Just looked at the new ER shaw website an was impressed, one guy said a new barrel he bought was as smooth as his shilen, What do you think, worth taking a chance on ?

Not sure about Shaws but a club member is using Wilson for his big calibers and says they shoot well. I think I had one Wilson on my old #1 so I am staying away from that brand.

Never had a Shaw but I can tell you the current Wilsons are lightyears ahead of the old. Maybe not the same name recognition or lofty pedigree as others, but the one I have just plain SHOOTS! Others I know confirm that theirs do as well.

For better or worse....

Redial

I had a wilson on a 98 mauser I couldn't make that thing shoot at all.

Fact:
Barrels are like anything else, you get what you pay for...Shaw and Wilson are inferior barrels, look at the inside of the barrel with a bore scope! some shoot and many do not, if you get a bad one it will cost you twice what a good barrel would have cost in the first place..

Like everything else, it all depends.

If you want a tackdriver and are going to pay a smith $300 or so to fit, chamber, and blue, the barrel is no place to try to save a few bucks.

If you are putting together a budget deerkiller on your kitchen table and will be happy with a MOA, you might as well go with the Shaw. I've used several and some even cheaper barrels and have been happy with them because I had REASONABLE EXPECTATIONS.

Small increments of improvement can cost a lot of money. Decide either what you must have or how much you can spend and do from there. If you have to have a rifle that will do .5 MOA, you are gonna have spend several times what a MOA rifle will cost. If you have to have a rifle that is real purty, you are gonna spend more on the stock blank than I spend building a whole rifle.

And sometimes you get lucky. Ten years or so ago, I built a 7x57 for a total of $100. Barrel was a military spare that had been in storage since about WWI that I paid maybe $25 for. I shortened it to 22" and fitted it to a K98 action I bought as one of three for $100. Its best load would stay consistently under a half inch. Pure dumbass luck and that load was not good for much but punching paper.

Anyway, I gave it to a friend who runs orchards and she has killed deer by the truckload with it. She don't know nothing about rifles and cares less, but she knows she has never lost a deer hit with it and could probably have skipped the couple of insurance shots she has taken.

It's all about what you need and what you expect.

I'm sending a Rem 700 to Shaw to fit a 358 Win. barrel to it soon and will report results here. Since this is meant to be a 200 yard hunting rifle I did not see the use in spending over 100 bucks more for a "premium Barrel" I will spend it on a trigger. I have both Shilen and Kreiger barrels on my high power guns where its needed but there's no use in a 358 that shoots 1/2 moa at 600 yards after 60 rounds thru the barrel like in target games. 1.5 Moa will kill all the game in africa next april.

You guys have given me a lot to think about and some sound advice. Unfortunately I took a Ruger 77 MKII to a smith last fall and he talked me into putting on a sheilen bbbl. in .358 cal. haven't got it back yet as it is too cold for him to blue it yet.

FWIW, Rock River Arms uses Wilson barrels in their National Match AR-15, and that is one of the most respected out of the box rifles in terms of accuracy.

Sure, others like John Hollinger, Compass Lake Engineering, and Fulton Armory make even more accurate ARs with Krieger and Obermeyer barrels. But, they cost a lot more, and a stock Rock River rifle is plenty good, if you are, to win matches.

ksduckhunter, that's exactly the Wilson I was describing above. I've never bought one outright, but I have bought many Kriegers.

Wilson has supplied lately barrels to many manufactures including Rock River, Armalite and who knows who else. The AR's I've seen with their barrels are tackdrivers. If the advertising is to be believed, M/Sgt Harry Harrison WON the Service Rifle Phase at Perry in 2000 with one against all comers. I've had my successes with mine too, very meager by comparison. Point is, as distasteful as it may seem, some cheap barrels shoot well. But I'll probably continue to buy Kriegers too.

A whole nickel's worth

Cheers

Redial

The Wilson barrels on the current crop of service rifles flat out shoot great. My dealer has a bore scope and he compared a dpms wilson barrel with a compass lake Krieger barrel and the wilson was just as smooth as the Krieger. I know at least a dozen guys shooting Wilsons and these are good shooting barrels. I have always used Shilen barrels on my bolt guns, but I have been impressed by what I've seen with the current crop of Wilsons. Companys change---------- some get better and some get worse.
Sorry-----this didn't answer your question about the Shaw barrels.
Shaw has reportedly re-tooled so maybe they are turning out a half decent product now. All the reports that I have heard about their barrels being bad were from barrels being installed years ago.