Are the Shilen barrels sold under the Brownells name the same quality as the barrels straight from Shilen? If a different barrel, how so? Thanks.

Don't know if they are the same ... think they are.

Made up a 10" bbl for a 9mm M-16 with a machined in comp from a piece of the Brownell's stock ... shoots clover leaves at 25 yards on semi! Good stuff.

I've wondered if their not Shilens Lone Star grade barrels.

Don't know if you would ever get a straight answer on that one. Two places know, Brownells and Shilen, and I doubt if either will give an honest response on that question. It sure would be interesting to know for sure. I have thought of that several times myself and always went straight to the bbl manufacture for my purchase.

Shilen and Brownell's have had a 25year + deal going.

I think you can only get the better grades from Shilen, direct.
jeffe

I've heard that the prethreaded Shilens that Brownells sells, are of very low quality, and they aren't that cheap either.

GSF 1200, come on now, why would a company like Shilen with a reputation for quality, put out any product with low quality with the biggest Gunsmithing supply in the world. Do you stay up nights thinking that kind of thing up?

I have been to Shilen's facility a few times over the years since they are close to me. I've visited with Ed and Doug Shilen too and I assure you that first rate quality is their number one priortity.

To give you a little confidence in the Brownell/Shilen barrels, read the specifications. They are the same as the Shilen barrels.

Also Brownell will stand behind all the products they sell 100 percent. I patronize Brownells even when a few products may be slightly higher out of loyalty due to them standing behind a few products I've returned over the years.

If you buy your barrels direct from Shilen you will have to buy several at a time to get the same discount offered at Brownells. So when you only need one it is cheaper through Brownells.

A little trivia. Do you know what nationality the Shilens are? Russian. Their name was Shiln and they changed it to Shilen so it was easier to pronounce.

Hey Guys, I've been sitting on feathers and am very tickled with every brownells/shilen BBl that I have purchased from Brownells. I don't put together Benchrest rifles but for hunting stuff that will shoot sub .500 groups makes me smile all the way to the bank. They have been very good for my people.

I have never used a prethreaded and chambered barrel but the barrel blanks I have ordered singly from Brownells appear to be exactly the same as the ones I order in quantity from Shilen. They are marked the same and look the same. They are fine barrels.
Like Chic said, It would be foolish indeed for a well respected barrel maker to sell second rate barrels to it's primary distributor. Regards, Bill

Thanks for the replies. The barrel in question is a unchambered/threaded blank. The descriptionon the Brownell site and the description of the match grade barrel on the shilen site are very similar. Brownells refers to a "Cold Forming" process. I really don't know if button rifling is a "cold" process, I thought the button and/or barrel was heated. That was the only thing that made me think perhaps it's a all together different barrel.

I'm going to use this barrel on a older rifle, the barrel has the hump for the rear site. I want to have the barrel blank contoured to match the original. Just how much stress is introduced doing this? Thanks.

Last year I asked that question of Shilen, and got a direct answer.

"The pre-threaded barrels are the same quality as the blanks that either Brownells or Shilen sells".

I have used the pre-threded barrels,and have excellent luck with them.

Shilen is not going to put their name on something that is not right.

Terry, I sent an email to Shilen and Doug replied with the following:

Chic - thank you for your contacting me.
We have fought this problem for 30 years. There is no difference in barrel quality. We do make a pre-threaded for Brownell's , that is rough chambered and not finished as nice as the custom ones we make here.

Sincerely,
Doug Shilen
Shilen Incorporated

I chose a Shilen barrel for my 6.5-'06, but actually got the unthreaded, unchambered blank from Brownells. My gunsmith put it on a Rem M700 action, and into a McMillan synthetic stock. This is a half-minute rifle, although I was not trying to build a target rifle.

My personal example.

I have a rifle project in the specification stage now, it will have a Shilen barrel too.

jim dodd

Terry, Customstox

Thanks for posting the replies from Shilen, my barrel is a unthreaded, unchambered blank. Should really make that old Savage shine once again And I'm keeping the barrel nut.

I have a Shilen chromoly barrel on a 700 action that was bought by a gunsmith here in Texas from Brownells as a "pre-threaded and short chambered" barrel. It was chambered in 25-06 and I pillar bedded it into a Mcmillan stock. The rifle will print 5 shot groups at 100 yards into 1/2" with Reloader 22 powder and Nosler Balistic Tip bullets every time at the range and I have a target that went .18 with three shots. The gunsmith witnessed this group by the way. The same gunsmith has installed three more stainless barrels for me, all on 700 actions, made by Hart and Shilen and while they all shoot very well none has achieved the performance of my 25-06. The only difference/problem with the chromoly Shilen is they are not hand lapped at the factory, unless specially ordered, and it is a bugger to clean and fouls more easily than my stainless barrels that have all been hand lapped. I also have talked to Doug Shilen and he has explained all this to me in detail. Bottom line: I'd buy another Shilen pre-threaded barrel from Brownells, just not for a high volume caliber because of the fouling problem with a un-lapped blank. Roger.

Clearwater

The reason all Shilen stainless steel barrels are lapped is that the bore is copper plated to act as an anti-sieze lubricant to prevent the carbide button from galling or sticking. After rifleing the bore is lapped mainly to remove the copper plating. The bores are air guaged and inspected with a bore scope to determine when to stop.

The chrome moly barrels do not have the tendency to stick and gall so no plating or lapping necassary.

Another piece of trivia: There are no designated personnel to perform the lapping. It is very labor intensive so the whole plant rotates. Everyone gets their share of lapping for a day at a time.

I have like wise used the Brownell/Shilen barrel blanks with complete satisfaction. Brownells and Shilen have great reputations and both stand firmly behind the products they sell to the trade. I doubt that either of them would be willing to commit that type of suicide...

Malm

Last spring I ordered a Shilen stainless barrel blank in 358 through Brownell's, which I used to build a custom Sako in 358 Win. The gun will shoot .5" groups all day if I do my part. I am looking forward to ordering another for my next project. I don't know if they lap the stainless barrels or not, but I can attest to the fact that I found very little copper fouling after 40 rounds - and that's without going through any break-in process.

I have installed an Addams and Bennet barrel from Midway.
Never again!
The thing does one fouling shot, 3 holes touching, and then is copper fouled so bad it takes hours to clean.

The Shilen barrel is much smoother and much harder to copper foul.

A Shilen barrle blank is $105 wholesale from Brownell's and a Midway POS barrel may be $50 on sale. But I would give $200 to have never seen that Midway crap.

[ 11-01-2002, 18:51: Message edited by: Clark ]