How would you rank these barrels? I know they are better than the cheap stuff, but could they be compared with Shilen and other high end names?

Definitely, if you order a match quality bbl. I rebarreled a Ruger Mk II VT in .308 with dito and the rifle now averages < .4 MOA for 5 shots (Sierra 168 MK).

reindeer,

I would not compare L&W with Shilen, Hart, Kreiger etc etc. etc. or other premium makers. Ted Gaillard in Canada is supposed to make good barrels, no problems with export permits Border barrels in UK also makes top notch product.

A few gunsmiths here has complained about L&W quality, seems to be inconsistent

Cheers
/JOHAN

Mistter johan
It seems that you are a little bit biased against German products!! first you are telling that Blaser is not good, then you say LW which are the best quality stainless barrels are not good -. german stainless barrrels like LW and heym are among the best quality barrels in the world made of high grade real stainless Chrom nickel You can't compare them with barrels made of junk steel 416R .
my freind reindeer please don't listen to Johan. he is biased
Yazid E Saharawi

LW is top of the line! You will not be disapointed.

Few months ago, I had a Ruger77/II Ultralight cal 270 W rebarreled with a pre-threaded/chambered LW barrel. Before it was a 3-4 MOA rifle, now it is a Sub MOA. I'm very satisfied; the chamber has been carefully cut and the bore is sooo smooth.

I don't believe they are in the class of Shilen Hart, Kreiger,Maddco, and some others. Butch

I`ve three of them, in 7=08, 270 and a 22LR. I don`t know how they rate with other brands as to which is best, but they are very near the top IMO. I doubt you`ll find a better one for hunting / varmite.

I find little peformance difference in most match grade barrels from one manuf or another. If that blank was cut with good sharp tooling on equipment that is capable of holding .0001" tolerances, they all shoot better than even the best BR shooters can. If you get a blank that was cut with dull tooling and maybe not properly indexed off the centerline of the bore before contouring, then it will not shoot as well as the former one. It doesn't matter who made it,..some blanks are just better than others, even from the same company. This is not to mention the aspect that is 90% of the accuracy potential,..THE GUNSMITH.

I have a LW50 lothar walther 34" 1.450"dia straight tube just waiting for that special project. This one has had the Blackstar accumax II internal polishing treatment as well.

If you read all these threads, you will see that there is a trade off in choices of stainless to make a barrel. Shilen being at the soft end and LW at the tough end.

I have Hart, Shilen, Douglas, Lothar Walther, and lots of other barrels.
I can find nothing better than Lothar Walther.

http://www.snipershide.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_t...f=17;t=001518#000000

https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tp.../r/14210634#14210634

https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tp...28109141/r/530103541

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.guns/browse_frm/thre...628/6454104ef12f1aec

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.guns/browse_frm/thre...4f4/8a9e8309897dfc1b

Just rea the match results of benchrest matches and you will see they are not equal to Hart, Shilen, Kreiger, Lilja, etc. I have never seen a LW barrel used in BR.

Just the same in Europe, Shilen, Krieger, etc. are just abouit unheard of... For sure, LW is better known in the U.S. than the former in Europe. Same with calibers, only a few match shooters know about 6PPC and BR as bench rest is a rarity on these shores where rifle matches are essentially UIT or military (= .308 Win).

Ditto what Andre said. Lothar is the most commonly used barrel in Europe for competions of all kinds. What may have caught some in the USA off guard is that not all the competion grade barrels are indicated on the website. You need to call and discuss specifics to find all that is available.

I have only one stainless LW barrel and find it to be the easiest to clean of any rifle I have ever owned. That's only a sample of one but most other people seem have similar praise.

Yazid
Striking name by the way
Twisted your knickers? So crap like blaser alone should represent Germany, when did it become a national icon? There are other brands than blaser originating from Germany. Just to mention a few, ever heard of Mauser, Sauer&Sohn, Merkel, Krieghoff Heym. Not to mention all the small gunmakers in Germany.

In Sweden some of the most popular barrel in benchrest are US & UK brands like Border, shilen, hart etc.. In national match most common rifle is Sauer FSR series.

Cheers
/JOHAN

Interesting thread. I am considering rebarrelling my Rem 700 06 with a lighter weight barrel so I have at least one rifle that doesnt weigh about 8 pounds scoped. What is a good compromise between price and quality to do so?

PacNor, and their action work is said to be top notch.

Johann,

my gunsmith is striktly against the R93 like you. In straight pull rifles only on he recommends is the Heym straight pull.

Burkhard

i installed a L-W barrel stainless on a mauser 2000 in 25-06 it cut and reamed nicely but was a real turd to get to shoot well had to try numerous loads and bullets to get it to shoot better than 1" for my money i will keep buying DOUGLAS you can't beat those barrels built in west by god virginia. i am a little biased being from that state but for the $$$$ you can't go wrong.

My very dear freind Mister johan
Are we talking about bench rest shooting or hunting? for the the bench rest I would agree that lilja , border etct are excellent barrels,but when it comes to hunting rifles and stainless steel. the steel quality of german or austrian barrels are definitly much better. i rememer an old freind of mine mailed me web adress of heym whivh I could see the steel comoposition and comare it the di american steels . by the way what was striking with my very nice arabic name
by the way again I beleive the VARBERGER in Sweden company which made or makes very fine hunting rifles are using LW blanks.
my very hot arabic greating from sahara
Yazid E Sahrawi

I did own a rifle with a L-W barrel built by Jeff Hicks aka "Celt" at HD Rifle in a heavy contour 308cal. It cleaned up an easy as any of my other rifle barrels and accuracy was exceptional. Celt uses L-W barrels almost exclusively on both his precision and hunting rifles.

The take on LW on todays benchrestcentral board.

http://www.benchrest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26497

Hartmann and Weiss who make the best and most highly regarded magnum mauser action in the trade($6000)as well as other best grade weapons ,use LW barrels .and they do so even in their take down mausers which cost $5000 and above, per barrel. I doubt they would use those barrels if they were a compromise.Es pecially on bolt rifles with a kick off price upwards of $25K. I spoke with them,and they expressed high regard for LW tubes.