An email from EABCO got we wondering. They have a new batch of barrels available in such chamberings as .375 Win, 450 Marlin, and 6.5x47. Yet, barrels for popular offerings have a 6 to 9 month wait. Why catalog barrels that are not popular? Same with Haus of Arms that sell SSK barrels. Available barrels are of unpopular chamberings in inefficient barrel lengths. A .264 Win Mag in a 16 1/4 inch barrel is rather pointless. Common sense would dictate that any barrel that is cataloged but is sold out, is sold out due to customer interest, so why not make more of those? There doesn't seem to be any .308 Win barrels to be had, yet I can buy a barrel for the .260 Rem. Barrel length is another puzzle. Thompson Center is just as guilty. Studies have been done showing optimum barrel lengths for virtually every cartridge yet their ProHunter barrel is 28 inches long, which is unnecessary for the 6.5 Creed, .308 Win, etc. The in stock EABCO .44 Mag barrel is 26 inches long, which has no advantage that I can see. I understand for efficiency that they use one barrel length for multiple chamberings but why go overboard when everyone else uses 22 to 24 inch barrels? I assume the manufactures monitor internet forums to get a feel for what customers want but sometimes it seems like they are out of sync in that regard. My forum reading seems to show that people favor a wide range of mainstream classic and new cutting-edge cartridges. Instead of offering a barrel in .221 Rem Fireball, how about one in .257 Roberts?