Hi gang!
Just got a new .25 calibre barrel from McGowen barrels in MT. This barrel is SOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooo smoothly finished it could just go straight into the tank after fitting and chambering. VERY impressed to say the least. I KNOW it`ll shoot as good as the other ones I have bought from them in the past but no draw filing for me!! Hooray.
Aloha, Mark

You're absolutely right, Mark...I've used 3 McGowen CM barrels so far...they shoot great, clean easy and are so pretty I don't want to coat them any whichaway...and my 20 Practical is still "in the white" a year and a half later...AND still as shiny.

What are you chambering to???

Luck

How is the finish on the inside?

My son-in-law put a stainless McGowen on his 7 mag. Had to send it back to get the contour he'd ordered, but it turned out to be a great barrel when finally finished.

are they cut rifled or button rifled? how's they're cost?

Red

goto http://www.mcgowenbarrel.com/ ...see for yourself

Luck

button rifled and I think hand lapped.

How long was it from the time of placing the order to receiving the barrel?

I have not used any of their barrels myself, but I have seen the results of some guns which were built on McGowen barrels. 6" groups at a 1,000 yards from one of them. I was impressed. I also met the current production manager of the plant and he is a great guy. Liked him a lot. He also runs 4D reamer rentals and I have been happy to work with them always. One of these days i will have to put a McGowen on one of my projects...

I have a McGowen H-Bar on a Savage action 300WSM tactical rig. 5 shot groups are silly booring consistent .5 at 100yrds. 10 shot groups are .75.

Barrel cleans well, shoots well. And I can shoot 3 shots with out having to wait for a few minutes between shots. But that's more to the H-Bar....

quote:

Just got a new .25 calibre barrel from McGowen barrels in MT

I thought McGowen barrels were made in the UK?????

quote:

Originally posted by RoyB:

quote:

Just got a new .25 calibre barrel from McGowen barrels in MT

I thought McGowen barrels were made in the UK?????

I have a McGowen barrel on a custom made .375 H&H Mag. It shoots .5 MOA with every bullet I've tried in it, to include 235 gr. Barnes TSX, 235 gr. Speers, 250 gr. Swift A-Frames, 250 gr. Sierras, and 260 gr. Nosler AccuBonds. All McGowan barrels are hand-lapped and very easy to clean. IMHO, you can't go wrong with their barrels.

My mistake.......I was thinking about another barrel maker....

When did McGowan move? Didn't they used to be in Iowa or Illinois????

They moved a couple of years ago, actually 2008/2009 I think.
Since you can see I'm from the .395 family, you know that we get our barrels from Mcgowen. I've had three rifles made up with these barrels and they all shoot extremely well.
Did have the gunsmith say the steel machined badly, but I think that's because he uses only ultra-premium barrels from other makers.

The original Mc gowan was Harry of St. Anne, Il. He's still in business, has been since 1959. He makes barrels, rebores and does general gunsmithing. He chambers for many wildcats, like Mashburns, etc. If interested google Harry McGowan Gunsmith.

Swampshooter;

Harry indeed moved the shop to MT-his sons run the operation. This was circa 2009 last I spoke with him (concerning a POACKLEY Left Handed Mauser clone he built back in 67 that I now give a home to). Very pleasnt fellow indeed.

Best;

Hi Marc,
As I recall it was about from call to door. I just got it chambered in 25 Souper and it`ll be going to it`s new home in Texas. I have used McGowen barrels nor for over 35 years and NEVER had a bad one. And they are great to do business with--polite and honest!
Aloha, Mark

quote:

Originally posted by Bohica:
Hi Marc,
As I recall it was about from call to door.

Bohica-

You left out the time in your post.

Could you please write it again? Thanks

quote:

Originally posted by airgun1:
When did McGowan move? Didn't they used to be in Iowa or Illinois????

Originally McGowen Barrels was located in St. Anne Illinois. Harry McGowen (hence the name) started McGowen Barrels in 1959. The current owner of the company purchased McGowen Barrels in May 2007 and the company was relocated to Kalispell Montana and the name slightly changed to McGowen Precision Barrels. The name changed only in the sense that we wanted to show what we did. From our original location in Kalispell Montana we moved to our present location last July. We went from approximately 3500 square feet to our new location that has more than 7000 square feet. We've added a HAAS VF-4 machining center to do all of our machining such as octagons, fluting and dodecagons.

We, at McGowen Precision Barrels appreciate all of the kind comments posted here in Accurate Reloading as well as other locations. We strive to make the very best barrels that we can and will not settle for second best. As I have said to many customers who've asked "What grades of barrels do you make?" my answer has always been "We only make one grade of barrel here at McGowen, Accurate. We do not make seconds". Some of the great things that are coming up is McGowen will also offer cut rifled barrels. We recently purchased a modern cut rifling machine and are bringing it online very soon. This will allow us to offer barrels to those sportsmen and bench shooters who feel that cut rifled barrels are the only way to go. It also allows us the ability to offer any caliber and any twist the customer could dream up. As my last post noted we have moved into a larger location and are constantly upgrading our procedures and equipment in order to offer you, our customers the finest quality rifle barrels at the most affordable price. While we may not make everyone a believer, we will do everything we can to win you over. It is our belief that once you have put a McGowen Precision Barrel on your rifle, you see the quality of the material, the smoothness of the interior, and the quality of the machining you will be a customer for life. While we don't pretend to be perfect, we try to make your rifle barrel buying experience to be smooth. And if there is a problem with anything you have received from us, we will do everything we can to make it right. Our sister company, American Gun Company is currently in the process of finalizing design and machining quotes for a couple of their actions. While they had hoped to have it out previous to this, we felt it would be in poor judgement to put out a product that we would not be proud to put our name on. Once the actions are done, you will see why we took our time to ensure that there is no match to our quality and price point. If anyone ever has any questions, I can be reached at any time either via the office phone or email. You can go to http://www.mcgowenbarrel.com and click on our contact page for contact information.

"Quality Got You Over A Barrel? We'll Help Straighten Things Out"

Best Regards,

Dan J Wynne

Harry's gunsmithing shop is still in St Anne Illinois. Him and his sons still do great gunsmithing there and use McGowen Precision Barrels for their rebarrel jobs.

quote:

Originally posted by Andrew cempa:
Swampshooter;

Harry indeed moved the shop to MT-his sons run the operation. This was circa 2009 last I spoke with him (concerning a POACKLEY Left Handed Mauser clone he built back in 67 that I now give a home to). Very pleasnt fellow indeed.

Best;

Thanks for the info. There was posting somewhere on the net, possibly this forum that ranked McGowen as a bottom tier barrel. I thought they were nuts. I only owned one McGowen and it was a dandy.

I used to talk to Harry McGowen about this or that, back in the days before Al Gore invented the internet. Harry sure did not like Springfields for anything hot.