Sarco barrel blank quality

[Jedman]

Hi everyone, I am thinking of ordering a .375 cal. Barrel blank from Sarco.
Does anyone have any experience with their barrels ? The prices are good and I was wondering what kind of quality to expect .
I usually order blanks from Green Mountain but they don't currently offer any of their gunsmith blanks in 375 cal. Thanks,

Jedman

[Moleman-]

Interested to see also as I took a chance and have two of the 22" ones on order. I've had good luck with their ss 44 blanks except the bores were on the tight side and need a .0015" smaller pilot. I think they get their blanks from many suppliers so who knows how these will be.

[Jedman]

Moleman, Those are the same ones I was interested in. I will hold on until you get yours and by then they will be out of stock as usually happens.

Jedman

[Moleman-]

When they get in I'll let you know. At least one should end up as a barrel within the next 3 weeks or hopefully sooner. With their 44 blanks I'm getting under an inch with three different rifles using xtp's, ftx, and interlocks and think I've bought 5-6 of them so far.

[bruce drake]

This thread just convinced me to pull the trigger so to speak on one of SARCO's 30 caliber barrel blanks. I'll let you all know its conidition when it comes in also.

Bruce

[girevik]

I've used the 30 cal blanks. I think one is 20", the other 24".

If those are what your talking about be updated for more work than they're probably worth. I'm as cheap as anyone and I'd likely never use them again.

I can provide more details if you'd like.

[Jedman]

I've used the 30 cal blanks. I think one is 20", the other 24".

If those are what your talking about be updated for more work than they're probably worth. I'm as cheap as anyone and I'd likely never use them again.

I can provide more details if you'd like.

More details please, When you say more work than they are probably worth can mean many things. I have had blanks that I have set up in the lathe indicated in at both ends and when turned at slow speed they look like a jump rope looking thru the bore.
Others that after cleaning the bore good and looking thru they look like they were bored with a dull drill bit and the rifling was rough as hell. I have used many of the Green Mountain raw gunsmith blanks priced from 30 to 60 dollars and they have all been good.
Sarco has a few calibers that are a little harder to find at economy prices and that's what I am looking at. 30 cal. blanks are much easier to find and are usually some of the lowest priced.

What problems have you had with the Sarco blanks ?

Jedman

[Moleman-]

No barrels yet. Was out of town for a week and the last time I checked tracking on Tuesday it said Thursday delivery. Person watching the house said a package came and figured that was it. Home now and no blanks. USPS tracking now just says "In Transit, Arriving Late Your package will arrive later than expected, but is still on its way. It is currently in transit to the next facility." It doesn't look like they've got to the next facility after they left the PA regional facility back on Tuesday. I'll update if/when they show up.

Worst blanks I've used were the timberwolf blanks that were rejects for chatter and/or bent. Some had hard spots on them but they generally cleaned up well and shot well when done.

[RustyReel]

Any update on the quality of that .375 barrel?

[Moleman-]

Sadly no, the postal turtle that left PA on the 2nd hasn't made it to the next facility yet. On 04/02/19 the tracking said it had left the Philadelphia PA facility and was in route to the next facility with a 04/04/19 delivery date. On the 5th it was changed to ".......arriving late on 04/05/19", said the same thing on the 6th up until I signed up for notifications at which time they changed the date to the 6th, kept the would be "arriving late " part and dropped the delivery day guess. The tracking has never said the package made it to the next facility past leaving Philadelphia PA. Filled out the online package locator on 04/15 and never heard anything back other than the email that I'd submitted a request. Contacted Sarco on monday 04/22 and told them what was going on. They called back tuesday and they said they'd spoken with the post office and should hear something in a couple of days. So, reading through the Sarco shipping policy it's looking like I'll likely be filing an insurance claim and ordering two more blanks. Kind of expected to have the blanks in and the barrels done by now. I'm on the fence about ordering another two from them (never had anything including barrels/blanks lost from them before) or from Green Mountain. If I ordered them from Sarco they'll have to face whatever box mangler monster the post office is using at that location that claimed the last package. If from GMB they'll be more than twice the price for a couple of test barrels. Also sort of ticks me off that the post office takes out whatever the shipping was from your claim so they get paid to lose your stuff which I'm guessing likely gets saved up and sold as lots. I think of it as would you you still pay some their labor costs on a job they never did or showed up for? There is no incentive for the post office to do a better job as they get paid either way.

[RustyReel]

A bit off topic, but the whole USPS insurance thing just bugs the you know what out of me as well. Users have to buy insurance to insure a vendor is doing what they are paid to do!! In addition the cost is outrageous when you consider the item is only insured for a few days. GRRRR.

I've had a couple of things go off the rails with both USPS and FEDEX but never what your are experiencing. Mine always showed up eventually.

Good luck!

[pacomdiver]

havent bought one of these barrels, but have other sarco barrels. ive had good luck with their 300 BO and a 223 barrel for ARs, but the other side of the coin, i bought one of their Garand Barrels for $150, gave it to my smith and found out the barrel threads were started 90 degrees off , took it back and took my receiver, showed them that it was threaded wrong and wouldnt time right, grabbed another one off the shelf, that one was also off, then found one that was on the right side of the barrel flats and it timed perfect on my receiver, by the way it shoots great

[Jedman]

I have had several lost shipments with USPS. They are bad about scanning the package as it arrives and departs some of there hubs. I was going to order a couple of Sarco blanks last week as they sent me a code for free shipping around Easter but was not sure if they were reliable or if it was USPS ?
I hope Moleman has recieved his barrels by now as I would be Pi -- Ed with the waiting he has had to live with.
I am still on the fence if I order any blanks ? Probably not Sarcos fault ?

Jedman

[girevik]

I had it wrong. I was thinking about some Numrich blanks.

https://www.gunpartscorp.com/products/593050
https://www.gunpartscorp.com/products/593060

Those were by far the most crooked barrels I've ever used. Eventually with enough hours of turning they came out as a Remage with a mostly straight taper off around .810" to a 4 degree shoulder taper into the breech diameter of approx. 1.058". Inside that beautiful turned and sanded finish spun a literal jump rope.

With all that said I've threaded and chambered one of the 8x63 barrels from Sarco. That was a very nice barrel and likely cut rifled.

[Moleman-]

Monday I ordered another 2 blank and specified that UPS deliver them. BBT brought them earlier today. The USPS set are still on their fantastic journey according to the tracking which hasn't been updated in over a month. They're basically raw blanks that they did a skim pass on I'm guess to make it appear that the bore isn't off center more than usual. The chamber end is turned almost about 3/4 of the way around and the muzzle has been turned less than 1/2 way around. They started another skim pass on the chamber end but stopped after about 3-4 inches. The chamber end is also either was drilled about 1/2" deep with a .470"ish drill bit or it's the front of a chamber. I'll do a casting later but for my use the drilled area will get cut off and there will be more than enough diameter left to do what I want to once turned round. Hope to get them chambered and profiled in the next couple weeks if all goes well.

[Jedman]

Moleman, Glad you finally got the blanks you wanted. As far as the OD of a blank those look good compared to a 44 cal. Blank I once got from Numrich. It looked it had tree bark on the outer surface but the bore was nice and turned out to be a good shooter.

Jedman

[Moleman-]

They'll work for two test barrels for a couple wildcats which is what I got them for. If the wildcats works out except for accuracy a new better blank can be obtained, but I'm hopeful that they'll be decently minute of deer accurate.

[Moleman-]

Last friday the post office dropped off a box at 9am. Oddly early as they usually don't show up until noon at the earliest. Had no idea what it could be but the label said "Sarco"! It was the lost barrels I'd ordered back in March showing up just shy of 3 months from ordering them. After a while I'd ordered another two blanks and have one of those turned and chambered. Still need to decide on a final barrel length and parkerize it though. Haven't shot it for accuracy and have been using it to form cases so far. But, I've got some feedback on the blanks. First, the chamber end counter bored center drill had work hardened. Never had an issue with just just chambering the blank without cutting some of the chamber end off up until now. So after making a new chamber reamer and removing another 1/2" of the chamber end it cut well and threaded decent enough. Turning the od was weird. The bore holes were off more than normal at both ends. Once turned round the cut like gummy mild steel. Tried faster, slower rpm&DOC, new insert, coated insert, made no difference until at about 1.150" dia the finish started turning out bright and smooth. Turned quite a few barrel blanks and never had that happen. As soon as the barrel is cut to the final length and finished I'll post an accuracy report on it.

[Moleman-]

Had a chance to shoot it today at 75yds mainly as a function test. 26rnds went into a 1.030" ragged hole. So if my math is correct 1.030-.375=.655". .655 divided by .75 (yds) =.8733" or basically 7/8 moa for a 26 shot group. Wasn't expecting much from a $40 barrel blank but am happy. I'll update the accuracy with some 3 shot groups and once the other 3 blanks get chambered what they produce.

[Jedman]

Thanks for the update Moleman, when I was looking at the Sarco blanks and when I clicked on the picture and specs most of them showed the blank as being about 2" longer than the advertised length.
So now do you get to keep the lost blanks that finally showed up ?
I would like to see your cartridge your shooting, I assume it is a wildcat you made for a AR rifle.
I have several .375 cal. wildcats all with rims that I made for single shots.

Jedman

[Moleman-]

Jedman, Never submitted the insurance claim on the first two blanks, so I've got three more to turn into something. The barrel as in post #18 was just over 22" if measured with a cleaning rod. Made the sizer die from the last few inches of the muzzle, and cut the rest off to leave a 16.5" barrel. Likely make a taper crimp die from the other piece of barrel. The cartridge is the 6.8SPC case necked up to take a .375" bullet. Used one of the expander stems for 357AR to expand the necks up to .357" then made another expander to bring them up to over .375" and then sized back down to have good neck tension on a bullet. Case length usually comes out around 1.645" so the Go gauge for this one is 1.650" and is set snug to it. Water capacity came in at 39.2gr so for load data I've been using QuickLoad, selecting 375 super and changing the name, case length, max PSI and water capacity and then saving it as a new file. Do the same thing for other wildcats and it has worked out well for me. Their is a brief thread on it in the case forming section. Just a post hunting season project that would result in a legal to use in my DNR zone rifle. Most of the deer we get are taken at less than 100yds but even though it's not a barn burner it should work fine out to at least 200yds.

[CA Dude]

Jedman,

I bought a .375 barrel blank from Sarco. My Gunsmith pushed his bore scope through it and he said it looked like it would be ok.

I had him fit the barrel to a BSA (Herters U9) and chambered it for the .375 Rimless Nitro Express. I set my rifle up as a "Retro" of the 1960 era rifle it is. I found the correct scope mounts (basically modified Weavers) and a old El Paso 4 Power Weaver Scope with a crosshair and post.

My gunsmith had to draw file the barrel to smooth it out. He described it as a tough barrel.

I have been working up loads. My best groups so far has been 1 1/2 to 2 inches at a 100 yards. With the post in the scope that very well might be the best I'll get.

The bottom line with this barrel is it is working for me and I'm going to buy another one before there are gone.

CA Dude

[Jedman]

Thanks ! I no longer need the 375 barrel but might buy one in .312 for another project.

Jedman