So I Get This Call From The Gunsmith....

[Beau Cassidy]

About a year and a half ago I ordered 2 Shilen .22 cal Select Match barrels. One for the Remington 700 VS and one for the Ruger Hawkeye. It took several months to get them. Somewhere along the order of 4 or 5 months, I believe. Maybe a little more. Maybe a little less. It is irrelevant at this point.

Job changes and life keep me from sending everything off to have them rebarreled to .22/250 AI. In June I was able to finally able to get them sent off. Today I get a status report. The Ruger has been successfully chambered. The barrel has a few high and low spots in it but it was within the gunsmith's spec. I don't remember the exact tolerances he goes by but they were very tight. Beside- it isn't a benchrest gun so if it shoots an inch, then great. If it shoots a half and inch even better. But I digress...

The Remington heavy barrel is another story. The barrel center is so far out of spec there is no way he will even consider chambering it. The chamber will be so far off center it will be a futile attempt. I am just not sure what to think of the barrel just yet. Perhaps I am more perplexed about the whole scenario. I would just assume a top line barrel would be in spec but perhaps I am wrong? Looks like after I get this barrel swapped it will be the last Shilen for me....

He is sending it back to me this week. I won't get to send it back to Shilen for at least another month. Likely longer. Then I get to wait another 4 or 5 months. I wonder if Kreiger will swap me straight up???? Naaaaa. That is a pipe dream.

[Nobade]

Doesn't he know you have to turn Shilen barrels between centers to true them up before you can do any chamber work?

This is why I only get the unturned blanks from them and profile them myself. The bores are generally pretty straight but the there's no telling what the outside is going to do. But anymore I use predominantly Brux barrels. Much faster delivery than the other top names, and every bit as good quality. I like their barrels.

[Bullshop]

Brux barrels? How about a little more info on those? Its a new name to me.
A link maybe?

[tomme boy]

Brux are very good barrels. http://www.bruxbarrels.com/

So are Bartlien. http://www.bartleinbarrels.com/

I have also had great luck with Rock Creek Barrels. But right now they are not taking any more orders. http://www.rockcreekbarrels.com/

[Beau Cassidy]

He is pretty good at chambering barrels. I will know more about what the problem is when I get the barrel back. He is supposed to attach a letter for me to send back to Shilen. I am remembering things about 4 hours after the phone call and I must admit, don't know much about chambering barrels other than I don't do it. I will leave it at that until getting settled with Shilen.

[x101airborne]

I have used Adams and Bennett for all my hunting rifle builds. I have YET to be disappointed with one. And at 25% of the Krieger or Shilen I think they are a deal. My 280 AI is a fricken laser! It is just silly accurate. I am sorry for your troubles. One would expect a premium barrel to be right.

[MBTcustom]

The barrel has a few high and low spots in it but it was within the gunsmith's spec.

The barrel center is so far out of spec there is no way he will even consider chambering it.
Very strange comments.
I suppose he is caught between two principles. 1, dont make junk, and 2, make a profit. Sounds to me like he wants to throw a barrel in his lathe and chamber it, but does not want to take the time to profile it, or make certain that the bore is concentric to the ODs.
Of course not being able to see the blank, this is just speculation.
Irregardless, I'm sorry you are set back in your build, but if that is your smith, and you trust him and his way of doing things, then it is best that you go with what he tells you.
However, you might sell that barrel on ebay or something if shilen wont take it back and recoup some of your money.
As others have suggested, (especially for a heavy varmint rifle) it is worth buying from one of the quality makers, especially if your smith doesn't want to touch the OD of the barrel.

[bobthenailer]

Thats a shame you got 2 bad barrels in a row ! in the past ive used Shilen match barrels on 3 of my hunting rifles and one XP100 pistol, all are extremely accurate! all barrels were installed in the late 1970 to mid 1980s.
I got a bad barrel years ago from Dougles it was there preminum XXX barrel , it copper fouled terribley in less than 10 shots from a clean barrel , the caliber was 257 Roberts Ackley improved.
they did replace it for free but i sold the contured blank with dies to a friend and converted the rifle to 7mm mag with a Shilen match barrel .

[shooter93]

Shilen is the one company who's quality seems to me to be slipping, started not long after senoir left the reins.

[Nobade]

Shilen barrels have always been really crooked. But if you take the time to at least take a pass on the shank to clean it up while it's spinning between centers they usually shoot very well.

But, a select match blank from them costs me the same as a Brux blank. And the Brux blank is going to be straight with a nice ground finish, plenty good enough to blast and Cerakote which is what most folks want any more. I have to turn the Shilen to true it up, polish the exterior to make it good enough to paint, slug it to make sure it's not too big, and check the twist before I can thread and chamber it. So I add at least 1.5 hours to my barrel job that I won't get paid for. This is why I prefer Brux barrels. BUT - Brownells stocks Shilen. So if I need a barrel in a hurry instead of waiting a month or two, Shilen gets the nod and I eat the extra labor. Customer is happy, life moves on, etc.

[tomme boy]

One thing I did not like about Shilen is they seemed to be soft. They always wore out faster than others. They shot really good, but the extra work turned me off.

[Phat Man Mike]

Here at school that's the only way we can buy our first barrel, is in blank and do all the lathe work. I just got word my 3 barrels are finished and ready for pick-up when we do our field trip to Shilen. Guess I need to really look them over :roll:

[B R Shooter]

There are some things here that don't quite pass the smell test. I've used and chambered many Shilens, one of the very best barrels I've ever had was a Shilen. But don't be fooled, a really good barrel is where you find it. Any one of the top makers can and do make fantastic barrels. Each and every one of them makes bummers too.

I would think it is obvious the smith being talked about here does his work "between centers". That is a bit of a false term, but that's what people call it. I work through the headstock, and of the OD isn't dead nuts with the ID, I'm not concerned. I have done it the other way, and I would certainly think, if I had to ream a chamber with a steady rest, the very first thing I would do is make a clean up pass along the shank with a center in the bore, so it's running true. I can't imagine any smith taking this step for granted.

And by the way, with a properly chambered Shilen Select Match barrel, with the rest of the gun in good shape, you should easily see sub 1" groups, I would expect under 3/4 as a normal.

[Phat Man Mike]

Well we had a super time at Shilen barrels this week. They gave us a tour and we got to see them pulling buttons on a few barrels. And we saw how they air gauged barrels too. I picked up my order and was pleased with what I bought. They seem to be a very customer friendly place. I hope you get your problem taken care of quick. [smilie=s: