How many accurate loads have you gotten with any of the custom barrels on the market. We are not talking bench rest or any competition rifles here but hunting rifles and mainly bolt guns.
We're assuming the obvious and everything is right with the rifle, i.e. it's bedded, all is true and good.
Tell me your experiences.
I currently have two custom barrels with a third on the way. A Lilja barrel in 22-250 and a Krieger in 270 Win. While both shoot very good, the Lilja seems to be a bit more finicky and has given me only two accurate loads with
H-380 and two different bullets "so far".
The Krieger, on the other hand seems to like pretty much like any combination of bullets and the 4350s and RL-19 - so far.

Also what do you expect from a custom barrel with handloads vs. what you get or have gotten?

your question reminds me of an old friend (now gone) who shot the palma team for several years. Rudy kept a case of barrels under his bed because he'd shoot out 2 or 3 in a year. He had a load for 308 and if the barrel didn't shoot that load right, he'd throw it away and screw on another. and you know, it took me several years to learn, but he was pretty well right on

Ditto on that.

About 10 years ago I had a very expensive varmint rifle built on an FN Single Shot action.

Barrel was a shilen chambered for 22-250. Best it would do was 1" 5 shot group after trying dozens of loads, changed scopes, mounts, stocks..... 5 in 1".
Per their request sent the whole rifle back to shielen. They had it a month even set the barrel back and recut the chamber. Finally they sent it back with a new barrel blank for free.
Shot some more...... 1" 5 shot groups. Finally sold it to a guy who knew the rifle. As he was a Yote hunter the accuracy was okay by him. As he got the extra barrel, the agreed upon price got me out even. Eventually he fried the original barrel and had the new one put on by the same gunsmith who did the first one. Bingo, 10 in one hole !
The most frustrating rifle I have ever owned.
BUT should have kept the action !



.....

Not sure why you would want a custom barrel on a hunting rifle unless you were looking for superb accuracy. Plenty of factory rifles nowadays will routinely give 1" 5 shot groups at 100 yards.I have several Tikkas and Rem 700's that will do that. Having said that, as alluded to above, a custom barrel is not a universal panacea. Bedding, trigger etc. also play a key role.
Just my 2 cents.
Peter.

I'd always wanted a double-set-trigger Mauser. I finaly got a deal on a new Zastava action 4-5 years ago and built one. I wanted a 300yd or so long range, for me, deer rifle. It is nothing Fancy, just the action, and a bedded and floated Boyds JRS stock. I had a Shaw heavy sporter 280 barrel 26' installed. For what I wanted, it is amasingly accurate. I't has almost never shot any group much over 1'. I mainly shoot 150BTs. They shoot around .75'. I have not tweeked this load. I found it working up in one grain increments, but it is over 'book max'. I only clean primer holes, check for brass length, and use SAMI OAl. I do nothing else. I might be able to improve on this, but It shoots better than I ever could under hunting conditions. capt david

quote:

Originally posted by Rae59:
How many accurate loads have you gotten with any of the custom barrels on the market. We are not talking bench rest or any competition rifles here but hunting rifles and mainly bolt guns.
We're assuming the obvious and everything is right with the rifle, i.e. it's bedded, all is true and good.
Tell me your experiences.
I currently have two custom barrels with a third on the way. A Lilja barrel in 22-250 and a Krieger in 270 Win. While both shoot very good, the Lilja seems to be a bit more finicky and has given me only two accurate loads with
H-380 and two different bullets "so far".
The Krieger, on the other hand seems to like pretty much like any combination of bullets and the 4350s and RL-19 - so far.

Also what do you expect from a custom barrel with handloads vs. what you get or have gotten?

I've got a 270/30-338mag/284/222mag and 280AI with Lilja barrels and 300WSM/35WhelenAI/223,280AI/243 with Kreiger barrels. I've also got rifles with Broughton,Bartlein,Mike Rock,Hart,Shilen and few others.

What I do is find best load which is most accurate most of mine are custom throated as gunsmith get dummy rds and I may have OAL changed also. I normally have set bullet weight I want to use and powders my vary. I don't build based on trying every bullet/powder combination. Both my Lilja barrel 222mag and Kreiger barrel 223 have same barrel twist and use both PD shooting.

I build a 22-250AI and best powder for that rifle was IMR-4007ssc same powder using 243AI.

If I get two good loads that be it for me those be my PD loads and one be a back up.

I change powder before I change bullets that how I develop my loads. I don't call things finicky for me those are the ones take little longer tune a load for. Sounds like got couple nice rifles.