I had a question about barrel fit for a Winchester model 70. If I had a post-64 action and was looking for a barrel. Would a pre-64 barrel fit the action or would I need a post-64 barrel?

This is assuming that I buy a takeoff barrel. If I were to buy custom, who makes good barrels and who is the best at fitting them to an action and chambering?

That depends, first consideration is Headspace, on the post 64's it would be a crapshoot. Next is the extractor cutout, some have it some don't. Why spend good money on a used factory barrel?.

What caliber do you want?
I just did what you suggest; took a nice pre 64 30-06 barrel and screwed it onto a new action. Realize that all pre 64 barrels have the claw extractor/cut and those barrels will not fit the post 64 receivers without it. Threads were quite loose, far looser than I make them but typical of late pre 64 work; they got sloppy as they were losing so much money and their machines were worn out.
Anyway, it indexed 20 degrees past TDC, and ate a NO GO gauge. I know, sample of one means nothing.
I would not bother doing what you suggest; get a new barrel. Douglas is the best, and they do make the exact pre 64 contour; it is programmed into their huge CNC profile lathe.

So if I'm to get a new barrel, Douglas is better than Krieger? I would be looking at a 6.5-06 for my first custom job.

"Better" is usually a personal opinion and you know what they say about opinions. I will state, IMHO, that Krieger is a better barrel than Douglas. Nothing wrong with any of the barrels from the top makers, I prefer Shilen

Let the arguments come!

Oh boy!!!!

No we are not going there. All the top barrel makers shoot the same. "Better", refers to the fact that Douglas, along with shooting as well or better than any, is easier to deal with, makes more custom contours, and is far more responsive to your needs, than any other maker. Those are just facts with the opinions removed. I tend to go with facts instead of emotional derived opinion.
Call Kreiger and ask for a Pre64 contour, and see how long that will take.
Then call Stan at Douglas and get the same info. Douglas keeps a thousand blanks on hand and CNC contours them to each order. It's the only way to inventory 39,000 possible barrel combinations.
Then you decide.
As for the S brand; I had two 338s that would not shoot at all. And I had a K make 30 cal that was not straight. Just facts.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
No we are not going there. All the top barrel makers shoot the same. "Better", refers to the fact that Douglas, along with shooting as well or better than any, is easier to deal with, makes more custom contours, and is far more responsive to your needs, than any other maker. Those are just facts with the opinions removed. I tend to go with facts instead of emotional derived opinion.
Call Kreiger and ask for a Pre64 contour, and see how long that will take.
Then call Stan at Douglas and get the same info. Douglas keeps a thousand blanks on hand and CNC contours them to each order. It's the only way to inventory 39,000 possible barrel combinations.
Then you decide.
As for the S brand; I had two 338s that would not shoot at all. And I had a K make 30 cal that was not straight. Just facts.

And I had a Douglas that was an absolute copper mine! So, to each his own. I would not buy an aftermarket 'custom' barrel that is not hand lapped.

Lapped? They don't lap them because they put the dimensional quality into the process, not after they are done; they don't need lapping; that is just a crutch to fix what should have been done in manufacture. Read more Deming on Quality Processes. I have never had the issue you describe. Maybe it was your bullets or loads? In my experience with them, I would say your experience is rare. Cut rifled barrels need lapping to remove the tool marks and get the bore to uniform size.
I fitted a 400 Whelen this morning, in fact.
Of course the OP should buy whatever he wants.

If I was given a Douglas barrel I'd find some 'sucker' to sell it to!

You'd have to believe that all M-70 barrels acre EXCATLY the same dimension A Douglas is close enough on a new build.

I you need an EXACT fit, Kreiger uses the old barrel to mfg the replacement barrel. Redult is...just that...an exact fit.

It is not a cookie cutter barrel.

If you need an exact copy of a barrel, then Douglas will take yours and copy it on a profiler for an EXACT copy. They have different methods for different purposes. For a new stock, then as DW said, they are good.
I have used their CNC pre 64 contour and it is fine.
Mr Silvers; I assure you that many thousands of barrels testify to their quality. Not sure why you couldn't make yours work.

I've had very good luck with Douglas barrels!

Ya, and the 20 inch Douglas barrel on my custom M1892 .357 mag has untold thousands of hot rounds through it and it is still very accurate.


Another case of one, but with a happy ending (so far).

I guess that I have been lucky; I have used barrels from Rocky Mountain Rifle Works in .308, Kreiger in .284 and .358, Cut Rifle in .308, Obermeyer in .243 and .308, Shilen in .223, Douglas in .223, .308, and .375, Badger in .410 and .458, Lilja in .375, Magowen in .308 and .358, Borchard in .410 and .458, Critereon in .308, White Oak Armament in .223, and Oregon Barrel Works in .510, and all have been accurate for the rifle and cartridge combination involved. If you are having someone else barrel the action, use what the gunsmith recommends. Otherwise, they are all good. I have only gotten one barrel that wouldn't shoot, and the barrel maker replaced it, including paying for the rebarrel after I sent it to him to test fire.

quote:

Originally posted by butchlambert:
I've had very good luck with Douglas barrels!

Me too!
Lately a couple 20 cal's and a .264 came my way and all are excellent shooters with minimal coppering after minor break-in.
Very accurate and I love how responsive the company was. I WILL be back with them shortly for a couple more.

Zeke

Horror of horrors, I just ordered one from Stan

quote:

I've had very good luck with Douglas barrels!

Do you have a post 64 CRF action or a push feed? Different barrels. One has a cone breech and needs an extractor cut and the other a flat breech. No extractor cut.

quote:

Originally posted by CFBguns44:
I had a question about barrel fit for a Winchester model 70. If I had a post-64 action and was looking for a barrel. Would a pre-64 barrel fit the action or would I need a post-64 barrel?

This is assuming that I buy a takeoff barrel. If I were to buy custom, who makes good barrels and who is the best at fitting them to an action and chambering?

It is for a crf action. That is very good to know though!

Regarding take-off barrels: Any pre-64 barrel will fit any pre-64 action and will probably index properly and headspace. This includes barrels from the Model 54 Winchester. A barrel from a push-feed post-64 Winchester will need to have the coned breech machined in to the tenon, the extractor cut made, and the chamber deepened; a lot like fitting a brand new barrel. A post-64 "classic" barrel will probably have to be set back 1 turn+ and rechambered.
New barrels? I have fitted hundreds of Shilen barrels, probably a hundred Douglas, along with numerous barrels from a dozen other makers. I have had few real turkeys but have had some which were less than perfect (crooked, poorly stress relieved, poorly finished. I have had exactly two barrels which appeared to be perfectly straight and visibly flawless from end to end and one which was very, very, close. The first was a Hart barrel, circa. 1975, the second was a Ron Smith barrel (a Canadian maker), and the third was a Swiss hammer-forged barrel. The very worst barrel I have ever seen was a Heym barrel which varied in bore diameter by over .002 throughout it's length.
If I was limited to using nothing but Douglas barrels, I wouldn't feel bad about it at all. The same is true of Shilen barrels. I have found that all manufacturers will sell you better barrels if you tell them ahead of time that you will be examining them and returning barrels which have toolmarks in the bore or are excessively crooked.
Douglas has been the best when dealing with a complaint. Regards, Bill

I like Douglas barrels and some others, but my all time favorite because they have shot best for me and others locally are Lothar Walthar..like most things its just a matter of opinnion based on results, one way or the other.

I literally said way up there that a push feed Model 70 barrel will not fit a CRF one and cannot be made to do so. There is not enough material to thread because of the relief cut and the shank is longer. .
And a pre 64 barrel will not fit a post 64 CRF; I tried one..