I'm looking for someone to rebarrel a NIB Rem 700 7mmRUM to a 338RUM. This will be a hunting rig, not a bench gun but I don't want to skimp. Is Krieger, Hart, etc rebarreling service as good as a custom builder? Thanks!

I had rifles rebarreled by Pac-Nor and Shillen and both shoot very, very well. But now I send all my stuff to Kevin Weaver and his work is OUTSTANDING and it is no more expensive than have the barrel makers do it. Plus Kevin does a beautiful scroll type engraving for the cartridge markings. I feel more comfortable sending rebarreling jobs to Kevin and he seems to go that "extra mile". I hope this helps.

quote:

Originally posted by Billyboy:
Is Krieger, Hart, etc rebarreling service as good as a custom builder? Thanks!

At Least!

There are many smith's out there who can do a fantastic job for sure, and IF you already have a barrel, might save you some time. But if you want a Krieger or Hart tube, nothing wrong with them doing the rebarrel for you. You would need to share with them the goals of your rebarrel job just as with any smith that might do the work, but their work is excellent.

Search out a poster by the name of westpac. For what you want, he'll do you up right. I've seen his trued 700 actions and they are nice!!!

I've had great luck with Kreiger installing barrels. I had less than good luck with Pac Nor. They did work something out with me though and I rate their customer service high but I'd have a hard time having them do another. Others have high praise for them and I don't doubt them, just didn't work out for me.

Did you do a search in this forum before you posted the question? This has come up many, many times-even this week.

All barrel manufacturers that I know of charge as much or (usually) more than the going rate for a custom smith to fit and chamber a barrel. And what is more important to 99% of the people on this board, the manufacturers treat it as a production job and do not go to the lengths the folks on this board desire. You can get a custom smith will dial everything in if you want it. A barrel maker gets it in and gets it out.

Most barrel manufacturers are good at making barrles. Most top gunmakers are good at installing barrels and squaring up the action.

I've had Hart Rifle Barrels do barrel fitting for me in the past, and I gotta say they all have shot EXTREMELY well. Jim Hart is a GOOD gunsmith.
Haven't had other barrel makers do any installation however, so I can't cmt on their work.

Don

Marc, I did actually search and found tons of info regarding quality barrels, but nothing about barrel-makers gunsmithing services quality. I own a couple of rifles with Hart and Krieger barrels but my local smith is rediculously backed up. I think you are probably right about the difference between a barrel maker vs a gunmaker.
Thanks everyone for the input!

Marc is right and most barrel makers do it as a service. They are more expensive, no better, and probably way behind.
Butch

I have used Hart & am very happy with them.. If I was going to have a rebarrel done, the 1st thing I'd is look at each maker's web site & hope to find an in stock barrel in the configuration you want. Then I'd take the barrel & action to John Lewis at Carolina Precision & get 1 of his 2 week turnaround jobs. That assumes he has the reamer of course.

Thread where manufacturers installing barrels they make was dicussed 6 days ago:

manufacturer installing

Many of the manufacturers are just as backed up when it coems to both delivering and installing barrels.

I think DMB made a great point, even if it was unintentional. Folks who are "rifle loonies" (to quote John Barsness) demand extreme precision in manufacturing in an attempt to achieve benchrest accuracy in field guns under field conditions. It is overkill to perfeclty dial in a barrel that is going on a sporting gun. But you know what? I do it too!

Part of it is because I want to make the best gun that my hands can make. But to be honest the "production" methods used by the barrel manufacturers is plenty good enough for everything but a TRUE benchrest gun that will be used in benchrest competition. But true accuracy of a gun, techniques, etc, is a loooong conversation that has come up here a lot. I am too weak to even touch on it today.

Suffice to say that Butch can outshoot me any day of the week. Hell, his grandkids can literally outshoot me! THey can also outshoot eveyrone but maybe 3 or 4 folks on this board. Having a gunmaker sink 3 more hours in a chambering job just to be sure everything is as dialed in as can be will do NOTHING to change that. That shooting skill cannot be bought, it must be earned. Any theoretical gain in accuracy is lost in the scatter of the data and is totally menaingless. But folks on this board, and rifle loonies in general, demand it. They read it in a magazine, so it has to be true, right?

I was doing soem searches a month or so ago and read a long thread where some, including D'Arcy Echols were saying a guy was chambering barrels and holding chamber runout to 50 millionths. We then got to see the set up. It was laughable to those who know. I do not doubt their sinceriety in the least and I believe they 100% believed what they were saying. So while they were wrong, it was not that they were lying, it is just that they did not know enough to know they did not know what they were saying.

Same thing with dialing in a #3 sporter barrel to a gant's ass and then shooting it out of a tree stand. ANy theoretical accuracy gain you could possibly achieve by dialing evrything in goes out the window when you are not shooting with flags, compition rests, and the rigidity of a compitition bench.

So what I am trying to say? Even though the barrel manufacturers chamber in a way that is unaccpetable to most folks who are AR members, it is perfectly fine for all but the highest levels of competition. GO ahead and have them install your barrel if it gives you more faith or confidence. That has as much to do with accuracy as any of the other variables. And if you find it easier to get a turn-key job, then that is a great reason too. The more folks you deal with in a project, the headaches go up exponentially.

We should quit posting any thread where the topic has already been discussed.......which would turn this place into a search forum only as most everything been covered by this point.

There is no need to be sarcastic. THe man said he searched and I believe him. Searching is common courtesy. People who do not search are saying to the world that their time is more important than the other board members' time.

This man said he searched and, again, I totally believe him. He was a courteous board member who is trying to learn more. If his search did not answer his questions, then he needs to ask questions and keep this thread running until he figures what is best for his situation. If he does not want to do that, he can email me and manyothers a hundred barreling questions if he wants. Tons of folks with A LOT of collective experience here. The man is making great use of a valuable resource.

So billyboy, keep firing away until you feel comfortable with a barreling arrangement that will make YOU happy! Many ways to skin this cat. I am of the school that the "best" way is to buy a lathe and do it at your home. More equipment is always good!!!

BTW-if you decide to have an individual smith to fit a barrel but your guy can't get to it in time, lots of folks here can help you find soemone with a shorter lead time. Just out of curiosity, how long did Krieger say it would be? Last barrel I got from them took 3 months to get here. I woul dfigure their gunsmiths were at least 3 months backlogged as well. But that is still faster than a lot of smiths can turn it around for you.

Krieger is running ~12-13 weeks on barrels. Still waiting on my barrel for a 6-284 project. I have not contacted them about the rebarrel job yet so I don't know the timeframe on that. I was surprised that the price was ~$800 (web site prices) for the whole deal which would get me a complete barreled action. Still pondering what to do about a stock, but that's a whole different quandry... Thanks for all the info and suggestions, looks like I have some decisions to make!

I ordered a barrel from Krieger the first week in January. Febuary 15th I received the letter saying it was done. I was told 12-16 weeks.
Who knows?
Thanks, Doug

Marc, sometimes one must be absurd to illustrate absurdity I always find it rude when somebody asks a question and gets the "do a search" slapped on him. Some topics I see are tiring repeats, I simply skip over them. I don't think this one has really been cover all that much so it doesn't surprise me a search didn't pop up much info. I use the search function quite a bit and can't find posts I know I've read in the past. It's handy but not always does it get you what you want.

I recently received two barrels from Lilja, about 60 day turnaround. They do not offer gunsmith services. My local smith says about 90 days. He has been a smith for 44 years and told me he is a dying breed. I just feel he has probably forgot more then some know. So a good smith is worth the wait.

I have two Krieger barreled rifles in stainless and love them. maybe it's a midwest thing but If you live close enough to them in Wis.USA you can drop off your gun and tell them what work you would like to have done.

I had a hunting rifle rebarreled and the action trued by Krieger. The accuracy improvement over my factory barrel was impressive to me.

I've also had a rebarrel done by McGowen Precision. They do a good job and their wait time isn't as long as Krieger.