website today and decided to ask them some questions. they have 2 of the exact barrels I would order sitting on the shelf! so heres my question.. do I stick with what I know works or try the Liljas and get the rifles done much sooner? I in no way want to give up accuracy but I assume both barrels are about equal in quality . one is cut rifeling one is button rifeling, both are hand lapped and stress relieved.... what do you guys think?

 

[SBruce]

If it were me, and I wanted it for sure by Christmas; I'd go Lilja and get em headed here ASAP. Just saying this because my luck with custom builds hasn't been very good this past year or so, they all are overdue.

 

[Tikkamike]

i put quality over a time line hands down so I guess what I am really asking is where is my money best spent.. Krieger or Lilja?

 

[benchracer]

I have two rifles with Krieger barrels and I absolutely love my Kriegers! That said, Dan Lilja has a very good reputation and I am sure that any barrels you might get from him would be excellent as well (I have no personal experience with them).

Really, I think the answer to your question lies in your priorities. If you want two custom rifles ready for Xmas, you are already behind the power curve. Your barrels and sundry other parts need to be in the hands of your gunsmith ASAP, as in YESTERDAY!

If you have your heart set on cut rifled barrels from Krieger, and you are OK with waiting for awhile and/or issuing an IOU or a Coming Soon type of announcement at Xmas time, then by all means, wait for your barrels.

As an aside, assuming you are building on actions that Krieger currently accepts for in house work, you might consider having Krieger do some of the work. That could save you a bit of time on the wait (as opposed to waiting for your barrels and then waiting another 6+ months for your finished rifles to come back from your gunsmith).

 

[Tikkamike]

I dont have my heart set on cut rifled barrels, although I LOVE the one I have. The builds are being done on Tikka T3 Actions. And my gunsmith isnt a full time gunsmith and he said I am first in line (maybe thats because it a friend of mine) and getting them done in a timely manner shouldnt be a problem.

 

[feelinducky]

Where did you get your T3 actions?

 

[Tikkamike]

one of them is my old 25-06 that i shot the barrel out of and the other I just bought a new rifle to take apart.

 

[Camshaft]

I don't think you can go wrong regardless of which one you choose. I have heard so much good about both that I would just flip a coin. Not sure if it matters or not but I have heard few a few sources that 3groove liljas seem to produce slightly higher velocities than 5 or 6 groove barrels. Hell why not pick up one lilja and get it going and wait on a kreiger for the other. Then see which one shoots better.

 

[fj40mojo]

Have you checked with Bruno Shooters Supply. They carry quite a few Kriegers in stock. I wouldn't hesitate to go with Lilja or Pac-Nor for that matter.

 

[Tikkamike]

Hell why not pick up one lilja and get it going and wait on a kreiger for the other. Then see which one shoots better.

If they were both for me I would but i cant bare the thought of trying to live down the possibility of my dad getting the better shooting one of the 2

 

[Broz]

Well, if it were me I would take a Lilja over a Keiger. But I feel most all quality barrel makers can make a good barrel, but they all on occation can make a bad one too. So, have you called Hart or Broughton? The two tightest shooting , easiest to load for, clean, and most accurate barrels I have ever seen and owned were Hart and Broughtons.

Jeff

 

[Tikkamike]

I have called Hart in the past and the receptionist was so rude I decided **** on em' ill get my barrels elswhere.

 

[Camshaft]

Have you considered sourcing your barrels from bugholes.com they keep a good stock of cut rifled barrels on hand.

 

[Broz]

I have called Hart in the past and the receptionist was so rude I decided **** on em' ill get my barrels elswhere.

OMG, really??? Must be someone I have not got on the phone. The lady I deal with (3 tubes in the last 6 months) bends over backwards for me. Heck she even took 150 off the last barrel because they were a little late with the prior one I ordered. Hmmm, sorry to hear this.

But then I know service varries. The only bad barrel I have ever got was one of your favorites. I was just shooting the rifle this am. 1/2 moa 5 shot groups at 500, 750 and 1000 yards. Even laying in the truck bed with 75000 skeeters making me breakfast. Guess replacing it with a Broughton was a good move.

Jeff