I'm looking to have a rifle rebarreled to 6.5/300 wsm for long range prarie dogs. The receiver is already a wssm, so that is why that chambering, and yes I'm going to shoot it single shot, so mag length is irrelevant to me.

Getting down to it, I was wanting to have it barreled with a Hart 30" straight taper bbl. My smith, who I've seen his work and does a lot of benchrest guns, says he uses Kreiger bbls, and that's all he uses. How do the Kreigers stack up against the rest? Good, better, best, ?

I'm looking for top end quality, low foul rate, and ease of cleaning. I'm also looking for a bbl that doesn't jump around it's point of impact as it heats up.

I'm not looking for "cheaper", but I want a top quality bbl, the cost between the Hart and Kreiger isn't enough to concern with either way.

How happy will I be with a Kreiger?

Thanks.

I personally prefer the Kreiger or Bartlein over the Hart. Hart is a decent barrel. I believe most forums that you go to will give you the same answer.
Butch

Slim-

Here's my answer to your question. Some folks here are likely to disagree, so again, this is my opinion.

I believe the top three barrel makers are Hart, Krieger and Lilja. Those three companies are to barrel making as, Zeiss, Swarovski and Leica are to optics.

I have rifles that barrels from each of those makers. You cannot go wrong with any of them.

Now if your barrel is going to be chrome moly, that will eliminate Hart as they only do stainless. I am not even going to enter the button process (Hart and Lilja) versus cut rifled (Krieger) debate.

Hence, it boils down to "taste." If you want a Hart, get a Hart. But, if you choose a Krieger, you are not going to sacrifice any quality.

Having said that, the most accurate rifle that I own is a Hart barreled 6.5/300 WSM on a Winchester Classic Action. It has a 24" number three contour Hart stainless barrel on it.

Good luck.

I'm with Butch...shocker. Kreiger and Bartlein barrels are my choice, and the benchmark I use is extreme accuracy. I'm a benchrest shooter and gunsmith, so what I look for is pure accuracy. As for easy cleaning, any properly hand lapped barrel should clean up fairly easily.

Bartlein.

flaco

Take your pick from Krieger, Lilja, Bartlein, Broughton, Hart, Spencer etc... Any of these guys can build an exceptional barrel at any point. I Have Broughton, and Lilja on a couple of my personal guns, I've put Krieger, and Bartlein on customers rifles, and I can't tell any of them apart based on accuracy. They all shoot. That being said, I've just ordered a Bartlein, and a Krieger for my benchguns for this next season. If your smith prefers the Krieger go with it.

Rhys,

Yes I was thinking the same thing about going with what my smith recommends, I just wanted some feedback to see if my expectations for barrel quality would be met.

I've seen this smith's finished work and am impressed by it, I just don't have any first hand knowledge of Krieger barrels. It sounds like that's gonna change though, after about 4 months of waiting that is...

Thanks for the input guys, I appreciate it.

Shot long range for a number of years and believe even yet today, Krieger will dominate at 1000 yard matches such as Palma, etc. Others out there, but Krieger is where I always put my money. Negative for Krieger is the slow delivery time, but that may not be so bad now that the season is at an end.

It can be a long wait for a Kreiger, depending on what you are looking for, but there are a few stocking dealers. Give Lester Bruno a call and he may just have exactly what you are looking for in stock.

http://www.brunoshooters.com/

With the throat life of an over bore varminter, you would be better off with a stainless Lothar Walther, if you can find someone with the skill to chamber it.

quote:

I believe the top three barrel makers are Hart, Krieger and Lilja. Those three companies are to barrel making as, Zeiss, Swarovski and Leica are to optics.

I have rifles that barrels from each of those makers. You cannot go wrong with any of them.

Yep.
Same here.

Don

pointblank,

Ironically you have just named my gunsmith. He's the "local smith" who's going to do the work. I've seen a couple of his rifles, and fired one of his that a now-passed friend had a few years ago. He does quality work for sure.

He doesn't have the reamer or the barrel in stock, so 4 month wait for the barrel. I told him no problem, as I've already waited 3 years...

I just hadn't wanted to put any names out there, and was only looking for input on barrels.

Thanks.

Krieger. I have one on my smokepole and I take great confidence in believing it's the best money can buy. But is it, really? I think so. I have confidence in its single-point cut rifling over a buttoned barrel...