Gidday Guys,

I am needing to rebarrel my Savage 340 in 222 as the original is now buggered.

I looked at the trueflight barrels which are supposed to be superior to most others available and have the advantage of being locally made but the cost is prohitive in the current envirionment when a mate put me onto the midway website and showed me the A & B.

These prices look fantastic. What are these barrels like. Any experiences would be apprieciated.

Happy Hunting

Hamish

I have used three A&B barrels and all have shot under an inch @100 yards with hand loads. Good enough for most hunting but not benchrest or a tack driver quality.

I think it would be a big mistake. You might contact Phil Jones in Queensland. He imports Shilen and other barrels. He may be able to help you with a quality barrel. I can get contact info if needed.
Butch

Great barrels .. *I* haven't seen one that does worse than MOA .. though they do foul

i've done 458, 416, and 308 ONLY .. but a couple 458 and 416s

they aint shilens ... adn they probably aren't enough of a save from shipping, but I like them

I've got one in .220 swift heavy contour Haven't shot it yet but in the next few weeks I will. I'll let you know then.

Gidday Guys,

Thanks for the info so far. This is what I am interested in. Actual experiences.

On this rifle moa would be about what I would espect as the most demanding thing it would be asked to do would be busting bunnies at around 200. Otherwise it would be used on goats, wallabies and small (fallow) deer with head and neck shots to the same distance.

Shipping is no problem as I have a mate whose wife works for an airline as aircrew and she will bring it back for nothing.

The bloody kiwi $ is dropping though and that will push the price up.

Thanks again

Happy Hunting

Hamish

I've used at least a dozen or so of these barrels and everyone shoots 1 MOA or better. A couple of these in 22 and 308 bores shot better than 1/2 MOA. All with handloads. They do tend to foul a bit faster. They seem to be a great deal for the average hunter. I would no way consider them to be a match grade barrel. The contours are a little on the heavy side for your rifle but could be turned down. The exterior finish is good and contoured true to the bore. Good luck, Paul..

quote:

The bloody kiwi $ is dropping though and that will push the price up.

We'll swap you Obamma for whoever you have. Maybe he can save YOU TOO!

my 30/06 shoots well. i clean it after hunting and haven't noticed more fouling than other barrels. the smith that installed it said the contour was NOT concentric with the bore, but that was 6 years ago. it's shot several deer and a cow elk.

I'm happy for you folks that have had such fine results with AB barrels. I only have two but neither has proved to be a consistant MOA; More like 1 1/2 or 2 MOA. At 200 yds. that could translate to 2" from POA max. if properly zeroed and no wind or paralax. roger

quote:

Originally posted by bartsche:
I'm happy for you folks that have had such fine results with AB barrels. I only have two but neither has proved to be a consistant MOA; More like 1 1/2 or 2 MOA. At 200 yds. that could translate to 1" from POA max. if properly zeroed and no wind or paralax. roger

I believe 2 moa would be about 2" off POA(4" group) at 200 yards, right?

quote:

I believe 2 moa would be about 2" off POA(4" group) at 200 yards, right?

You are absolutly correct. That was a mental fart for sure. roger

I don't know if the A&B barrels are lapped or not, but I suspect not...at their price level.

That in turn may account for the heavier fouling they produce/acquire when new.

In that case, perhaps after a bit of shooting has worn off the rough surfaces, they may foul less?

Or perhaps a little fire lapping with very fine (400 grit or finer) will reduce it right off the bat?

Anyway, for the rifle you are proposing to rebarrel, I suspect the A&B barrels would be a good match. There was nothing wrong with the Savage 340 for field use, but it surely was never intended to be a "bragging group in the wallet" bench queen.

Take it to Flaco's shop!

Have used A&B for .257Bob (3), .220Swift (2), 243 (1), 6.5X55(2), 7x57 (1), 30-06 (2), .375 (2) and have 4 more in reserve--
( all bought more than 10 years ago)
all placed on Mausers ( both large and small ring)

All have been 1" @ 100 barrels.
(even before fire-lapping)
I later fire lapped all.

Thaey aren't Shilen's, Krieger's, etc, etc
but for the money,(at least in the USA)
they are hard to beat.

which is why I bought mine.
A $89 barrel on a $50 action with a $70 stock.
My old 1891 Arg mauser is going to be a sweet little tack driver. She won't be great looking but she'll be sweet.
And My BBl was the heaviest contour they make for the large ring. 26" overall with a 7/8" muzzle damn thing is heavy

quote:

Originally posted by kcstott:
which is why I bought mine.
A $89 barrel on a $50 action with a $70 stock.
My old 1891 Arg mauser is going to be a sweet little tack driver. She won't be great looking but she'll be sweet.
And My BBl was the heaviest contour they make for the large ring. 26" overall with a 7/8" muzzle damn thing is heavy

Hmm, your 1891 is a small ring.

I have built several guns with A&B barrels. All the ones I have made are MOA shooters, once broke-in. A&B barrels are not lapped, but then neither are Rem. and Win. The biggest difference I find is in cleaning. They copper foul much quicker than a Shilen, Kreiger or other top of the line barrel. Douglas barrels are somewhat less expensive and high quality. I have used A&B barrels from .220 to .416 and all worked......Tom

G'day Hamish,
Sorry to have to 'rain on your parade', but there's just a couple of difficulties you may not be aware of, regarding getting firearm parts out of the US:

1. To legally export a barrel from the US requires a US State Dept Export License. The minimum cost for these is now around the US$350 mark [and they take 5+ weeks to come through]. They also require you to work through a registered exporter.
And the manufacturer has to be registered for export as well. Brownells have been cancelling export parts orders, due to this factor, of late.

Quite a few of the blokes on Australian Hunting Net were getting barrels direct from firms like Pac-Nor, but these US Government fees have put paid to that. Just not worthwhile for a few barrels, let alone one-offs.

This is not something you would want your friend to get caught trying to evade - the ITARs penalties include jail time, and huge [USD500k] fines. The US State Dept are very much into enforcing these International Trade in Arms Regulations, these days.

Info on exporting from US barrel makers:

http://www.riflebarrels.com/exporting.htm
http://www.pac-nor.com/exporting/

2. This would also make the use of a carrier necessary; the postal service is about the cheapest and quickest option.

The NZ end is probably the easy part, as it is in Oz [yes, we need to get an import permit, but it's free and comes through in about a week]. Oh, and Midway don't do exports to individuals, only licensed dealers.

I would have suggested getting a barrel from Oz, but the price on the True-flite Premium Sporter grade is pretty competitive with the likes of MAB/TSE over here.