Barrel suggestion

[John Shortell]

I'm planning to build a longrifle. Any suggestions on a good accurate barrel in .50 cal? Who is making quality cut rifled barrels? They all claim to be the best. What are the top shooters using?

 

[rabjr]

Rice! :thumbsup:
http://www.ricebarrels.com/

 

[Ft. Jefferson]

Even a mediocre barrel will shoot better than the best rifleman can shoot it. That being said, the finest workmanship out there right now is Rice, if you want to spend that much. I've used Green Mountain exclusively for 25yrs now and have no reason to change.

 

[Tom Compton]

+1 for GM

I have been shooting Douglas barrels for 30+ years. As Douglas no longer makes ML barrels, I bought a GM last year for a project and now have a second GM. IF another project raises it's head, I won't hesitate to use GM again.

TC

 

[Robby]

John, I have used Colraine, Getz, Long Hammock, Green Mountain, and Rice in my guns and they are all good. It might be subjective but I would have to give the edge to Rice, not by much, and Again its my opinion based only on my personal usage. I don't think you would do wrong in selecting any one of them.
Robby

 

[Vaino]

As was said...all of the bbls will perform better than anybody can hold, so availability is a prime issue. Getz and Green Mountain are more difficult to obtain and GM bbls have to be breeched. Personally, I only use Rice bbls and have found them to have an edge asre finish and breeching.....Fred

 

[hoochiepapa]

I have heard this several times now, and I need educating. I have a GM barrel on my .32 and it was breeched for me. Was that just a feature of TOW, or did it come that way from the factory?

 

[CoyoteJoe]

They don't come from GM with breechplug installed except for the "drop-in" barrels which come complete.

 

[hoochiepapa]

TOW must have done it, then. Guess I better pay more attention to my expenses.
Doesn't matter if it's swamped or not?

 

[hanshi]

I have barrels from several makers but my dream rifle, which is in the order stage, will have a Rice barrel.

 

[Tom Compton]

I don't have any rifles with swamped barrels. Just an added expense to me. I was able to try rifles with straight barrels in different configurations - Size across the flats, caliber and length.

Fer instance, a 39" striaght 15/16" .50 cal barrel may balance the same as a swamped 39" 1" .54 cal. (prob'ly not but just an example).

May favorite is a .40 cal 7/8" barrel 42" long. More than one way to skin a cat.

TC

 

[Dphar]

I'm planning to build a longrifle. Any suggestions on a good accurate barrel in .50 cal? Who is making quality cut rifled barrels? They all claim to be the best. What are the top shooters using?

Green mountain is good, fairly easy to get. But they are not breeched. I consider this a plus since I would likely re-do the breeching anyway.
They use a GB quality steel. Its what I normally use. Good land groove ratios, narrow lands.
I think Long Hammock uses hot rolled and a friend just ordered some barrels that are pretested for accuracy, gain twist and good steel, but I lost the note with the name & number on it. Will have to ask next time on the phone.

Dan

 

[Dphar]

Even a mediocre barrel will shoot better than the best rifleman can shoot it. That being said, the finest workmanship out there right now is Rice, if you want to spend that much. I've used Green Mountain exclusively for 25yrs now and have no reason to change.

Wait till you get one that won't shoot under 5"- 6" at 60-70 yards then revisit the "mediocre" statement. This was from a well respected custom maker.

Dan

 

[hoochiepapa]

On the idea of GM barrels, David Price told me that he proof tested some barrel he got from them. They were thin at the muzzle to make his swivel breeches lighter and balance better. If I remember right, he said that he fired a 90gr. load of 3F with three patched balls in front, and them miked the barrels. All ok.
GM told him they would stand behind their barrels even though they were thin. He ordered 100 of them.

 

[justafeedboy]

I'm a rice fan. closely followed by collarain

 

[rr11]

Most barrels made today will give good service. My go to hunting rifle has a Long Hammock barrel and it is very accurate. The odds of having a bad barrell is low. I have one rifle with a Rice one with the Long Hammock and two with unknown barrels. All shoot very well.

 

[Tom Compton]

I certainly wouldn't call a barrel "mediocre" that only managed to put 5 balls in a 5" circle at 50 yards. More likely would call it a tent stake.