I'm thinking of using Shaw to rebarrel/rechamber a "working" rifle with a mannlicher stock. I would appreciate any information or advice before going to Shaw.
Thanks!

A lot of people call them crap. However, I bought one for a "working" rifle build for one of my kids. It works fine and puts hand loads into MOA or better groups.

Go with Midway; their barrels are from Green Mountain and are excellent $100 barrels. I have known guys with Shaw barrels that shot fine too.

I had 2 shaw's over the years. One was crap!!! Other functioned as a hunting rifle just fine. I have not used a Midway but no several that have with satisfactory results.

The last place to save a buck on a gun is the barrel...It cost a lot to have a barrel installed, chambered, blued and what ever, and if it doesn't shoot good, and many Shaws don't then it costs twice as much to stick another one in..Just my two cents..I would, at the very least, go with a Douglas, they are real good barrels and don't cost much more..

I use mostly Lothar Walthar barrels..They all shoot great..

I appreciate everyone's $.02 ... Thank you!

This is my opinion, so you can't take it to the bank and get even a penny for it..............

I think the difference between high dollar and low dollar barrel-makers is NOT how well their best barrels perform. Rather, It seems to me the difference is "What percentage of their barrels are sub-standard performers?"

Me, I prefer to buy the best I can afford, for my own rifles. For a truck gun or for a loaner rifle, I'm sometimes willing to gamble with a cheaply priced product.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
Go with Midway; their barrels are from Green Mountain and are excellent $100 barrels. I have known guys with Shaw barrels that shot fine too.

the GM barrels are discontinued in large part.

i've seen duds from most barrel makers - shaw barrels, for a working gun work fine. you are likely to have a barrel that fouls more, or isn't quite as accurate as a shilen .. but, who are we kidding, when putting together a fun working budget gun, the shaw barrels work.

lots of trash talk about shaw, adams and bennet, etc etc etc .. YES, they aren't a nicely made as barrels costing 5-10 times as much -- but when your budget is X, and a better barrel costs 1.25X alone, it can't work.

my only advice is to ask for a recessed crown

If you are keeping the full stock, can they match the original contour of the barrel?

Who is going to fit the wood to the new barrel?

Regardless of whose barrel you use, the mannlicher stock is more work to fit.

I have used 4 Shaw barrels with good results.

Jeremy

I'm glad to hear the support for Shaw barrels. I believe in buying the best you can afford but I have no interest in this rifle project becoming a money pit.
Regarding the mannlicher stock, maybe I'm being a bit naive but I'd like to think I can find a similar contoured barrel and do any stock work myself...that's all part of the fun...right?
Thanks for all the input!

The Shaw barrels I have installed shot well enough. The bore was definitely not as smooth as other brands, but then I only buy a makers "match grade" barrel if I am purchasing for the project.

quote:

Originally posted by Triple4:
I'm glad to hear the support for Shaw barrels. I believe in buying the best you can afford but I have no interest in this rifle project becoming a money pit.
Regarding the mannlicher stock, maybe I'm being a bit naive but I'd like to think I can find a similar contoured barrel and do any stock work myself...that's all part of the fun...right?
Thanks for all the input!

And ALL brands of new barrels almost always work fine for hunting rifles. The difference between the bargain stuff and the high priced spread is the percentage of the low cost ones which aren't real good. It is higher with the low cost ones because of looser QC standards. Usually not enough to matter. Still, if you are also paying someone $200-300 to profile, fit and chamber a barrel, the total cost of the barrel isn't much different between a $100 barrel and a $200 barrel.

Anyway, something I think is just as important is how well the makers stand behind their barrels and installations. Shaw has an excellent reputation in that regard, while at least one of the high-priced barrel companies is not nearly as easy to deal with in that regard. (So I don't buy that company's high-priced barrels at all anymore.)

Cast a lead lap in those 'cheap' button bbls, lap them and give them a slightly tapered bore (tighter at the muzzle) and they will shoot a woefully good and foul no worse than any other custom barrel.