I saw Midway had A&B barrels for the Savage 110 in .358 win. are these bbls any good and would they fit a short action Savage ? If so where can I get a short action Savage at a decent price?

Sorry I can't help you with where to get a short action Savage at a decent price, other than to suggest looking at gun shops and gun shows for used ones. I can say that I have been pleased with my Adams and Bennett barrel on a Remington 700 in .300 Wthby. I don't seem to get much copper fouling and i get 3/4-inch groups at 100 yards with several different loads and bullets. I am sure it not the same as an air-gauged Douglas Supreme or other premium barrel, but I've been very happy with mine.

Short action or long, the barrels are the same for the Savage.

I would not risk an Adams and B barrel, because for a little more I can buy a Douglas and for a little bit more than that I can get a Lothar Walther barrel...A good barrel will last a lifetime and it is the best investment in a rifle that you can have...

Now I know some swear by them, mostly based on one or two barrels, but sooner or later one gets stung with cheap barrels, thats just the way it works...

Adams & Bennett make barrels designed for Savage Rifles and to my knowledge are the only ones doing so for the home enthuiast. If there are others out there I'm sure that many of us would like to know about it.

I have one of the 10FP LE-1s with the large bolt handle and it shoots like a dream and the large knob and longer bolt handle shure make cold weather operation easy.

I'd say go with the A&B bbls until something better comes around, that's what I'm doing and will soon have a "Swith Barrel Rifle" in 4 cals for less than the cost of 2 rifles. I'd say go buy a new 10FP and go from there. Bels Wishes.

I have a bunch of A&B barrels, and they all look better than the one I chambered and had trouble with fast fouling.

But never again will I waste my time.

A buddy bought an A&B barrel in .338-06 last year for his Savage 110, then talked me into doing the same. Both barrels will place three shots into an inch or less with most decent loads we've tried. It's kinda fun switching between barrels just for the heck of it.

I have one A&B barrel and it shoots really good. If your budget is tight buy the A&B, if not buy one of the premium barrels, or at least thats what I would do. I like the shilen, but there are a lot of good barrels out there.

I've peered down the bore with my borescope into a large number of different makers' barrels. Adams&Bennet tubes were remarkably free of reamer marks and had crisp definition on the junction between the lands and grooves. Without an airguage, I can't speak to variance, but the surface conditions looked darn nice. And a lot better than some barrels praised elsewhere in this thread. A .257 Roberts with a so-called "premium" barrel really disturbed me. But it seemed to shoot OK. I think the A&B might be a pretty good buy.

The A&B barrel I have in 243 has deep anular ring cuts in the barrel every 1/10th inch with all the cuts on the riflings matching all the cuts in the grooves.

I can only think that the button chattered or was broken.

[ 07-21-2003, 03:39: Message edited by: Clark ]

I bought an A+B 35 Whelen barrel last winter. It looked like it had been reamed with a fine thread tap. I slugged it and found bore to be .351" and groove to be .355". The grooves were formed by ironing down the tops of the "threads". I returned it and to Midways credit they refunded my money and the shipping charges.

I know many have had good luck with A+B barrels. If you get one check it carefully before you use it. As for me, I will pay the price for a better piece next time.

As far as I know, Adams and Bennett do not really exist. It is a Midway house brand that Midway uses for the barrels. The trouble with that for me is that since they do not really exist, they won't worry about their reputation, and at any moment Midway could change suppliers and still hang the Adams and Bennett name on the barrels, and the barrels might be better, and they might be worse. So any discussion of the current performance of barrels in the field says nothing about the performance of a barrel that hasn't been purchased yet...it would be a little better if Midway hung their own name on the barrels or much better if they said where they get them from, preferably a supplier that also had business outside Midway. That way whatever they did for Midway would affect their other business, and they would care about quality.

I bought a fast-twist .22-250 Adams and Bennett barrel and a laminated, vented Mauser stock from Midway in June of 2001. I don't get to go shooting much, and I've struggled with the bedding and the scope (had bad scope on it) and the guard screw lengths, but I think all the bugs are out of the rifle, leaving only the loads to be developed. I'm trying to get 3100 fps out of a 24 inch barrel with the Sierra 80-grain HPBT, and no powder I have will do the job with safe pressure. I'm thinking about buying some XMR4350.

When I have real accuracy information to report, good or bad, I'll do it. I'm one of those weenies who thinks 3-shot groups are good enough, and I know a lot of you like 5-shot groups. So one of these days I'll sit down and shoot some 5-shot groups, and whatever I get, that's what I'll say I got. Right now 3-shot groups are running under 1/2 MOA, but I think it might do better--that was with the bad scope.

I do not have a borescope. And this is my first centerfire .22. Everything else I have is .308 or bigger. That having been said, one thing I have noticed is that with a few soaked patches, almost all the black stuff comes out, as though the barrel is smooth and it has nowhere to hide. No other rifle I have cleans like that.

SDS,
Adams&Bennett barrels are made by E.R.Shaw. as far as being made exclusively Midway, i do not know if that is so. i belive these barrels are seconds and that is why some have a hit and miss experince with these. i could be wrong,but the way some have discribed using a bore scope to view the throat and rifling, this is what i suspect. i do not own any Adams&Bennett barrels so can not give an on hands evauluation. but from all the comments i have heard about them, some swear by them, and some swear at them.
Rick

Out of 6 A/B barrels it seems that you either get a very good finish in the bore or very bad. Out of the six 2 were returned for chatter marks, the others shoot and cleaned very well. two needed the crowns straighted out. But hey, can get them in 2 days and returns are no problem.

Rick, just curious how you found out the barrels are made by E.R. Shaw? I've been trying for a couple of years but no one's saying who makes them. E. R. Shaw has gotten good praise since they retooled. I haven't had any problem with A&B for run of the mill hunting guns. I sure wouldn't recommend them for match shooting. I've had my best accuracy so far with Dan Lilja's barrels.

My brother barreled that A&B 243 for me, and he dialed it in to .0001" and got the shoulders to match the distance between to reciever rings within .001". He cut the threads so the reciever would screw on with 1 foot pound of torque. He took hours to chamber it.

I gave him an A&B barrel for doing it.

I felt like a heel when I found out what a bad barrel I had. I looked at my brother's barrel blank, and I didn't see any chattering.

The next barrel I gave him was a Lothar Walthar, and I told him that maybe he should divest himself of the A&B barrel.

the savage short action, and long action, take the same barrel. you can get a savage rifle for like 320, in the 10 model. The best thing about these combos is you can have a 358 cheap cheap, and not really have a risk.

i've only done one gun on an ab.. and i rechambered it myself, in 416 taylor... shoots sub inch, if mike don't flinch.

jeffe

.358,
I've owned a number of AB barreled rifles. It is not uncommon to have 100 yd. groups better than 1"
These are nice screw it on yourself fun guns that can place a bullet in game pretty much where you aim.A .358 really isn't a long ranger so AB will get the job done within that cartriges design use.

On 24hourcampfire, John Barsness confirmed the other day that Adams & Bennett barrels are E.R. Shaw seconds.

Hmm, seconds of already second rate barrels. Makes me want one.

Some of the threaded and chambered A&B barrels were sold by Midway for as little as $31. I got two of these, and the .308 Mauser barrel is bent by more than 1/2" and there is a thraded collar to convert to Mauser threads.

Shaw wants $135 for threaded chambered barrels.

And Lothar Walther wants $160 for a threaded & chambered 98 barrel. I think I'll pay the extra $30.