I'm working on a couple of actions right now and don't have the machinery or the know-how to put the barrel on. (Tang Ruger 77's and Turks) The guns will be hunting rifles, as I don't shoot at all competitively. But I do want the best accuracy/$ spent. I missed a buck this year for the first time and don't want to be able to blame the gun ever again.

There is a gunsmith near me that I trust to install a barrel. They buy the blanks and thread and chamber them in-house. He recommends Douglas and uses them exclusively for his competition shooting.

I know, go with what they recommend, but I have not heard alot about Douglas and what I have heard makes it sound like they are below Shilen, Pac-Nor, L-W, etc in quality and performance.

What are your opinions?

Also, as more food for thought, he said they can put a Shilen barrel on for the same price as the Douglas, but they have had a couple of problems with shank breakage on the Shilens. (Maybe when they buy pre-done mausers?)

I love Douglas barrels. When talking pure benchrest, Shilen and others are best. But for a hunting rifle, I don't believe Douglas can be beat for the $. I have a 6x284, built on a single shot Mauser action(not the most accurate action) with a No 6 Douglas stainless that has never shot a group in 15 years over 1/2".

I have a couple of friends who have had Shilen's installed on custom rifles and had problems. These were both hunting guns, barreled by a local smith with Shilen barrels from Brownell's. Neither would shoot. A borescope study of the barrels both showed rough and inconsistent bores. I have heard indirectly that these barrels sold by Brownell's are not the top quality BR barrels sold directly. Don't know if that is true. I do know that you would have a hard time getting a Shilen barrel from them at the price of a Douglas, so I suspect the smith is talking about the Brownell's barrels.

The best source I know for Douglas is IT&D custom gun in Cleveland. They have advertised in Shotgun News in the Gunsmith Services section for many years. Douglas blanks are $119 for #2 and #3 tapers, $104 for unturned. Other smaller and larger are a few dollars higher. He also will install and blue at a good price. I have never found a reamer he doesn't have.

What is the typical price for the douglas blank+ install and truing up the action? Would the whole deal be much less than the $420 it takes to just send your action to pacnor and have it all done?

The price I was quoted was $380 for it all, same price CM or Stainless. His shop is about an hour from me and being on the opposite coast, it will also save the shipping to Pac-Nor.

Also, I had him set-back and rechamber a Single shot Mauser I have (.222 mag to a .223). Shots 8-10 I was playing and shot a group of under 4" at 425 yards. Not bench rest, but better than I thought that I could do. So, I have confidence in this 'smith. I am open to suggestions if anyone knows someone better.

I haven't checked with IT&D lately, but I would doubt his total price is over $300. I would guess $120 contoured barrel
$60-80 install
$60-80 blue
Shipping is $8.00 for just a barrel
Like I said, he has done work for me that rivals a lot of bench guns.

His phone is 330-868-6867

I have always gotten good results with Douglas tubes. They have a video on their web site which shows their manufacturing process. The building and equipment look, well, old. The presentation does not exude that "high tech" feel that some other manufacturers seem to have, but when it comes right down to it, Douglas barrels just plain shoot well. Don't they also offer a double-button rifled barrel for bench resters?

Jordan

Dave at IT&D is finishing up a gun for me and I get it next week. He is real reasonable on the prices and it has not taken too long for him to get the gun back to me. Can't wait to get the gun and see how it shoots. Send me an email if you want to know how it turns out.

Cheers,
Jason

My gunsmith installed a premium xx #5 douglas barrel on my winchester model 70 and dropped the completed action into a new fibeglass stock. It has become my favorite rifle. Thing this just plain shoots and it's fun too

When I am shooting at the range besides my freinds with pacnor, shilen and various other premium barrels i can see no difference in the performance. Interestingly enough, my gunsmith will install any barrel you are willing to pay for, but he does not have faith in the shilen barrels accuracy based on past experience.

On the topic of Dave Carver, he is one hell of a nice guy, scrupulously honest, and a fine gunsmith. Now that the secret has been released, I guess my normal short wait time for him to complete my work will increase. In fact, I just sent him something to work on today.

Todd

I have a Douglas on my best 40X positition rifle. It will shoot all day long, hot or cold.

This is a heavy target barrel of course. I also have Douglas barrels on other sporters and I may well buy a couple more barrels from them.

I don't know what pre-threaded barrel is offered by Brownell's, but if it carries the Shilen name, it must surely be a "Lone Star" barrel (the ones they reject because they don't meet benchrest specs). I've never owned a Shilen barrel that wasn't their Stainless Match-Grade, and they have all literally been "match grade" in every sense of the word, and those barrels come from Shilen hand lapped. A hand lapped match-grade Shilen barrel normally shows traces of copper only for the first very few shots. When the barrel is broken in, you couldn't ask for a better barrel. They are straight as a string, and the bore is lapped to perfection. Every benchrest shooter hopes for a "hummer", but some barrels just shoot better than others.

Here's the link to their price list:
http://www.shilen.com/price.htm

My first two barrels on my M1A match rifle were Douglas Premium tubes installed by Champion's Choice in Nashville. I shot my way into Master class using these barrels. While the hand lapped Kriegers and other barrels are extremely good and tend to foul less. For the $$$ you will be VERY happy with a Douglas barrel on a hunting rifle and shouldn't look back.

Could someone please post IT&D's mailing address or e-mail if there is one. Thanks

Thank you

The only problem I ever had with a custom barrel was with a Shilen Stainless Match Grade barrel. It wouldn't shoot and when scoped I found the lands missing from a small section about half way up the barrel. When I called, they just said,"can't be, must just be your problem." I've never had a bad Douglas barrel, or crappy service from them either. Douglas goes way ahead of Shitlen. I made that barrel into a putter for my dad.

I've used IT&D many times for all but one rifle. I just sent Dave a Mauser action a few days ago, to be built into an 8 Mauser scout rifle.
One thing he's buggered-up on, though, was NOT making sure my 375 WhnAI would feed with 100% reliability. He just assumed it would. At least one of the round's shoulder would bump up against the chamber mouth and make for jerky chambering. I've since altered the feed rails (after talking to Sisk and Ricks) for advise on how to do it.
Still, he does excellent work.
~~~Suluuq