I plan on purchasing a GMA action (Express Magnum)for a 416 Rigby project. I also plan to first have it barreled in the US before it is shipped to South Africa for chambering, stock work, etc.
Are the Douglas barrel blanks advertised at midwayusa.com any good and will they "fit" the action? I prefer the heavier profile barrels. When bluing, is it difficult to "marry" a stainless steel barrel with the action for a uniform matte black finish (like Ryan Breeding's rifles)?
I'd appreciate your suggestions. Thanks, Adam.

Douglas certainly makes a good barrel, but given all the trouble you're going through to get what is already an expensive action from the US to SA, I would spend the extra $100 and get a "Great" barrel.

I don't know much about the blacking of SS other than it can be done, but I suspect the better technologies are in the US for this process, and that might leave you at a disadvantage when you go to black it in SA. (Just an assumption).

Unless you just want SS, I doubt you'll be able to wear out a good 416 chromo barrel in your career.

If you are considering a SS barrel you should contact CAS II here who has a SS barrel in 416 Rigby that he is looking to sell. It's brand new with banded hardware. Best of all the price is right. The only issue is that it would have to be blackened with one of the new coatings.

Granite Mountain prefers Krieger barrels IIRC.

Have GMA do it with one of their own integral barrels.

I thought that GMA offered their actions with barrels with integral quarter ribs as an option. At least I remember them advertising that at one time.

However, if that is not true and your already willing to spend the money on a GMA action get a best barrel to complement it.

SDH beat me to that thought!

GMA orders the Krieger blanks and then does the machining for the integrals. They do a very nice job. Here is a pic for a 416 Rigby.

I appreciate all your suggestions. The reason I am considering a Douglas barrel is because of the costs. A barreled action by GMA will, IIRC, cost $4 500.00. That is an extra $1 250.00 on the price of the action only. The Douglas barrel is in the region of $200.00.

quote:

Originally posted by adam2:
I appreciate all your suggestions. The reason I am considering a Douglas barrel is because of the costs. A barreled action by GMA will, IIRC, cost $4 500.00. That is an extra $1 250.00 on the price of the action only. The Douglas barrel is in the region of $200.00.

Dakota African $2755.10

Or the good ol' CZ 550 $661.95

Thanks 366torque but I'm a lefty and the choices are very limited.

quote:

Originally posted by adam2:
The Douglas barrel is in the region of $200.00.

$200 before you chamber, thread, and fit the barrel. Then you still have to add sights and you really should have a recoil lug on the barrel.

Do yourself a favor and consider this barrel:

https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/...=435102797#435102797

The ONLY issue with this barrel is that it is SS and not CM.

You're buying a $3000 action - don't inadvertantly shortchange yourself on other critical components.

The last Douglas barrel I bought was $235, from Douglas about a year and a half ago. Then I had to have it chambered and threaded, and fit to my action. Don't recall the total cost, but maybe around $550-$600 for everything, including basic barrel cost and bluing.

Don

quote:

Originally posted by ForrestB:

AKA "Client 8"

CAS' rifle looke great! I hate to think that it has been torn apart-did the stock get borken or something?

That barrel looks to me like everything was soldered on. I am not saying anything at all is wrong with that, only that none of it appears to be integral as advertised. You can see a gap under the front sight, A definite strong line behind the rear sight/second lug where the barrel was turned down to accept the sight, and that would have to mean that the sling swivel band is also soldered on. Plus all of the attachemnts-rear sight w/lug, sling swivel, and banded front sight are shaped exactly like aftermarket parts commonly available to the trade. Integral pieces can be made to look a lot like aftermarket parts, but not exactly like aftermarket parts.

Again, not trying to start anything or say soldered hardware is inferior. Just saying I don't see anything integral on the barrel. Man, that rifle sure does look nice when she is all botled together. Who made it? I hope it was not broken in an accident or soemthing

Mark,

You are absolutely correct, and "integral" was an incorrect wording on my part. I changed that phrase several weeks back on my Gunbroker listing, but saw no need to change it here as the ad had gotten no activity.

Certainly the detailed pictures showed the details of the barrel, and there was no intent to deceive, just a mistake on my part. Of course, had all of those features been machined integral, you couldn't sniff that barrel for twice the price I am asking.

Anyhow, the story behind the barrel is that I made the tragic mistake of buying a Vektor barreled action from an (unbeknownst to me at the time) infamous liar and cheat. I was sold the barreled action on the premise that it was a chrome moly barrel and just needed to be finished.

When the barrled action arrived, I pondered for a few weeks, then contacted Duane Wiebe to build a rifle for me. The barreled action was sent off, and Duane went to work. He turned down the barrel to a more pleasant profile and installed the sight hardware and sling band.

Once the metalwork was done, the stock work was undertaken. It wasn't until the final stages of the project that it was discovered that the barrel was actually stainless. At that point I decided to have Duane pull the barrel and make a replacement. Duane turned a new barrel to match this one, installed new hardware, and re-inlet the stock.

Thus the story of how this barrel came to be available.

Quite honestly, I had written it off since I had gotten no interest either here or gunbroker, and have pretty much decided to just build a new rifle using it.

A very expensive lesson about checking out the people you do business with before plunking down any cash.

Just for clarity's sake, I did check out Duane pretty thoroughly before commissioning him, and if anything the rave reviews I got understated his talent and fantastic business practices. He avoided a relative disaster and created my favorite rifle.

Marc,

MY MISTAKE. I thought the barrel had an integral quarter rib and everything else was banded. Obviously, everything (including the rear sights) are banded on that barrel. I've edited my earlier post to reflect that fact. CAS never advertised it as being integral; this is all my error, not his.

The barrel for sale is different from the one on the rifle. This barrel was supposedly CM when it was sent to Duane. He did all the work on it and then discovered it was SS. Ooops! A new CM barrel was finished for the rifle project and CAS is selling the SS barrel. That's the full story as I heard it from the parties involved.

All that said, it's ready to install and would save a buyer lots of time and money if he's willing to use a coated SS barrel as adam2 indicated he is.

Sorry for creating the confusion.

FBB

Ahhhh, glad to hear the rifle is still looking like the pic and able to be used in the field. She is really pretty.

That barrel is nice and $500 is a steal. Someone will surely buy it eventually.

A couple of years ago I was rehabbing a pre-64 M70 Westerner in .264. When it came time to rust blue everything, the barrel refused to take the rust. Only the front sight ramp would rust. Turned out she was stainless. Had to get it coated with something to get her black.

Sorry to hear about a bad experience with some one. I am not familiar with the Vectors-are they similar to the Granite Mountains?

edited to add: Forrets was posting when I was writing. Thanks for the extra info!

Danny Pederson of Classic Barrel Prescott AZ.
Makes cut rifled barrels. You could order one from him with a integral recoil lug and nothing else. I've had him do this for me. The barrel is supplyed with an integral donut left on the barrel that I machine into a recoil lug after the barrel is fit to the action and the feed and function work is complete. Then polish the barrel and add the sights. I'm sure Douglas or any of the button method makers would do the same for you, you supply the drawing of what you want. If you Need any help with feeding that GMA give a holler I've fed a couple hundred of them.
Timan

Thanks Timan.
I am becoming more interested in CAS's barrel as the days go by (after initially declining his friendly offer). My concern remains the uniform bluing of the barrel and the action (which will be done in SA). The appeal of guns like Ryan Breeding's in the first place, for me, lies in the dull matte bluing. That is exactly how I want my gun, but it must be durable. Is SS going to make it difficult?
CAS - what is the length of your barrel and what is the twist?
I appreciate all your suggestions. Adam

It is a little over 24", and the twist is 1 in 14".

It would be difficult to "blue" this barrel and have it match, since the barrel is stainless and the sight hardware is chrome moly. About your only choice would be to apply some sort of coating, like Cerakote to the barrel. This coating could also be applied to the action.

I believe that Empire Rifles uses this coating on some of their rifles. Done right, it can be quite attractive, though not quite the look of good rust bluing.

If you use the Mealonite process, I think it would be the same color, or at least a close match. Have talked to this guy about doing a couple of pistols for me:

Drake's melonite site

I would drop him an email and see what he says. If you can find some one in SA who does this finishing, then you would be in business