Who is the best barrel maker?

Hunter_1

I'm thinking of building a .260 Rem using a Remington XR-100 action. My Question is which barrel should I use for the utmost in accuracy? There are many a great barrel markers out there I'm just not sure who I should go with.. Krieger, Lilja, Bartlien, Brux, Broughton and Benchmark. What would y'all recommend? I've been told Benchmark builds a great barrel as well as Krieger and Lilja.

Ernie Bishop

Sort of be a toss up between Krieger, Broughton, Brux
I have both a Benchmark and Bartlein and they are great as well.
I have more Krieger's than anything followed by Brux.
I would pass on the Lilja now

Ernie Bishop

Sorry-Double Post

deadeye

All the main barrel makers put out good products. The main thing that is going to affect your accuracy potential of the gun is how good a smith you get to do it.

Ernie Bishop

When I hear from two gunsmiths who I know personally, one of which uses Lilja pretty much exclusively who are having problems-It gets my attention.
When some of these barrels get warm they start walking big time. But it is NOT every barrel. There is a stress issue going on IMHO.
My first 7mm Dakota was a Lilja barrel-Outstanding accuracy!

BPsniper wrote: »

Ernie is being a grump about Lilja these days, though. I think they gave him a dirty look or something.

snake284

I have one Krieger and it is wonderful. This is on my .250 Savage I had built a couple years back. It shoots better than I can. The thing about Krieger and one or two others is they are cut rifled. This takes the stress out of them, or rather doesn't put any stress into them.

Hunter_1

Thanks guys, sounds like I'll be going with Krieger.

Ernie Bishop

Cool!!

snake284

Like I said, I love the Krieger, it's very accurate. But I agree with Carl "Deadeye" Deaton in that all the major barrel makers are making good stuff today. I have three aftermarket barrels on custom gun builds, a Shaw on my .280 Rem., a Krieger on my .250 Savage, and a Shilen Match barrel on my .257 Roberts AI. They all shoot better than I'm capable of.

Pegasus

Hunter_1 wrote: »

Thanks guys, sounds like I'll be going with Krieger.

Good choice.

Just be aware that you are going to be on a waiting list, up to 20 weeks (5 months.)

I placed my order early last month and I am hoping to get my barrel in May. The action is even longer with a six month wait, June for mine.

You can have a Broughton inside of a month, Brux is running about 3 months, I think.

snake284

Yep Peg, you're right on. But I found with Krieger it depends on the caliber of barrel you order. I ordered a .257 with 1-9 twist. They told me 120 days. But I got it in 60. The tech rep, the same guy that gave me the barrel breakin info, told me sometimes if it's a popular caliber they'll put others aside and make a batch of those. They tool up for a caliber and they make several at a time. He said they typically make a lot of .257 barrels and the wait is generally less than they initially tell you.

Pegasus

Well, depending on the twist and contour, and length that the OP requires, Krieger does list a number of 6.5/260 caliber barrels in inventory. They say you can get those in a week.