time for new barrel

4

4runnerman

New member
Hey all. I am a fish out of water on this subject. Need your help. I have a Savage 6MMBR in F Class. It is time for a new barrel. I want to stay with the 6mm,but know nothing beyond that. Suggestions and Ideas?. This is my comp rifle ,so I don't want to cut corners,but I also ( if possable ) don't want to spend more than 500.00 to 1000.00 on getting it all done. Rifle still shoots sub MOA,but she does have about 2500 plus rounds down it already. I know nothing of barrels or such. I do want to stay with a 8 twist as I shoot 105 and 107 gn bullets with it. I look ( google) barrels and it's like umm,ok, yaaa, I have no idea what I'm looking at. I will be having a very good gun smith doing the job for me,but all the other people I shoot with say I should buy the barrel myself to save a few bucks. They rap off stuff as to who,what,where,,,, All I do is give them this deer in the head lights look:o

Thanks in advanced for all your input
Bruce
 
Well there is plenty of time if you are still shooting sub MOA groups, but are you winning with those groups? The good news is that there are a ton of good barrel makers out there that you can use. Here is a good list of barrel makers you can use, but Kostyshyn Precision Barrels is no longer in business.

Bugholes is a good place to find in stock barrels so there is not the normal 10 week wait for a barrel. Then you can usually go to a manufacturers web page and find some current inventory to look through. You may not find exactly the barrel you want in stock so making a decision soon and getting it ordered will be important.
 
Thanks Taylorce1. I have been looking at Criterion,Krieger and Shilen barrels.
Is one better than the other?.

Kraigwy-- Glad to see you chime in ( was hoping you would). Yes it is still shooting Sub MOA,but not subber ( new word :D ) MOA than 13 other people:mad:. I took 13th out of 47 people. I am assuming this is going to be a winter project,so I just thought I would get a jump on it. I will finish out the year with this rifle.
 
My more accurate friend put a Bartlein on his last rebarrel, maybe the last two.
My better (of two) aftermarket barrels is a Krieger.
Criterion is a subsidiary of Kreiger selling button rifled barrels instead of cut. Commonly found on period service rifle refurbishments for restricted Springfield and Garand matches.

Sub MOA is not good enough in a game with a half minute X ring.
 
I really don't think it matters who made the barrel as much as who installs the barrel. I'd find the contour, twist, and grooves you want in an acceptable lead time and buy it. Shilen or Douglas is what I consider the bottom end of premium barrel makers. I've used Shilen, A&B, Pac-Nor, Douglas, Lilja, and Brux for projects and the only one that I don't really care for is the A&B. The only reason I don't care for it is that it fouls terribly, it shoots 1.25" at 100 with Accubonds and that's good enough for me and my .375 Ruger.
 
My gunsmith gives the barrels to me at cost and makes his money on labor. All of them I have ever dealt with do it that way. They can buy them cheaper than you can. My 2 cents is Lilja.
 
+1 on the Lilja- chances are they make a 3-groove barrel in your caliber/twist. The 3-groove supposedly can add 20-30% barrel life (useful barrel life for the varminters and F-class crowd). Their web site provides interesting reading on the 3-groove, and I believe Hart offers them as well.
 
Ok- Ordered a 30 inch,Criterion-stainless steel, button hand lapped match barrel with a 11 degree target crown?. What ever all that means. New lock nut and some other part?. From Jim at Northland Shooters. Hope all turns out well
Thanks for all the input guys.
 
Last edited:
It's a Savage, doesn't matter who installs the barrel. A smith wouldn't do anything different than a knowledgeable DIY'er.

You might consider "upgrading" the recoil lug to a precision one. NSS makes them- as does Holland (my choice) and others. Savage lugs are known to be a bit "out-of-true" and many precision shooters replace them. Of course, you'd need to re-bed.

It means the barrel is button-rifled (as opposed to hammer-forged or cut-rifling).
Hand-lapped means any minute machining imperfections in the throat/leade have been removed (lapped out) by hand. Makes for little to no break in necessary to remove them and a more accurate barrel.

An 11 degree target crown is simply a recessed crown- it's less likely to get damaged by "dinging" the barrel against an object. Pretty much SOP on most rifles nowadays, though individuals have their preferences.
 
Last edited:
Thanks tobnpr- Yes those are the other 2 pcs. A new recoil lug and a new Barrel nut. I hope all goes well. He said it will be like night and day difference from the barrel I have now. The stock barrel I have now is increadably accurate but has lots of rounds down it (2500) plus for sure. All I have left then ( help if I am wrong ) is to have the action trued?. Machined or something.
 
There are people who will cheerfully sell you an action truing job on a Savage just as they will for a Remington. Some say it is less needed because there is enough play in the separate Savage bolt head to self align to some extent.
Mine does well ex factory with its PacNor barrel, installed by me and a friend.
 
I did my own Savage rebarrel last year. It's a cake walk.

I had an actual barrel nut wrench but for the action I taped up a large adjustable wrench. I put the action on the floor in the adjustable wrench, placed the nut wrench accordingly and stepped on it. Came right off.

I measured the stock recoil lug and thought at first it was out of spec but I realized it was just that the part that touched the action was bare and the rest was blued. I did research it though and would have bought a PTG lug if deer season start had allowed the time.

Putting the new barrel on is cake. Remove the ejector and extractor from the bolt head. Insert Go gage. Screw barrel down until it stops on Go gage. Tighten nut. Insert No Go gage. Bolt should not close. If it doesn't and it still closes on the Go, you're... Go. :)
 
What Jim said...
Trueing a Savage action is largely unnecessary because of the floating bolthead design.
Some guys do blueprint them, but most of us (me included) can't shoot well enough to be able to determine a difference before/after, if there is one...
 
Lapping lugs on Savage is useful. All the other stuff just makes it feel better. Floating bolt head on the Savage is a totally different set of rules than a 700 or a Mauser. What makes them shoot is a waste of time on a Savage.
 
I guess I'm of a different opinion on things, if I'm going to compete with a rifle I want everything trued up. Is it necessary to true a Savage action? Debatable for sure, but it is one less thing to worry about and it usually is less han $300 to have done.

Shilen's custom rifles use a M700 clone for a reciever, and a Savage style floating bolt head, but I guarantee those actions have all been trued up.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top