What's your favorite barrel manufacturer for a bolt actions?

[405]

For me. Krieger for high power. Badger (when you could get 'em) for BPCR. DeHaas for muzzleloader. Shilen would be second choice for high power- they've always treated me well... but I prefer cut to button. Some are swearing by Bartlein these days but I have no experience with their barrels.

[Gunor]

Benjamin Barrels - Oregon

Geoff in Oregon

(I have 2 palma barrels - CrMo)

[jblee10]

I'm happy with a Shilen on a Savage action. It's MOA. Maybe not benchrest quality, but plenty accurate for a field gun. For the money I'm really happy with it.

[o6Patient]

I have Douglass that shoot well but my o6Ackley is a Shilen and I really like it.

[tomme boy]

Well I went and got another Shilen for my Savage. I wish I would have waited another few weeks as Rock Creek Is offering Prefit Savage barrels now. I might just order one of them and compare the two. Now that is an Idea!

[gandydancer]

No favorite. If it shoots, it shoots! ... felix

I'm with felix. if it do it do. GD

[nhrifle]

Up to a couple years ago, I shot high power matches in Leyden, Mass. Great bunch of guys who taught me alot about shooting and life in general. Two guys there gave me a real whoopin every time I shot against them. One had a double cryo'd Krieger. The other had one from Boots Obermeyer. Those are now my favorite barrels for any gun.

[shdwlkr]

I have only bought Adams & Bennett for my .375 win and Douglas for my 256 win mag and thinking of ordering another douglas for my .225 winchester. Yes I like non commercial available calibers.
I am not sure it makes a whole lot of difference who barrel you buy if it is to be used for hunting, plinking now target shooting that is whole different kind of animal and I would most likely get a lilja.

All the barrels I have ordered are 1 in 12 twist, yes for the last two the twist is faster than factory barrels but that is part of the fun isn't it?

[Bulldogger]

I haven't managed to actually use one, but I have a half-dozen from Green Mountain. All bought as over-runs, milling errors and closeouts. They are a great source of cheap bbls which a beginner can attempt to learn to turn threads, lap, or cut a chamber in.

I have an 18" .30 cal Bergara blank I got from Sportsman's guide on the cheap. I understand them to be very high quality, and buying the same bbl from Bergara direct would have cost me 3-4x as much as Sportsman's Guide. I plan to turn that one AFTER I experiment on Green Mountain's.

Bulldogger

[bobthenailer]

I have 4 with Shilen match barrels , and if i needed another i would use them again.

[march41]

I have owned badger,douglass,green mtn,shaw, and all seemed to perform well.the cut rifled seemed better with cast bullets.

[felix]

If you have a strange duck application (ID form, OD form, etc.) and time to wait, Bartlein would be my choice (right now). ... felix

[MJR007]

Hart. The only thing with them is SS only.

[joe i]

The only custom rifle I own is an '09 Argentine Mauser-based light varminter with a Douglas air-gauged barrel in .25-06, #5 Heavy Sporter contour. It's responsible for a few less groundhogs in the world, and has never let me down.

[DaveInFloweryBranchGA]

For me, the man operating the lathe that's cutting the threads, setting the shoulder/headspace and turning the crown is much more important to me than which barrel manufacturer the barrel comes from.

A close friend of mine and I part time gunsmithed for years. He operates a lathe he grew up with and he can stop it on a dime. We built two custom Mausers for Christmas one year, one for him, one for my son using some "discount reject" Wilson barrels he got in a box of 20 from Midway or somewhere. Both rifles have every single custom tuning a gunsmith can do to them and are flat black for hunting purposes with premium synthetic stocks.

They're rugged, easy to clean and more accurate than either of us can shoot and both of us are great shooters. Minute of angle is easy with handloaded hunting ammo. He's taken a couple pick up truck loads of deer with his and who knows what my son has done with the one he got for Christmas. I did learn he keeps it clean and oiled when he asked me to keep his guns while he went up to New York City to get a Masters in Economics at Columbia University.

[rbertalotto]

Krieger, PacNor................Period!

Never had a problem barrel from these folks. I've had issues with barrels from all the others over time.

[StrawHat]

I am not a taret shooter so what works for me, may not work for you. I am happy with rifles that take game animals. I have used rifles that came with factory barrels on them and they worked fine. I have also had rifles built or rebuilt with new barrels and they work fine. I have used Douglas, E. R Shaw, and Montana barrels for centerfire, all gave better than expected accuracy for the intended purpose.