Which Barrel

@7mmwsm
True Flite. Probably easiest logistically.
I really like True Flite barrels. I have four, all stainless steel, all different cals. I think they produce a high quality product. I borescoped each barrel I received and every one was damn near perfect.
They will copper foul but more slowly than chrome moly in my opinion. And I reckon the copper cleans out more easily than chrome moly.
Maybe True Flite aint quite the equivalent of the best of the best American options but I say easily more than adequate for hunting purposes. My barrels give me great accuracy.
1 / 10 twist will be fine for 165 gn projectiles.
Are you going with original barrel length and contour ?

Another guy whose barrel making talents I respect is Hugh Bradley. But, unsure if he is still making them now.

Yet another possible option is Kiwi Greg ( Terminator Products ). A member here. Makes barrels using Brux blanks and builds high accuracy rifles. Brux is a higly regarded producer of match grade barrels. Might be worth talking to Greg.

Both my rebarrels are truflite, they outshoot me.
Nb Hardy is doing barrels now as well.
Z

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Originally Posted by 7mmwsm

Trawling through some of the older barrel threads some say the Bartleins, Kreigers etc run better from the start (regarding copper, accuracy etc).
Is that an actual thing that someone who doesn't really know much about copper and good accuracy (me) is going to notice?
I can shoot OK, and am conscious about cleaning. But when I read about 1/4 Moa and getting barrels back to bare metal my head hurts. I don't think I've ever got barrel to a stage where I can go back to it at a later date and not get traces of copper.
So is someone like me going to notice the difference in barrel quality?

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Krieger and Bartlein (proof research also) are both cut rifled barrels, vs most other brands being button rifled.

Cut rifled barrels are generally regard the best you can buy, Bartlein in particular has made a name for themselves.

In many cases you aren't going to notice a difference, and the extra cost of a Bartlein or Kreiger likely isn't worth it over a TrueFlite.

Bartliens are so stable it’s boring they barley speed up don’t spike in pressure just a good honest barrels I highly rate and recommend them iv got limited experience with custom barrels but 4 bartliens and I absolutely love them 1 proof that pressured up bad by comparison very accurate but load development was a waist of time until it had 100 on it I have another on the way and am eager to see how that goes

Had good experiences with kreigers, hardys and truflight barrels

Are Vulcan still in the game?

Have used one for the last 15 years and it's been very good.

If you're a hunter, Trueflite is the way to go. The ~new owner is focussed on detail and I've already heard good things about him. We just got a batch of four of theirs for the NZ F-Open team and they look impeccable with a bore scope, the surface finish being as good as the big cut-rifle boys ( Brux/Krieger/Bartlein).

My personal experience and that of several serious target shooters is the warranty back-up of TrueFlite is superior to Hardy. Make of that what you will.

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Originally Posted by 6x47

If you're a hunter, Trueflite is the way to go. The ~new owner is focussed on detail and I've already heard good things about him. We just got a batch of four of theirs for the NZ F-Open team and they look impeccable with a bore scope, the surface finish being as good as the big cut-rifle boys ( Brux/Krieger/Bartlein).

My personal experience and that of several serious target shooters is the warranty back-up of TrueFlite is superior to Hardy. Make of that what you will.

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Agreed, the new guy Anthony is very pleasant to deal with. Quick on communications too.
I once asked Grant, the original owner, what their policy was towards customers receiving a barrel that would not perform. He said "simple. Send it back, we'll replace it" Would be good if that policy continues.

Policy like that is great, but it's better if you don't have to resort to calling on it. About 4- 5yrs ago, I got in a 26" 7mm sporter weight barrel for a LR hunting rig. It shot no better than 2.5" despite top gunsmithing. You could easily feel variable resistance as you fed a patch down it so the bore dimensions weren't consistent. Grant got me to send it back. It was returned with a note along the lines of "problem sorted" but it was still as bad. I insisted on a refund which they promptly made. Got a Bartlein and it was immediately a 1/3" gun.

I would have far more faith in Anthony's product and hopefully experience will bear this out.

I went with a hardy when I got a rifle built this year. I wasn’t keen but the gunsmith I used dealt mainly with hardy or proof and reckoned hardy would provide a good product and would stand behind it. The result is a featherweight contour barrel that shoots 162 eldms into 0.5 Moa and 120 grain ballistic tips into 0.3Moa. Very happy.