Just wanted to let everyone know that our temporary website is up and running. We are looking at adding quite a bit to it in the very near future so keep looking. http://www.mcgowenbarrel.com

Thanks,
Dan

Dan,

If you're open to suggestions: The black background and white print are hard to read for us guys over 40.

It would also be nice to make the selection buttons at the top of the page larger.

You have the prices on the services but none on the blanks, is that "coming soon"?

Glad to see you guys up and running.

Sir, I would like to hear your definition of "precision". Are we talking "benchrest" quality? Are we talking "minute of deer" quality? If your definition of precision is about the same as mine, you need to get some of your barrels in the hands of some BR shooters, let them prove the barrels in competition, and you will never meet the demand. If they don't......

quote:

Originally posted by rws:
Sir, I would like to hear your definition of "precision". Are we talking "benchrest" quality? Are we talking "minute of deer" quality? If your definition of precision is about the same as mine, you need to get some of your barrels in the hands of some BR shooters, let them prove the barrels in competition, and you will never meet the demand. If they don't......

From the looks of the twist rates in 6mm and 30cal, I'm guessing he's not concerned with us BR shooters. He's missing a giant market, although one with some stiff competition. See ya in the AM..

quote:

If you're open to suggestions: The black background and white print are hard to read for us guys over 40.

Even more so for us guys approaching 60.

Ain't no big deal when you're over 70--- You're kinda searching anyway.

To the meat of it. Harry McGowen Made me a light barrled action in 22 Varminter in the real early 60s. It was the most accurate Hunting rifle I've ever owned. I'd have it today if I hadn't gone through a messy devorce.
With 4350 or 4831 It neverfound a bullet it couldn't handle including a Barnes original 70 grainer that took quite a few mule deer.

Never met McGowan but always had good thoughts about him. roger

This is great!
Anyone who wants can now order a .395 barrel.


I never met Harry either but had many telephone conversations with him, and every one of a dozen McGowen barrels that I or my gunsmiths got from Harry was excellent.

Imagine the spirit of a 78-year-old barrel maker who would grant the wish of a wildcatter to create a new caliber such as the .395.

Harry did a great job with his tracer lathe technology.

The new CNC machinery in Kalispell won't hurt a thing will it?

Here is what some of the old big bore barrels by McGowen would do with North Fork bullets: (get photos)

50-yards, .475 caliber:



100-yards, .423 caliber:



300-yards, .423 caliber:

I've got a .308 barrel on order now from Mcgowen Precision Barrels, LLC. It is to be used on a 300 Lapua.

I shall let y'all know how it shoots.

I do believe McGowen Precision is going to be able to export .395 barrels to RSA.

quote:

Originally posted by McGowenRifle:
Just wanted to let everyone know that our temporary website is up and running. We are looking at adding quite a bit to it in the very near future so keep looking. http://www.mcgowenbarrel.com

Thanks,
Dan

Dan,
What is the physical address of the shop? I'd like to stop by the next time I'm in Kalispell. Regards, Bill.

WOW!!!! 78 years young! Incredible! Goes to show the miracle of working on rifles prevents pre-mature aging!!

quote:

Originally posted by Bill Leeper:

quote:

Originally posted by McGowenRifle:
Just wanted to let everyone know that our temporary website is up and running. We are looking at adding quite a bit to it in the very near future so keep looking. http://www.mcgowenbarrel.com

Thanks,
Dan

Dan,
What is the physical address of the shop? I'd like to stop by the next time I'm in Kalispell. Regards, Bill.

Temporary web site: a light colored background with dark lettering would be easier on the eyes, aye.

Bill,
Go to the "contact" page of the site and you will see:

McGowen Precision barrels, LLC
740 West Railroad Street, Suite B
Kalispell, MT 59901

Phone: 406-755-4907
Fax: 406-755-2965

email: info@mcgowenbarrel.com

Jon Frost
Dan Wynne

The statement about the buy out rather turned me off, rightly or wrongly I got the impression it's been bought by a venture capitalist. What's different to this from a brand new start up unless some of the personel have moved across?

On the technical side of things I seriously missed knowing whether the barrels are cut or buttoned, how they're stress relieved and whether they're air guaged etc.

Sorry to seem negative, it's meant constructively.

I see Dan Wynne's name pop up in connection with McGowen barrels (I did not realize who the person signing as "Dan" was at first). Dan has a ton of experience in this business, and has been a great person to do business with during his long stint at MRC. I'm sure he will provide excellent service at McGowen as well.

- mike

Fjold,

The pricing is now up and running. I'll check into getting the print better and the menu larger.

Dan

rws & pointblank,

Our definition is putting the absolute best barrel out the door. We are maintaining matchgrade quality, but strive for perfection. We will not send something out that isn't right. What twists would you like to see in the 30 & 6mm? let me know and we'll get them on order!

Dan

I spent quite a bit of time with Harry while we were moving his barrel company and you won't find more of a gentleman in the entire world. He has some great stories. The new CNC is going to be a great addition to our shop. It will allow us to turn barrels faster and that helps keep our pricing down where everyone can afford it.

Bill Leeper, Hey Bill! Long time no talk. We are at 740 West Railroad here in Kalispell. But since you've been to Kalispell the easiest way is to go west on Hwy 2 (or Idaho St) and turn left at the Montana Nugget casino and go to the end of the road. can't miss us we're the building at the end.....

1894mk2, Harry had his barrel business for sale for around 5-6 years. The man who bought the company is no venture capitalist, far from it. Instead of being someone who thinks of guns or the firearms business as a hobby, he has a major passion for it. He is as knowledgeable about firearms as just about anyone I've met. He is interested in only producing the very finest barrels and later actions & stocks that the regular guy can afford. Harry was ready to semi-retire and the way I understand it is that his sons didn't want to be in the barrel business, so instead of selling it off piece by piece Harry held his ground for those 5-6 years and ended up selling the entire barrel company to our boss. We kept Harry's name because of all of the great things that he did in and for the industry. We as a group strive to make the very best products available. The personnel that we have here all worked for MRC at one time or another. They were all looking for something else and we brought over those who we believe are the very best at what they do. Our barrels are button rifled and hand lapped. They are stress relieved in a furnace specifically designed for stress relieving, in fact it has the capability to do cryo but we are waiting to hear from the company who has it trademarked before we even consider getting into that industry. Our barrels are pin gauged right now, but the tooling for our air gauge is on order and should be here in just a few short weeks. No need to apologize.

mho,
Mike, thank you for your kind words. I've always felt that no matter how good your product is, if your customer service isn't at least as good, if not better, you'll just be another guy producing a product without customers.

quote:

Originally posted by McGowenRifle:
...Our barrels are button rifled and hand lapped. ...

Were they Cut Rifled at one time, years ago? If "no", then I've got ANOTHER memory scrambled.

Best of luck to you all.

Hot Core,

Not that I am aware of.

Dan

Thanks Dan. The older I get, the more stuff like that gets garbled in the memory.

Best of luck to you and the new organization.

quote:

Originally posted by McGowenRifle:

1894mk2, Harry had his barrel business for sale for around 5-6 years. The man who bought the company is no venture capitalist, far from it. Instead of being someone who thinks of guns or the firearms business as a hobby, he has a major passion for it. He is as knowledgeable about firearms as just about anyone I've met. He is interested in only producing the very finest barrels and later actions & stocks that the regular guy can afford. Harry was ready to semi-retire and the way I understand it is that his sons didn't want to be in the barrel business, so instead of selling it off piece by piece Harry held his ground for those 5-6 years and ended up selling the entire barrel company to our boss. We kept Harry's name because of all of the great things that he did in and for the industry. We as a group strive to make the very best products available. The personnel that we have here all worked for MRC at one time or another. They were all looking for something else and we brought over those who we believe are the very best at what they do. Our barrels are button rifled and hand lapped. They are stress relieved in a furnace specifically designed for stress relieving, in fact it has the capability to do cryo but we are waiting to hear from the company who has it trademarked before we even consider getting into that industry. Our barrels are pin gauged right now, but the tooling for our air gauge is on order and should be here in just a few short weeks. No need to apologize.

Excellent to hear - I would suggest you might emphasise some of this more on your website.

quote:

Originally posted by McGowenRifle:
rws & pointblank,

Our definition is putting the absolute best barrel out the door. We are maintaining matchgrade quality, but strive for perfection. We will not send something out that isn't right. What twists would you like to see in the 30 & 6mm? let me know and we'll get them on order!

Dan

Well, in benchrest, I mean short range benchrest, we typically use the slowest twist that will stabilize the bullet. In 6mm, that is 13, 13.5, 14 and 15. The 30 calibers used are 15, 16, 17 and 18.

The benchrest game puts a very high demand and everything, from powder to bullets, to scopes, barrels, and a whole lot in between. In a match today, anything that isn't 100% will loose, because someone else has it together.

Butch Lambert frequents this board, used to work at Shilen, and shoots BR. He can vouch for the demands of the sport.

There is always room for another quality barrel maker.

Wayne Shaw

rws,

I will take your list of calibers and twists and see what I can do. We have some real accuracy nuts working here so I'll get their 2 cents and put them on order.

Dan

1894mk2,
There is some of it on the website and as stated before this is just a beginning of the website. We are going to be adding tons of information on the website. If anyone had seen Montana Rifleman's website prior to it being changed after my leaving there was a lot of information for everyone to see. I tried to make everything easy to understand. We plan on offering the most comprehensive website on rifle barrels, actions, barreled actions and complete rifles that you could ever ask for. I hope that I don't dissappoint anyone.

Dan

things may have changed over the past several years, but IIRC from writing nine years for Precision Shooting Magazine, if each person that shot one Benchrest match a year bought two new barrels from the same maker every year, he would still go bankrupt. I believe Harold Broughton and others would confirm this theory... Dave Brennan has confirmed the numbers independently with trying to publish the second magazine related to accuracy shooting. The BR game boasts a rather small membership between the IBS & NBRSA, most hold dual membership. An elite group, but a small one. Aside from the Super Shoot and the Crawfish, and perhaps the winter shoot at the Ben Avery range,one does not see attendance figures much over 50-60 anywhere. There's no entry-level program, just look at what happened (quickly) to Hunter Class. In 1990 I finished 7th in the TCL, Top Five at every match I shot in, and won the 1990 Oregon State Match with a Remington 700 with 3-lever conversion, a Lilja barrel, an HC Class stock, and 150gr Sierra MK's and 4895. Today, only the Lilja barrel part is still competitive. McGowen has always been noted as a very accurate maker of varmint and hunting rifle barrels at a very good price. I hope that the new crew will uphold that standard. That would make about 99% of their current customers pretty happy. Just like Douglas.

regards,

Rich
DRSS

In addition to what Rich said about pure numbers of BR shooters, one must also consider that to break into this sport as a supplier of gear, you essentially need to show up on the list of winning gear. If you don't, you can make barrels as good as you like, with as many twist rates and calibers suited to BR as you like, you will always be an "also ran".

If that is the market McGowen wants to conquer, then go for it. But be aware that the competition plays in a different price category, and this is not a field in which a lower price will sell a lot of barrels.

- mike

quote:

Originally posted by Don Howe:
https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/...=134106766#134106766

I think you'll find a big difference between the old McGowen & the new McGowen Precision Barrels. We are replacing most, if not all, of McGowens tooling to ensure that our barrels are absolutely 100% accurate on dimensions. As McGowen kept the gunsmithing portion of his business we are purchasing all new chamber reamers so that should not be an issue. We feel our major market is the custom gunsmiths and such but we will do everything possible to offer the very best of the best in the industry. Will this allow us to keep our pricing at a lower level? That remains to be seen, but we will try. The BR market is a tough one to crack and we know that we have to make barrels that will win in order to be received or accepted in that market. All I can say is that our staff is passionate about making the very best and isn't interested in being just another barrel maker.

My suggestion re .30 barrels is to not forget the 11" twist. It works wonderfully with 168 to 175 gr. match, ball, and AP bullets.

Also, if you want to make really good barrels for "full-bore" competition (AKA "high-power or Camp Perry style competition) let me also suggest you do what Jack Krieger did early on. Make your barrel bores a wee tad "tight". It will greatly ncrease the length of acceptable accuracy life. Many shooters like that, even if they don't know how it is achieved.

If you are looking at international sales, in some countries the shooters MUST shoot issue military ammo in their matches. That ammo, if 7.62 Nato, almost always has bullets varying from .306" to .307" diameter.

Jack sold a LOT of barrels to Canada and other Commonwealth countries because in the '70s he was one of only three places we could order and actually rely on getting barrels no larger than .307" groove diameter and .2998" bore diameter. The others were Sportco (Omark Australia), and Shultz & Larsen.

Good luck to you all.

quote:

Originally posted by mho:
I see Dan Wynne's name pop up in connection with McGowen barrels (I did not realize who the person signing as "Dan" was at first). Dan has a ton of experience in this business, and has been a great person to do business with during his long stint at MRC. I'm sure he will provide excellent service at McGowen as well.
- mike

Dan from MRC, OK, I can deal with people I know!

I have a Montana Rifle Co. left handed, stainless, model 1999 action, serial number 000X, so I know Dan.


Dan, have your web guy check the site, I filled out the contact form to ask about special services and when I hit the "Submit" button, I go the the "This website is not connected" error.

[/QUOTE]


Dan from MRC, OK, I can deal with people I know!

I have a Montana Rifle Co. left handed, stainless, model 1999 action, serial number 000X, so I know Dan.


Dan, have your web guy check the site, I filled out the contact form to ask about special services and when I hit the "Submit" button, I go the the "This website is not connected" error.[/QUOTE]

Frank,
Sorry, I knew the contact page wasn't working properly. The site is temporary until we make all of the changes to it that the boss wants. Once it is exactly as he wants then the contact page will work properly. For the meantime please click on one of the name to the left of the form and send a direct email.

Dan

quote:

Originally posted by Alberta Canuck:
My suggestion re .30 barrels is to not forget the 11" twist. It works wonderfully with 168 to 175 gr. match, ball, and AP bullets.

Also, if you want to make really good barrels for "full-bore" competition (AKA "high-power or Camp Perry style competition) let me also suggest you do what Jack Krieger did early on. Make your barrel bores a wee tad "tight". It will greatly ncrease the length of acceptable accuracy life. Many shooters like that, even if they don't know how it is achieved.

If you are looking at international sales, in some countries the shooters MUST shoot issue military ammo in their matches. That ammo, if 7.62 Nato, almost always has bullets varying from .306" to .307" diameter.

Jack sold a LOT of barrels to Canada and other Commonwealth countries because in the '70s he was one of only three places we could order and actually rely on getting barrels no larger than .307" groove diameter and .2998" bore diameter. The others were Sportco (Omark Australia), and Shultz & Larsen.

Good luck to you all.

We still have all of the tooling from Harry and some of it is tight, I'll make some changes to the Barrels page on Monday and put in those that would be considered "tight" according to standard bore/groove dimensions in the calibers.

Dan

After seeing this forum I called Harry and had a great talk with him. The deal is EXACTLY as posted in this forum. I just hope that the new owners plan on keeping up the "McGowen QA" that has been in place for so many years. I have used Harrys` barrels for over 30 years and NEVER had a bad one. I asked him one time why he never got into the benchrest type barrel and was told he [Harry] didn`t want the headaches associated with the benchrest crowd although his barrels most likely are as good as most of the other big names in the industry. He told me the new owners bought out all the already bored and rifled barrels as part of the deal. I immediately called and ordered a 6.5 barrel from the w\new owners. I figured it was time to rebarrel my 264 Remington a last time. I`ll let you all know how it goes. I am sure glad they kept the McGowen name and now to keep up the McGowen tradition.
Aloha, Mark

quote:

Originally posted by Bohica:
After seeing this forum I called Harry and had a great talk with him. The deal is EXACTLY as posted in this forum. I just hope that the new owners plan on keeping up the "McGowen QA" that has been in place for so many years. I have used Harrys` barrels for over 30 years and NEVER had a bad one. I asked him one time why he never got into the benchrest type barrel and was told he [Harry] didn`t want the headaches associated with the benchrest crowd although his barrels most likely are as good as most of the other big names in the industry. He told me the new owners bought out all the already bored and rifled barrels as part of the deal. I immediately called and ordered a 6.5 barrel from the w\new owners. I figured it was time to rebarrel my 264 Remington a last time. I`ll let you all know how it goes. I am sure glad they kept the McGowen name and now to keep up the McGowen tradition.
Aloha, Mark

There was a reason we kept the McGowen name and that was to continue the tradition that Harry had built over the past 39+ years. Our QA will be even more stringent than what Harry had. While we still have some of Harry's inventory in stock, we are making new inventory all the time. The barrels we are seeing coming off of our machinery are the best barrels that we've ever seen or produced and all of us have been doing this for quite a number of years prior to buying McGowen Rifle Barrels and relocating it. We are not looking at being a mass production house like so many barrel makers have become, we want each and every barrel to be as good as the last one and are tweaking our machinery and procedures to ensure that this happens. Our goal is to be the best in the industry and every day we make strides to become just that. The 264 you are probably going to receive is probably going to be a Harry McGowen barrel. If not I think you will be absolutely thrilled with what you receive.

Dan

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:
I've got a .308 barrel on order now from McGowen Precision Barrels, LLC ...

It arrived today.
McGowen Precision Barrels is alive!
A beautiful stainless 28" .308 barrel with a 1:10" twist, not too fat, and not too skinny, and made in Montana.

BTT.
prof242 and I have gotten some beautiful No.4 Sporter contour barrels in .395 earlier this month also. Fantastic service, quick delivery.
I wanted to add one more McGowen accuracy target, a 500 A-Square made with a 1:10" twist, stainless, shooting the 705-grain AAA Harlow bullet: 0.170" for 3-shot group at 100 yards:

Moly-smudged entrance wounds:



Exit wounds:



The new staff and machinery have the potential for even better, if that is possible. I'll post some targets from the 300 Lapua Mag, .395 Ruger Max, and 400/.395 Nitro Express when possible, using the newest McGowen barrels.

Look at the new logo on the McGowen Precision Barrels home page. Shades of the .395 Tatanka :


www.mcgowenbarrel.com

A 300 Lapua Magnum, .395 Ruger Max, and 400/.395 Nitro Express are in the works with these new barrels from Montana. I hope to post some accuracy targets from those.

They keep adding on in Kalispell. Still the only maker I know of .395 barrels, for which I am extremely grateful.

Thank you McGowen Precision Barrels, LLC.

Our salesman's (Jon) wife drew the buffalo for our logo. She is an amazing artist. Glad everyone likes it.

We are expanding our offerings every week. And most of the old tooling from the original McGowen Rifle Barrels is or has been replaced with many new ones coming in here in the next month or two.

We just bought a new horizontal mill (it's a beast) that we are now able to do octagons as long as 36"!

There has been a lot of talk about us making rifle actions. Well it is true. We are currently in design on 4 different actions. What are they? Can't give out too much detail as they are still in design right now and we don't want to become another one of those companies who make promises on availability and then can't deliver. Lets just say that the first one to go into prototype will be a mini action (223 size). Keep watching for more information coming and as soon as we are confident of our date of production we'll announce them to the world.

Dan