There isn't a barrel maker on earth that hasn't made a bummer on occasion. But, if someone thinks Hart plays second fiddle to any other, they are sadly mistaken.

I've noticed some anti Hart sentiment on threads not long ago. I tried to sort it out in my mind as to what the nay-sayers were acually complaing about, regarding Hart barrels. Unfortunately, some of the anti Hart comments were coming from some huge egos, so trying to get to the bottom of their complaints wasn't too productive. Like one guy said, I had a Hart barrel on a rifle that just wouldn't shoot, so I'm never buying a Hart barrel again. Then, another guy chimed in threading the same needle. Before long, there was a Hart bash going on. When a rifle doesn't shoot well, there are several things to look at, not just the barrel, which never got mentioned in the thread I'm referring to. I just considered that thread for what it was worth.
I bought my first Hart barreled rifle in 1968 (Made by Clyde Hart), and have never actively looked for another barrel maker out of dissatisfaction with Hart barrels since. I do have a Lilja barrel now, a Pfeifer, two Douglas and two Harts, with three more Harts on order; all except those on order are on rifles. The Harts do not play second fiddle to any of the others in the accuracy department. I've had 5 other Hart barreled rifles that I've sold that were top notch shooters, four were on Benchrest rifles that were as good as any other rifles in their class.
Don

I know some guys that have taken their experiences with Bob Hart(RW - the Gunsmith), out on the whole family. As I recall mid-90's it seemed there were more than a few rifles that went out of there with apparent workmanship issues(oddly enough, this was about the same time that all these guys purchased borescopes...so take this with a grain of salt) Again, this isn't Hart Rifle Barrels, but the brother(?)'s gunsmithing shop.

Personally, I've had only two Hart's, both 30 caliber barrels, very accurate, easy to clean, and quite beautiful to look down.

I found it very interesting a couple of years ago at Trinidad, watching different guys work Krieger, Hart, Douglas and Shilen barrels. With "all things being equal(take that for what you will), it seemed to me that the Kriegers and Harts were generally much easier to machine thread ream with a good finish. There was a night and day difference between the Hart and the stainless Shilen that I worked up.