I think some of the hoopla started with some bad feelings toward the Hart gunsmithing firm as was mentioned above. I had them do some work for me several years ago and was pleased with the quality of the work.
There is a bit of a division in the sniper community. A lot of the east coast guys own Chandler sniper rifles (the best $2,500.00 sniper rifle you can buy for $4,500.00). They use Hart barrels and Badger Ordnance doo-dads. Guys in the midwest and competition long distance shooters from their like Krieger a lot. They also really like Obermeyer barrels with the 5R fifling form (Boots operates on his own time clock which is midway between geologic and theologic time). Mike Rock makes a 5R barrel that is gaining favor these days. Now that I (thank you God) live in the Northwest I am learning to appreciate Pac-Nor barrels. I think a lot of this is geographic. The closer you live to a given maker the more likely you are to see their barrels.

I believe that the proliferation of borescopes will encourage makers to maintain higher standards.
JCN

In the posts around this forum, I keep hearing things about Hart barrels- rarely positive. My only rebarreling experience is with a Lilja, and I am very pleased. As I am getting ready to plan a .458 Lott project, I would appreciate some objective feedback on this issue. Thanks!

I didn't know that there was an outbreak of "Hart Hate", but if there is, I know I don't suffer from that disease myself!



My first rifle that I ordered a Hart barrel for was a .300 Win. Mag. on a Model 70 action that I has Glen Pearce build for me in 1993. That rifle was a half-inch grouper from the beginning, and I've put over 2500 rounds through it, have taken scores of big game animals with it, including three members of Africa's 'Big-Five', African plainsgame of every size and shape, sheep, elk, bears, several varieties of deer, etc., etc. At the 2500 round mark, the groups started to open up, but that rifle will still shoot an inch or a little over for five shots at 100 yds., and the barrel is extremely smooth inside and has cleaned up easily from the beginning.



I have four other rifles with Hart barrels, and they've all been astoundingly accurate,, smooth, and easy to clean plus I have one more .224" #4 contour Hart blank that I'm saving for a special .223 Remington project. If I thought that Hart was a questionable barrel, I wouldn't have invested in so many of them, pure and simple.



All I can say is, if anyone seriously thinks that Hart doesn't make first-rate barrels, check the tournament-winning record of Hart shooters over the years, and you'll see that the record is pretty incredible in favor of Hart.



AD

I think the number of Hart barrels I currently own is at five for the moment. I absolutely love my 308 Norma rifle with a Hart barrel. I was out testing it at 400 yards the other night with a variety of "premium" bullets, and if it was 165 grains it pretty well impacted at the same spot, same with 180 grains. Bullet name be damned, they all went to the same spot. Most everything below 5 inches and about 3 different types below 3 inches. Not too bad for a hunting rifle with a scope lacking parallax adjustment. I might post that data once I've completed testing as it is of interest.

I have some varmint affairs that are tack drivers as well.

About the ONLY negative thing that could be said of Hart comes from a local BR guy I know and I think he's a fan of Shilen. I asked him why once and he said that Shilen's really good about accepting a returned barrel while Hart was mentioned as a maker that wasn't so good about taking a return. I consider that anecdotal as I've never run into anybody wanting to return a Hart barrel and my gunsmith that made the Norma and other 1917 based rifles for me uses Hart almost exclusively to my knowledge and that's ALWAYS his first choice when buying. It's also what's hanging off the front of HIS personal rifles.

Reed

I've won money with my two rifles with Hart barrels. When the time comes, the replacement barrels will be Harts.

I would say that there si some Krieger vs Hart feelings. I wonder if its just performance based or cut vs button.