.....Has any one tried one of these in the varmit calibers , say 22/250 for a Savage ????? Was it accurate ,, under 1"@100 ????Was it a pain to have installed or to install it yourself ?????? Thanks .....

I haven't tried one and my advice is don't. You usually get what you pay for.

GB458;

No rebarreling job is do-it-yourself unless you have the tools and experience or help from someone who does.

If your wanting a super accurate rifle you will probably want to use a high end barrel. The A&B barrels are OK for some applications, but you do get what you pay for. I've used a couple dozen of them from 22 to 458 and have only had one that didn't shoot as well as I wanted it to for the rifle it was on. That one was a 22-250. I also had one of their short chambered ones in 7mm Mauser that had a bad chamber (very rough) I it sent back and they replaced it. The bores certainly aren't hand lapped and tend to foul about like the barrels from the 1950's and earlier. All the 458 barrels shot very good but still tend to foul a bit more than higher end barrels. So I guess we're back to you get what you pay for.

Yeah...
they tend to shoot VERY well ..

that is a THREE shot (yeah, really) group out of my 416 AR at 100 yards, in horrible weather (rain, gusty winds, about 40deg) last year...

the conture is not as nice as the other makers

they are not any harder to install than any other barrel...

and you tend to get about the same error rate out of them as other makers

First ; the AB 22-250 barrel I have is on a Mod98 action and it doesn't shoot worth a half penney! Other AB barrels in different calibers have reasonable hunting accuracy. One in .308 is MOA with the right load.

I have changed barrels on Savage rifles and because of the thread adhesive it is a pain in the ass the first time. After that - not bad. roger

I've used them on hunting rifles. If I was going to build a 22-250 varmint rifle I would would upgrade the barrel.

I am with Jeffeosso on this. I have had several of these in different calibers that all shot very well. One was scary accurate.

just put one on a Savage 110 in 22-250, very nice finish and a tackdriver. got it from MidwayUSA and for $129 a steal! while using Varget and Sierra 1360 (55g varminter SP) most groups under .5" moa and settled for 36.5g gave me .194" 3 shot groups

I was never very impressed by the A&B barrels for the Mausers, but the 4 that I've put on Savage 11Fs and Stevens 200s have been good shooters. All 4 are 24" sporter weight barrels; 2 in 22-250, 1 in 257 Roberts, and 1 in 260. The 22-250 barrels have quick twists and were able to shoot sub-MOA groups with 55 grain BTs and 60 grain Partitions. The 257 Roberts and 260 barrels shoot OK, but not as good as the 2 1 in 9" twist 22-250s.

Jeff

my 24" A&B barrel is a varmint contour in a 1:14

quote:

Originally posted by ramrod340:
I've used them on hunting rifles. If I was going to build a 22-250 varmint rifle I would would upgrade the barrel.

Agreed.

........The good , the bad and the ugly .....But if it will kill foxes and close coyotes with a "for cast bullet" load and maybe whack a wolf @ 300 yrds that should do ...I can have it barreled up for what a cheap 22 would cost ....And if it didn,t shoot well I can order a Shilen for it .....

Barrel changing on a savage or stevens is about a 20-25 minute job once you have done a couple. Takes less than $100 worth of tools from midway delivered to your door. Good barrels are available from shilen and lothar walther already chambered and threaded. A&B and EABCO both make a button rifled barrel similar to the factory savage. As you can see from posts they range from 1 1/2" down with mixed results.

Dave

I have 4 on M98 actions. 22-250, 270, 7x57 and 35 Whelen. The 22-250 is a stainless varmint contour and it is the most accurate rifle I own, .6 moa is a regular thing with it. I don't tweak my loads for the Whelen but it has delivered MOA accuracy. The other two are definitly MOA rifles. So I am 4 for 4.

I got 2 A&B barrels for the price of one IOW my first and last.
Talk about a copper fouling POS, after I spent a WEEK soaking and scrubbing to get the copper from the first round out of it, I noticed that the inside of the barrel looked like a file, it was that rough.
Ya, it shot decent groups, but the pain of having the inside of the barrel turn orange (it looked like you'd pushed a paint soaked swab through the barrel) with copper after each shot more than offset the joys of the lower price.

.....ya ,, I appreciate everyones replys .. It seems like a fun experiment to play with and I think I will end up with something good ....I will inspect the barrel before I install it ... And as I say If it will not shoot ok I will put a shilen on it ... At least this way I can have a good enough excuse to get a vise and a wrench ....

quote:

Originally posted by Tailgunner:
I got 2 A&B barrels for the price of one IOW my first and last.
Talk about a copper fouling POS, after I spent a WEEK soaking and scrubbing to get the copper from the first round out of it, I noticed that the inside of the barrel looked like a file, it was that rough.
Ya, it shot decent groups, but the pain of having the inside of the barrel turn orange (it looked like you'd pushed a paint soaked swab through the barrel) with copper after each shot more than offset the joys of the lower price.

The only solution for that barrel that I know of is to do a lapping job on it. I use a tight fitting patch loaded with JB Bore Paste and scrub the barrel 100 strokes; maybe you'll need to do more with the barrel you have as it sounds really bad. You may have to play around with the abrasive and use some 320 grit initially to get the job started, but use straight JB for the final polish, and then maybe some Flitz.

Don

Don
A cutting torch will cure the problem too

Had I been putting that rifle together for myself, a torch would have been what I'd have used on it. As it was a gift for a friends son, I took the time to make it right.

Now I simply spend the couple extra dollars and start with something worth owning, and considering that for those extra couple of dollars the barrel maker will also repair/replace a rough barrel on their dime kinda makes the small price difference worthwhile.