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what order to rate three most common barrel brands
- Thread starter nag
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Stophel
75 Cal.
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You need to put Rice barrels in there too. I don't know if, practically speaking, there is a bit of difference in any of them. They're all good. I do like the burnished Rice barrel, and prefer the deeper grooves of the Getz/Colerain/Rice barrels over the GM ones, but that's just me. Probably the SMOOTHEST barrel I have ever seen was one I got from Bill Moody several years ago. The grooves were at least as wide as the lands and the bore and grooves were SMOOTH. Man, you better believe it. Very slick. Very well made barrel. I haven't seen his advertisements in some time, so I don't know if he's still around making barrels.
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Fatdutchman, I have to agree. I have a pistol barrel by Moody, and it was one the finest, cleanest cut bores I have ever looked down. Off the bench, I shot a 3/4" group out of it, and it was a 6" barrel, flinter.
CrackStock
69 Cal.
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Along with Rice, Ed Rayl, Orion and Longhammock are feeling a tad unloved at the moment.
Why limit this to just those three?
CS
Why limit this to just those three?
CS
I think what CS meant was that those 3 brands were left out, not that there was anything wrong with any of them.
Mike Brooks
Cannon
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I use alot of barrels. I've found some barrel makers to be consistantly down right awfull and others to have a consitantly excellent product. As in all things, you get what you pay for.
Guest
In my (perhaps limited) experience, the best buy for the money must be Green Mountain based solely on cost & performance at the bench. You will generally see Getz rated first among custom builders, but with supply being spotty more makers are using other brands. My best barrel accuracy-wise is my 42" old Green River .45(no longer made). I really like my 44" Colerain round bottom grooved swamped barrel .50 for accuracy and ease of cleaning. I own several other brands, including Longhammock, Rayl, and am currently (slowly) building a Getz-barreled .54 Lancaster. The barrel is beautifully made, but I'll have to defer comments on performance. One of my more accurate rifles is a .40 with a tapered barrel by some anonymous maker--sometimes performance is the luck of the draw.
Rather than limit to 3, I will list what I have used & the order of what I liked the best.
1: Goodoien
2: Orion
3: Rice
4: Colerain
5: Getz
6: Green Mountain
The Goodoien was the most accurate barrel I have ever owned & the Orion a real close second if not as accurate.
The Rice barrel is "Top Dog" on swamped barrel in machining inside & out & delivery is quite good & he ships when he says he will ship it.
Colerain is the most obtainable & I have had excellent results from them & the availability of a variety of calibers, lengths, etc., and priced great. They are hard to beat.Not as nice a finishinside or outside as the Rice, but cheaper accordingly.
The Getz barrel is a good barrel "IF" you ever get it. (no use going into detail on that saga)
Green mountain is a good & a tough barrel. Have not used their swamped because they were late in the game on them & had success with the Colerains so used what I knew was working good for me.
IMHO, for the general shooter & hunter "ALL" of them will shoot much more accurately than the guy holding them, so I would not Wait long on what ya want. One of these barrel makers will normally have what you need available at a vender.
:results:
1: Goodoien
2: Orion
3: Rice
4: Colerain
5: Getz
6: Green Mountain
The Goodoien was the most accurate barrel I have ever owned & the Orion a real close second if not as accurate.
The Rice barrel is "Top Dog" on swamped barrel in machining inside & out & delivery is quite good & he ships when he says he will ship it.
Colerain is the most obtainable & I have had excellent results from them & the availability of a variety of calibers, lengths, etc., and priced great. They are hard to beat.Not as nice a finishinside or outside as the Rice, but cheaper accordingly.
The Getz barrel is a good barrel "IF" you ever get it. (no use going into detail on that saga)
Green mountain is a good & a tough barrel. Have not used their swamped because they were late in the game on them & had success with the Colerains so used what I knew was working good for me.
IMHO, for the general shooter & hunter "ALL" of them will shoot much more accurately than the guy holding them, so I would not Wait long on what ya want. One of these barrel makers will normally have what you need available at a vender.
:results:
rabbit03
50 Cal.
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I started out with GM and won alot with it! I am working on my first swamped and wanted to try a Rice. I hope I have as much luck with it as the GM. I have no other ecperience with the others but would love to give them a try one day.
I would also be interested in the Bill Moody Barrel perhaps I can get his number or someone can post it for us. The lands and grooves being wide would seem to me make for a smooth shooting and very accurate rifle, I would like to find out. I had a chance to buy a rifling machine a while back and maybe one day will be turning out my own.
The GM barrel I have shot for years will put them almost in the same hole from the bench at 50yds and I guess you could do better but then once you factor in the human element and the light and all the other stuff, I am not sure if it is necessary.
rabbit03
I would also be interested in the Bill Moody Barrel perhaps I can get his number or someone can post it for us. The lands and grooves being wide would seem to me make for a smooth shooting and very accurate rifle, I would like to find out. I had a chance to buy a rifling machine a while back and maybe one day will be turning out my own.
The GM barrel I have shot for years will put them almost in the same hole from the bench at 50yds and I guess you could do better but then once you factor in the human element and the light and all the other stuff, I am not sure if it is necessary.
rabbit03
As a builder who sells on consignment and hopes to sell historically accurate arms in the "middle market" ($1200-$2400), reputation is important to me. Anybody spending serious dough on a custom piece wants to get what they believe are "top notch" components.
Getz has that cachet. They are great barrels, beautifully finished, and when I can get them, I will normally go with a Getz for reputation and quality. They engrave beautifully also. Green Mountain barrels will normally shoot just as well, they are usually well breeched, harder to engrave (I struggle with steel engraving so this matters to me). They do not have the same "wow factor". I'd certainly use Green Mountain for a customer who wanted one.
Since I am having to wait a long time getting Getz barrels custom made (unique profile, caliber, length), I have begun to explore other options for truly custom barrels (not "B", "C", "D" off the rack swamped barrels in regular calibers). I'm getting a 48" long round 12 gauge barrel made by Ed Rayl for a Dutch Fowler project. I'll order my next custom "special job" from Rice. And I'll continue to try to find Getz barrels on the rack for projects that can use the standard offerings.
Getz has that cachet. They are great barrels, beautifully finished, and when I can get them, I will normally go with a Getz for reputation and quality. They engrave beautifully also. Green Mountain barrels will normally shoot just as well, they are usually well breeched, harder to engrave (I struggle with steel engraving so this matters to me). They do not have the same "wow factor". I'd certainly use Green Mountain for a customer who wanted one.
Since I am having to wait a long time getting Getz barrels custom made (unique profile, caliber, length), I have begun to explore other options for truly custom barrels (not "B", "C", "D" off the rack swamped barrels in regular calibers). I'm getting a 48" long round 12 gauge barrel made by Ed Rayl for a Dutch Fowler project. I'll order my next custom "special job" from Rice. And I'll continue to try to find Getz barrels on the rack for projects that can use the standard offerings.
CrackStock
69 Cal.
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Thanks Rebel,
You are right on teh money there. I was just pointing out that there are a lot of other options that in fairness should be included in this discussion.
The is nothing wrong with a Longhammock or I would not have included their name. I have one in my TVM (Avances) .50 and like it quite well.
CS
You are right on teh money there. I was just pointing out that there are a lot of other options that in fairness should be included in this discussion.
The is nothing wrong with a Longhammock or I would not have included their name. I have one in my TVM (Avances) .50 and like it quite well.
CS
You're welcome,just glad i was right about what ya meant. ::
my opinon only.. for target, goodien, they are lapped, but take care not to overload it or make any mistakes, they are softer steel and can bulge at a dovetail for instanace if you double load or shoot your ramrod, short start... they are not swampped to my knowledge and heavy,. but shoot unbeliveabley well.. getz barrels are accurate and work very well with quite abit of abuse, as in not cleaning right after shooting,or hunting ducks on a damp day, or overloading and other problems, they are very tough hard steel. .. they can be swampped, custome ordered to caliber, and are lighter if you get swamped barrels.. .. for instance i lput together the chambers mark silver made in a 16 gauge shotgun and a .62 cal rifle with square bottom wide grooves.. .. i could have gotten inter chanegable swamped barrels they are so close if i wanted on one gun, but wanted two guns... so in my book goodien for target, getz for hunting... dave..
neilg,
I don't have any custom made guns although i see
one in the future. I do have 3 Green Mountain IBS barrels
that i use in my Investarms Hawkens with great results.
.36,.45 & .54 cals. Being IBS they came breeched, with
adj. sites and ramrod. They all ran around $170 and i got
them direct from Green Mountain. I did have to wait almost
8 months for the .45cal. They are great people to deal
with even if they are owned by Knight. :m2c: :results:
snake-eyes
I don't have any custom made guns although i see
one in the future. I do have 3 Green Mountain IBS barrels
that i use in my Investarms Hawkens with great results.
.36,.45 & .54 cals. Being IBS they came breeched, with
adj. sites and ramrod. They all ran around $170 and i got
them direct from Green Mountain. I did have to wait almost
8 months for the .45cal. They are great people to deal
with even if they are owned by Knight. :m2c: :results:
snake-eyes
