Your PVA prefit experience
- Thread starter Lawnboi
- Start date
Sold another 6 ARC barrel you for guys! I need to start getting commissions! 
Same thing here. Got a customer of mine who now swears by PVA and PVA only. Thanks for hooking him up Josh! He has nothing but great things to say about you guys and tells anyone who will listen to him.Sold another 6 ARC barrel you for guys! I need to start getting commissions!
Also, finally got around to breaking in my 300 PRC barrel from the Group Buy. Love it.
Always! We do 2 big sales each year on schedule. The FFTC is July 1-10 and Black Friday floats a little based on when Thanksgiving falls.
We are final lapping out blanks now getting ready for FFTC, the swiss is running out bullets and we have the sub spindle and mill running full tilt on brakes to make sure we have things ready to go.
PVA's annual Freedom From The Crown sale is live tomorrow morning and we have a new action entering the market. We have been testing the product for several months now and I think it's going to be a big hit in the market.
www.snipershide.com
PVA's 2025 "Freedom From The Crown Sale"
The annual Freedom From the Crown sale goes up tomorrow. The code is "FFTC2025" and that gets you 14.92% off everything listed in the sale folder under "Freedom From The Crown Sale". Barrels, blanks, prefits, bullets, glock barrels, comps, etc... all on sale...
www.snipershide.com
I like the 7 because it gives extra margin that allows cold weather, very long distance shots with solids and other high BC bullets. In warm summer weather the 7.5 does just fine, but things become spotty when you get out a ways and the DA drops near or below 0. It also shows a slight increase in BC for bullets that already shoot really well, but a slight increase in the BC of about 1.5-3% consistently shows up in doppler testing in tests that have been done by Hornady on my bullet designs, an independent lab at NMIT and data that was released by AB's mobile lab on our bullets and the 109 Hybrid being shot in Ospreys.
I've been shooting 7tw 6mm's exclusively on my personal match barrels since 2018 and I've got close to 20k rounds of various jacketed and solid bullets fired on them in that time. (Anyone doing the math will realize that I don't get to shoot that much any longer)
I know you will have exceptional performance with the 7tw, and I advocate it to anyone that's willing to listen to my opinion on the topic.
As usual, we'll make you whichever you ask for, but if it was my money being spent I would use a 7tw.
We shoot them from 175-190 in jacketed bullets and 170-185 in solids. Why would you shoot a 7 PRC with light bullets?
Availabilty of blanks is why Ospreys were started 5 years ago. Now that the process and brand is well established why would we stop all that hard work just to go back to a different brand that can tell us "we can't supply your PO's, we are too busy" again?
There's close to 10,000 Ospreys in the market now. Our boomerang rate is lower than we ever had historically... I'm pretty sure you're going to be quite happy with an Osprey 223 in an 8 twist.
Ospreys are great! I was hesitant to go with an “unknown” at first too but every one I’ve got from a 6mm to a 22-250 has been an absolute hammer!
I have no problem recommending an Osprey to anyone. Buy with confidence!
I have no problem recommending an Osprey to anyone. Buy with confidence!
I have had a few ospreys and super happy with all of them. Will continue to use PVA moving forward.
That just arrived back to the shop yesterday from wrapping
So order another! lol Why look for a Rock Creek or other? I wasn’t hesitant getting my first Osprey as I had known Josh for a long time and trusted him but after shooting them I trust him more. lol Seriously though they are very accurate, as you know, and clean up quick. Cant ask for more in a barrel.
What did the PVA Backcountry brake evolve into or what would be a comparative model? I see it's no longer offered and I have two of them and really like them specifically bc of the lack of concussion.
We have a bunch of them finished and will be loading them back into the website shortly. We have a UL version that's going to replace the regular back country. It weighs just under 1 oz.
I don't have an Osprey. I've been really happy with the Rock Creek prefits that I've purchased over the years. If I timed the sale, I was in for around $500, which seemed fair for a prefit, especially given all the options that they have programed in over at PVA.
I don't need an Osprey. I'm not shooting PRS, I'm not shooting benchrest, I'm shooting steel and anything around 1 MOA is going to work great for me. This isn't a knock, but at that price I can swing for the moon and get a Brux, Bartlein, etc. What kept me coming back to PVA was a great barrel at a great price, with way more options for customization than anyone else doing prefits offered. Anyway, useful to know that the lower (cheaper) tier of barrel isn't coming back.
My bad. When you said you had a PVA I assumed it was an Osprey.
Using a good barrel is not about shooting PRS or BR but being able to take the barrel out of the equation if there are accuracy issues. Using a cheap barrel sounds good in the moment but when you start wasting components to try and get it to shoot and then are frustrated that saving $100-200 gets lost in the mix real fast and you will have regrets. With a .223 and a high round count before it’s burnt out you will have a lot of time to wonder if you should have bought a better barrel. The Osprey barrels are not over priced for a prefit at all and are on par with the barrels you mentioned for quality. Especially on sale the price is good. Your money though and you have to live with the performance.
It's a supply issue, when Rock has the capacity I have no problem ordering barrels from them to provide a lower cost option. Rock and PVA worked well together for years and they make an exceptional product. When they're busy and aren't accepting PO's something needs to be done or we go out of business... hence the Ospreys. When we can get Rocks for special projects I still order them and we run occasional sales on those blanks, but I don't have any currently with which to do so. I'm certainly not going to shut down everything invested into the Osprey brand as a result of being able to fill a few PO's on less costly blanks.
Recall back in 2000 there was no Brux, Hawk Hill, Bartlein was either very new and largely unknown or they didn't exist either. In the 25 years since then we've seen several very high end companies come to market and I think we've earned the reputation at this point to be one of those companies. That's not a knock on the brands you're putting on a pedestal, it's just a comparison of the data.
I do disagree with your pricing assessment though, considering that the current retail price is over $450 and a price increase was just announced by Bartlein that takes effect tomorrow. The shops that produce comparable work to us are well not chambering blanks for $150-200.
As far as BR or F class grade performance: Ospreys have won PRS, F class, BR and other matches over the past 4 seasons. The Steel Safari winner used an Osprey 6 Creed that had 2000 rounds on it and even now it's still shooting extremely well. He called to let me know how impressed he was with the longevity at that performance and ordered another.
If it's not the right product for you, I understand and I don't take any offense to it. I would prefer that you not throw rocks at us for offering a product that does work for many others even if we're not currently making something that fits your needs. When we can offer specials in the future I have every intention to do so.
I used to miss the rock creeks but nothing is the same price it was 5 years ago. Rock creek blanks included.
I just paid 658 for an osprey chambered and threaded.
Your named blanks are 450 and 470 at bugholes. Most smiths are charging 300-450 to chamber a barrel, so let’s say 750-900 all in.
So by having the same guy make the barrel and then chamber it you cut out the middle man’s cut and get a premium product for less overall.
You can have your smith 400 do a lesser blank at 200 but then you’re capped at a lesser quality barrel for the same costs. 1moa doesn’t cut it in my opinion so that’s not gonna happen.
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Called a few days ago and got my answer. Thanks for taking the time.
PVA OBW Prefits at regular prices are already a good deal. At sale prices, I consider them a steal. My experiences with them have been pretty good so far, can only recommend the 223 Wylde, 6CM(PVA standard), 6.5CM, and 300 PRC for now.
223 Wylde break at 100yds(3 shots clean). I normally don't care to take a picture of a break in target, but never seen one do this before.
223 Wylde 5 shot groups@100yds. Left was with Lapua brass including clean cold bore. Right was with some cheap brass. I ordered and received a 2nd 223 Wylde barrel, shoots the exact same load just as good, no change needed to the sizing die, seater, or anything else.
The 6 and 6.5 CMs are also pretty good, both 5 shot groups@100yds. I do NOT recommend the loads written on the target, they're hot but are safe in my setup. The back up OBW 6CM I ordered shoots the same load just as good, but will require an additional 1-2 thou shoulder bump when the time comes to pull the first one out of rotation.
What's the .223 wylde load? I've got a fresh PVA .223 wylde that I've just started tinkering with. Mine looks promising with the 80.5 berger and 80 ELDm so far. FWIW, my 6mm PVA is the most accurate barrel I own (including Brux and Barts).
Barrel break in loads were with varying charges of 8208XBR: 21.0, 21.4, 21.8, 22.2, 22.6, 23.0gr, new Lapua brass, CCI400s, and 77gr SMKs.
The load in the other image was with 23.4gr of Varget. Lapua brass on the left and IVI brass on the right, both fireformed and fully prepped. I get the same results with LC and Starline brass after fireforming too. My current load is 24.8gr of Varget in LC brass, but found Benchmark and 8208XBR as good alternatives, charges between 22.8-23.6gr were all good.
I've also had good results with 80.5 Berger Fullbores with 23.4gr of Varget in Lapua brass.
The load in the other image was with 23.4gr of Varget. Lapua brass on the left and IVI brass on the right, both fireformed and fully prepped. I get the same results with LC and Starline brass after fireforming too. My current load is 24.8gr of Varget in LC brass, but found Benchmark and 8208XBR as good alternatives, charges between 22.8-23.6gr were all good.
I've also had good results with 80.5 Berger Fullbores with 23.4gr of Varget in Lapua brass.
Doc - I had a similar experience and didn't think to take a photo with my 300 PRC. I shot 20 shots at the same POA with my 300 PRC barrel breaking it in and testing charge weights and powders. 10 different charges of H100 and 10 of N168. All in a 2 inch group. I was astounded.
Went to the range to fireform some brass and to zero the scope, it rained a bit when I arrived. I used a relatively clean(albeit soaked) target left by the previous folks at the 100yd line. Impacts in the lower left bull were there before I showed up.
The scope was zeroed on a different part of the target, then fireforming loads were shot in the top left bull, 5 rounds composed of 23gr of Benchmark, new LC brass(0.223" mandrel and chamfer), CCI400s, and 77gr SMKs loaded to fit and function in a 30 round pmag. The top left bull was fired from a PVA 223 Wylde bbl chambered in 2025. I pulled the barrel off of the action and installed another PVA 223 Wylde bbl, this one from 2022. I zeroed the optic for this barrel on a different part of the target, then fired 5 rounds into the bottom right bull using the same load but with fully prepped LC brass that has over 10 firings on it.
2 different barrels made 2.5 years apart by the same shop seems to like the same load. I'd imagine others with the same barrel from PVA(OBW chambered in 223 Wylde, 0.062FB, 7 twist) would see similar results. Someone else needs to give it a shot though, I'm not buying a 3rd barrel just to test this theory.
The scope was zeroed on a different part of the target, then fireforming loads were shot in the top left bull, 5 rounds composed of 23gr of Benchmark, new LC brass(0.223" mandrel and chamfer), CCI400s, and 77gr SMKs loaded to fit and function in a 30 round pmag. The top left bull was fired from a PVA 223 Wylde bbl chambered in 2025. I pulled the barrel off of the action and installed another PVA 223 Wylde bbl, this one from 2022. I zeroed the optic for this barrel on a different part of the target, then fired 5 rounds into the bottom right bull using the same load but with fully prepped LC brass that has over 10 firings on it.
2 different barrels made 2.5 years apart by the same shop seems to like the same load. I'd imagine others with the same barrel from PVA(OBW chambered in 223 Wylde, 0.062FB, 7 twist) would see similar results. Someone else needs to give it a shot though, I'm not buying a 3rd barrel just to test this theory.
@bohem - I'm sure its somewhere in this thread, but help an old guy out (lol).
Do you still cut rifle Osprey SS barrels or is it all button rifled now?
I looked at prefits on your site and didn't see selecting one over the other as an option....but it does mention that rifled lead time is a bit longer.
Thank you.
Do you still cut rifle Osprey SS barrels or is it all button rifled now?
I looked at prefits on your site and didn't see selecting one over the other as an option....but it does mention that rifled lead time is a bit longer.
Thank you.
We advertised 8 weeks and I am pretty confident that we will hit that for everyone, maybe slightly longer on some of the carbon prefits ordered but that's the goal.
Ospreys have always been a button product. I wrote an article on our website about button vs. cut and how the consistency of the hole presented to the rifling process proved to be more important than the type of rifling method by a much greater margin.
I discuss that particular topic as "hole control" within the article.
Button and Cut Rifling - A Methodology Comparison
Comparing methods for making rifle barrels
patriotvalleyarms.com
Thanks for the very prompt reply, Josh.We advertised 8 weeks and I am pretty confident that we will hit that for everyone, maybe slightly longer on some of the carbon prefits ordered but that's the goal.
Ospreys have always been a button product. I wrote an article on our website about button vs. cut and how the consistency of the hole presented to the rifling process proved to be more important than the type of rifling method by a much greater margin.
I discuss that particular topic as "hole control" within the article.
Button and Cut Rifling - A Methodology Comparison
Comparing methods for making rifle barrels
Yep...my buddy @GBMaryland has more than one of your button cut Osprey barrels and he says they shoot great and he is also very pleased with your CS support.
I'll read that article you linked.
Thanks again for the reply.
I have used a bunch of cut rifled barrels over the years and have multiple Osprey barrels now and I am very happy with the Ospreys. They are just as accurate and clean as fast as any cut rifled barrel I have used. I would not hesitate to get another Osprey barrel or recommend them to anyone.
Thank you. I missed where you advertised 8 weeks. Much appreciated.We advertised 8 weeks and I am pretty confident that we will hit that for everyone, maybe slightly longer on some of the carbon prefits ordered but that's the goal.
Ospreys have always been a button product. I wrote an article on our website about button vs. cut and how the consistency of the hole presented to the rifling process proved to be more important than the type of rifling method by a much greater margin.
I discuss that particular topic as "hole control" within the article.
Button and Cut Rifling - A Methodology Comparison
Comparing methods for making rifle barrels
