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One of Us |
Is Douglas still in business, can't seem to find their website anymore. | ||
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One of Us |
Definitely in business and doing very well. The oldest and still the best custom barrel maker. I just got a batch of custom barrels made to my patterns from them last week. I'll check on the web site. Meanwhile, call Stan at 304-776-1341. He is a super nice guy and Douglas is, by far, the easiest maker to deal with, and on custom orders the most responsive. | |||
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Ok, just a temporary off line situation; undergoing minor tweak. It will be back up soon. Meanwhile, call them. Unlike other makers, they are "people oriented". They like the old ways of doing business. | |||
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| One of Us |
Good, picked up a 375 H&H build the other day. Did a .416 Rigby for the same guy a couple years ago, used a Douglas on the build, it's a 1/2 MOA 416 Rigby. So thinking why not another Douglas for the 375 H&H. | |||
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| One of Us |
Absolutely no reason to use any other barrel. All the new comer makers, offer nothing new. And all are harder to deal with. So, go for it. Have to call Stan and place orders anyway; they are old school and want to talk to every customer, personally. Maybe not the modern internet way, but you get perfect service that way. | |||
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One of Us |
Speaking of douglas barrels  Mike Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.  What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
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Shameless show off. | |||
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One of Us |
Did you shoot that at 90 yards down there by the chicken? | |||
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+1. You told me to call Stan not too long ago. Super easy to talk to and didn’t act like he was in a hurry to get off the phone. Had my 6.5mm barrel in less than a week. Very pleased. Sent from my iPhone | |||
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| one of us |
I have 6 Douglas barreled rifles in the house. They all shoot fine. | |||
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one of us |
Gentlemen, many years ago I got a gunsmith in Colorado to rebarrel a Mark X to 375 Whelen who swore by Douglas barrels. I'm curious if he's still in business, maybe sold his shop to retire. All in all excellent individual, did great work, priced reasonably and delivered on time. I do not remember his name or shop. I've got a nice 98 Mauser sporterized that needs to be converted from 8mm to 30-06 for a Grandson. Is this something Douglas can do in a timely fashion? "Whensoever the General Government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force." --Thomas Jefferson | |||
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| One of Us |
They do perform gunsmithing and installation of their barrels. While their barrel making process is very efficient, and they keep thousands of blanks in stock and contour them to order, I do not know the PLT for their Gunsmithing work. Because I always do that myself. | |||
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| One of Us |
www.DOUGLASBARRELS.NET web site is back up and running. That is the domain name they have had since they started a website long ago. | |||
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| One of Us |
The last 4-5 barrels that I've done for me have been Douglas. Stan was super helpful on the phone and I had the same experience. He never made me feel like "who the hell are you and what do you want now?" I have a new 22-250AI fast twist and the 80 Sierras and 75 Hornady ELD-M's shoot so well I can hardly talk about it in public. My 20 Practical is super easy to shoot great groups with too...along with a couple 6.5 barrels but I'd expect that from them. All were built in the last 2-3 years so yes, they're still around and doing things right. Zeke | |||
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Their my kin folks from Clan Douglas. Yes excellent barrels.  Doug Humbarger NRA Life member Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club 72'73. Yankee Station Try to look unimportant. Your enemy might be low on ammo. | |||
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| Administrator |
We have barrels from every major barrel maker, including Douglas. All of them shoot extremely well, but we only buy “select match” grade barrels. The only US barrel maker we had problems with was BLACK STAR. Absolutely rubbish! No wonder they went out of business! I think. | |||
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| One of Us |
Douglas does not have a grade called select match. Other makers do because their quality varies; poor QC and manufacturing techniques. Douglas has two categories, up to and including 30 caliber. Air Gauged, meaning it is within .0001 all the way down. And standard, meaning it is within .0002. They also have an XX category; for straightness; they are all straighter than any factory barrel. Of course all their barrel are air gauged and most are within .0001 anyway. I have been to their plant and used the air gauges; they have several of them. They do not lap, nor straighten them back to some spec; they are made that way during the process; the way quality is supposed to be done. Not beat the substandard product into submission after it is already built. Like other makers do. | |||
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| Administrator |
With all our orders, we specify best quality available from the manufacturer. I think Lilja has the same policy as Douglas, that all their barrels are made to the same standard. I have a tendency to pick Lilja for the larger bores, and I have never been disappointed. Funny part is we have barrel racks, and the customer picks the barrel he wants. Normal question is "which make do I select?" "It doesn't not matter. They all will shoot better than you can!" We get a good laugh out of that. | |||
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It matters to me; I don't use any of the new makers. They are all MUCH harder to deal with, and that means a lot of time and money when you are ordering as many custom contours as I do. | |||
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I have worn out like 5 barrels in my High Power career. My first barrel got me into master class and it was a Douglas. Figured I needed a little fancier barrel after that and bought a Krieger. But it didn't shoot any better than my First Douglas...the interior finish was nicer and it cleaned up easier. But it didn't shoot any better. Got ahold of an Obermeyr barrel after that back when Boots was still making them. Same experience as the Krieger...shot great...but not better than my Douglas. Got tire of dropping $600 on expensive barrels and went back to a Douglas and never regretted it. | |||
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How much of it has to do with the barrel and how much of it has to do with how it was installed. KJK | |||
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Bad installer, 100% of it has to do with the installer. Good installer, 100% of the difference in final product has to do with the barrel. A good installer can't make a bad barrel shoot well, and a good barrel won't overcome a bad installation. Some are harder for an inexpert installer to install. Off center or non parallel bores for instance. Tight and loose spots in the barrel can be helped by a good installer that pays attention. | |||
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| One of Us |
I don't know how any installation technique can help a barrel with tight and loose spots in it. Or off center bores, yes those can be fixed; but just use a quality barrel to start with. The biggest fault with other makers I have seen is these; 1: Poor or inadequate stress relief. That will cause walking after two shots, every time. 2: Bore ID uniformity. 3: Twist uniformity. 4: Bore surface finish; although the days of small shops using dull reamers is pretty much gone. Some makers will lap their mistakes out. 5: Straightness; again, I see few seriously crooked barrels these days. Some makers will "straighten" their mistakes, meaning they bend them. Avoid those makers. Good machining techniques and QC will prevent those problems. If you do all the above right, and given reasonable installation technique, the barrel will shoot. If not, it won't. Pretty simple. Or complex, depending on which end of it you are on. Maker, or user. | |||
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