I have been toying with the idea of taking a Remington 700 30/06 and rebarreling to 35 Whelen and was wondering how those Adams &Bennett barrels are. And would welcome some other company reccommendations. Thanks Tanoose

I have 3 now and all three shoot fine. On cheap guns I use cheap barrels. On fine guns I spend the extra money to maintain resale value.

So far both shoot about the same in my big game hunting rigs. Never tried a cheap barrel in a varmint gun so I can't say if they shoot as well in that application.

make sure you get the contour you want but if you get the weight right there's nothing wrong with A & B barrels.

9.3x62 from PAC-NOR

I have bought A & B barrels to use as fire-forming barrels to save my good barrels for serious shooting. But guess what. Sometimes they shot so good that I didn't want to take them off!

Ray

Depends on you and your expectations. You ain't gonna be shooting no matches with a .35 Whelen and even a cheapie barrel will give hunting accuracy. If you are obsessive about accuracy, you might want a Shilen or Douglas, but A&B will do for hunting.

Unless you do your own work, the cost of the barrel is only a portion of the cost of rebarreling. Fitting, chambering, and bluing is going to cost the same no matter whether you use a cheap barrel or an expensive one. For a target or match gun, I'd always go with a better barrel.

I've got 4 rifles with AB barrels. They all shoot quite well, plenty good for a huntin' rig. If you're looking for match grade accuracy, buy a match grade barrel.

I am 2 for 2 with A&B barrels, both 1 inch or better shooters in 7x57 and 270. Pretty smooth inside to.

okay.. let's break this into 2 things...

are ab barrels ugly, right from midway? You betcha

do they shoot? as good or better than douglas barrels....


Do people get wrapped around the axel about "cheap" barrel shooting? No kidding...


Have I seen AB barrels that are no joke 1/2" or so? Yep...

Have I seen shilen's that pattern, not group? yeah..


I haven't seen an AB YET that is worse than 1.5", and that's in a 416 Taylor from a guy who's a little, well, TWITCHY about recoil (gun shoots submoa if I am driving)

375, 416, 458 barrels.. several of each

jeffe

quote:

Originally posted by duikerman:
make sure you get the contour you want but if you get the weight right there's nothing wrong with A & B barrels.

I find even theie F34 to be a bit heavy.

I have three and they are fine shooters. My heavy 220 swift will really shoot (.3-.5" Savage action) the .338 is good (typically 1" on a Mauser98) and my 416 Taylor is great for a big bore (.75-1" Savage action). I had to hand lap the barrel of the .338 because it wasn't the best but it's a hunting rifle.

Ya take your chances, but as a whole they are pretty good for the money. My Shilen lightweight in .223 will kick ass.

I have one of the 35 whelen barrels on a VZ-24 mauser action. It started life as a 35 whelen AI, chambered by a friend of a friend. It was finicky, and would only group with a hot load, and it's best groups were 1 1/2" for 3 shots, most loads were 3-5" for 3 shots.

I had a real gunsmith do a bit of a cleanup on the action, re-chambered to 350 Rigby, and a new crown. Seldom does a load go over 1 1/2", and best loads are 5/8".

The things I don't like about the barrel are the heavy contour (I left mine full length at 24") and worse yet the rough bore that takes alot of work to get "clean" and copper streaks are still showing. That said, it shoots with no change in POI hot/cold clean/dirty, and groups after 50-100 rounds are just as good as clean.

For a hunting rifle, I can't ask for anything better. For a heavy use rifle, I'd likely want something a bit smoother that was easier to clean.

maybe have it bored to 35 and rerifled with the exact twist you think best for the bullts you will use? You only have to re-throat from 30 to 35.

Rich