Alright guys, we heard all the scuttle about shaw and a little positive comment in the ways of pac-nor, Kreiger, etc. What has been your experience w/ Shillen.

I have 2 barrels by Shillen, both CM. One is on a .338x300, finished 26". It shoots pretty weel (moa) but not awesome. The other is a .223 on an encore, 15". It shoots regularly in 1/2 moa.

Shilen is my brand of choice, and they seem to shoot a lot better than I do. Hard for me to do comparisons when there is nothing else for me to compare it to....

I do have one Douglas/BB Encore barrel in 223 Rem - it's also a shooter.

Regards, Bill

I had them install a 358 barrel on a Model 70 action. It shoots very well. They're good people to do business with.

Bob257

Beartrack,

I have one Shilen sporter contour barrel chambered in 6.5-'06 on a Remington M700 action that has been trued and pillar bedded in a synthetic stock (Macmillan fiberglass). This combination shoots under a half minute. Smallest three-shot groups have been in the .2"s.

I would say they shoot pretty well.

jim dodd

Gentlemen,

We have used barrels from Shilen, as well as many of the top class barrel makers in the US. Like Hart, Lilja, Douglas, Krieger and so on.

We have found all of the above barrel makers shoot extremely well.

Lilja, especially, makes very, veryy good large bore barrels.

We have built 338, 375, 416 and 458 caliber rifles, using Lilja barrels, and all of these will shoot 1/2 inch groups if the shooter is up to it.

We are happy to use any of them.

Sometimes, when one gets a rifle that does not shoot as well at should, the problem can be somewhere else, and not the fault of the barrel.

Just something to bear in mind.

An excellent barrel.....I've chambered over 70 and all have been outstanding shooters (their service is also fast and first rate).

Lee Martin
www.singleactions.com

I don't think there's much difference in top of the line barrels. I have 3 Hart SS barrels and all are terrific. It's my barrel of choice, but others can write the same comments for their Liljas, Shilens, Kreigers and several others. Whatever prints the smallest groups will do nicely. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

Shilen barrels, as well as those by Hart, Krieger, Broughton, Badger, Lilja and several others are of incredible, consistant quality. But; inconsistant gunsmithing can overcome the best barrel. Make sure you carefully choose your gunsmith. I personally think the majority of the complaints about poor barrels of these manufacturers is not due to the barrel but due to errors in the "barreling", / bedding process. There are alot of ways to screw up a barrel / bedding job that will "overcome" even the best barrel. I have yet to personally know of ANY barrel by ANY of the above makers on a benchrest gun that was not capabible of shooting in the sub 0.2 MOA; PERIOD. I am talking about 22, 6mm, 6.5mm, 7mm, 30, 338, AND 40's. Now that is a stout track record. This clearly indicates these barrel's manufacturer's quality given that all else is of equally high quality.

In the mid-eighties I worked for Wisner's Gun Shop. One of my duties there was barrel installation. Wisner's was the GOTO place in the region for gunsmithing and factory warranty work. So we got in quite a few barrel jobs per year. We would install any barrel the customer wanted (almost), but primarily we used Shilen barrels. Never had any problem with them. I think they built a good barrel.

One thing I noticed about the Shilens were that they were a good deal softer than Douglas. So my logic (founded or not) was all things being equal I would opt for a tougher barrel.

Just my opinion!

The Shilen chrome-moly barrels are not hand lapped at the factory, unless specially ordered that way.

I used a Shilen chrome moly on a Mauser and one on a Mosin Nagant.
The copper fouling problem is there, not bad like some commercial barrels, but not good like factory hand lapped barrels.

I wrote Shilen about this and he said to buy the stainless barrels, as they are always lapped to get the copper lubricant out.

I have only bought Shilen stainless barrels, so I can't compare them to anything other than Sako factory barrels, but I do know they all shoot well under an inch regardless of caliber, and they don't foul easily. Nevertheless, from what I have learned here, I wouldn't hesitate to buy/use any of the aforementioned brands.