Gunsmithing barrel opinions for a savage

[Duff]

going to start up a .338 lapua project rifle this summer. chosen to use a savage action because i can do a good bit of the work myself over a 700 (would like a surgeon, stiller etc but not as flexible as far as scope base and chassis system selection goes) i would be trusting a gunsmith to get it up to par with what i want (had a good bit of bad experiences with a few gunsmiths in the past). I've sort of narrowed it down to shilen or mcgowen. as far as i know judging off the selection sheet kreiger doesn't offer .338 lapua and bergara doesn't offer more than a 300 WM with a factory contour. anyways what are your opinions on shilen or mcgowen? any other companies i should be looking at? thanks!

 

[fryj00]

I also have a Savage platform and have been doing some of the same research. I can't speak to the .338 specifically but I think we basically have three convenient choices - McGowen, Criterion, and Shilen. Criterion and Shilen can both be had from Northlander at pretty reasonable cost. McGowen seems affordable too but I have read a few bad reviews about their quality control and customer service. I can't find a whole lot on Criterion barrels but, in the few reviews I have read, people seem fairly happy. Shilen has a pretty good reputation and I currently have one of their barrels on my .284. I've had some issues with that gun so I can't praise it's accuracy just yet but the quality of manufacture seems high. I have a .308 that needs re-barreled and I think I'll be going with another Shilen for that one. Hope that helps.

-Bryan

 

[shoots100]

Shilen, or lother walther Match. They've been good to me. I've had no need to try others, unless requested.

 

[Ryguy]

I put a Pacnor on my Savage 338 LM. 3.8 inches at 1000. They take forever to get to you, 20 weeks or more but they are pretty accurate. Ask around about Pacnor if you can wait, I am sure others will agree that they are top notch.

 

[BoilerUP]

If you're building on a standard Savage long action...I'd go with a 338 Edge vs. a 338 Lapua.

 

[geargrinder]

If you're building on a standard Savage long action...I'd go with a 338 Edge vs. a 338 Lapua.

I'll second that.

If you are using a Lapua action, I'd have Sinarms make you a barrel from a Brux blank. Devin does top notch work, and at very reasonable prices.

 

[missed]

I'll second that.

If you are using a Lapua action, I'd have Sinarms make you a barrel from a Brux blank. Devin does top notch work, and at very reasonable prices.

+1 on Devin's work.

My next barrel will come from him.

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

 

[medic727]

Jim Briggs at Northland Shooters Supply is THE person/place to go to for Savage barrels. You have a question, he'll have or get the answer for you. He only carries Shilen and Criterion barrels. He dropped McGowan for reasons he didn't feel like discussing. I've used used Criterion barrels in: 6mmBR, 7mm SAUM and 284 Win. Actually, for the 7mmSAUM more than 1, 3 to be precise. The SAUM does eat barrels when pushing a 175 SMK at 3100fps. That's the reason I've gone to the 284.

 

[geargrinder]

Jim Briggs at Northland Shooters Supply is THE person/place to go to for Savage barrels. You have a question, he'll have or get the answer for you. He only carries Shilen and Criterion barrels. He dropped McGowan for reasons he didn't feel like discussing. I've used used Criterion barrels in: 6mmBR, 7mm SAUM and 284 Win. Actually, for the 7mmSAUM more than 1, 3 to be precise. The SAUM does eat barrels when pushing a 175 SMK at 3100fps. That's the reason I've gone to the 284.

Jim is good, but not THE only guy. He probably stopped using McGowan for the same reason Sinarms did. Long lead times and less than acceptable quality control.

Not a dig against Jim. I've been very happy with all my dealings with Jim. It's just that there are others with just as good service.

It all boils down to which one has what I need with the shortest lead time.

 

[Duff]

If you're building on a standard Savage long action...I'd go with a 338 Edge vs. a 338 Lapua.

i plan on getting a 338 lapua savage long action, probably a 111 LRH or a 110 FCP as a donor. at least from the pictures they seem a bit more rigid than the standard open top long actions. i would like to move up a step to the .338 edge but my main concerns with doing so are it fitting in a magazine and the brass/ammo availability. I'm planning on using a chassis that uses AI mags. kind of a dumb question but is there a way to seat the bullet deeper? would probably end up with way too much free bore.

thanks for the help guys! anyone used bartlein barrels? done a good bit of math and seems they can be had for about the same price as a Krieger (same company as criterion, or so I've heard/understand). also done a bit of digging on shilen and seems that they may have had some problems in the past. a few guys on the hide said they got some with not so centered chambers. definitely going to look into sinarms. seems he's using lothar walther barrels now instead of brux? is brux an ask for kind of deal? also do you know if he could thread a barrel for a brake? thanks again guys!

 

[Frank Green]

i plan on getting a 338 lapua savage long action, probably a 111 LRH or a 110 FCP as a donor. at least from the pictures they seem a bit more rigid than the standard open top long actions. i would like to move up a step to the .338 edge but my main concerns with doing so are it fitting in a magazine and the brass/ammo availability. I'm planning on using a chassis that uses AI mags. kind of a dumb question but is there a way to seat the bullet deeper? would probably end up with way too much free bore.

thanks for the help guys! anyone used bartlein barrels? done a good bit of math and seems they can be had for about the same price as a Krieger (same company as criterion, or so I've heard/understand). also done a bit of digging on shilen and seems that they may have had some problems in the past. a few guys on the hide said they got some with not so centered chambers. definitely going to look into sinarms. seems he's using lothar walther barrels now instead of brux? is brux an ask for kind of deal? also do you know if he could thread a barrel for a brake? thanks again guys!

I had a .338 Lapua on a old Savage 112V (Series J that was originally a .220 Swift). It's my shop test rifle. Gun shoots like a million bucks regardless of what barrel is on it. I set mine up though with out the Savage barrel nut. Set it up just like a Rem. 700. This allows you to run a larger breech diameter on the barrel. My barrel was 1.238" x 3.000" and straight tapered to .905" @ 27" finish. 5R rifling and 1-9.5 twist, S.S.

Criterion is not the same as Krieger. Criterion was started at Krieger for the O.E.M. market and the Criterion barrels are button rifled barrels not cut rifled barrels.

Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels

 

[tthompson_21]

Frank,

Any chance of Bartlein doing savage pre-fits? I'm sure I'm not the only guy drooling at the prospect. I have a used up 308 that needs to turn into a 260...

 

[Frank Green]

Frank,

Any chance of Bartlein doing savage pre-fits? I'm sure I'm not the only guy drooling at the prospect. I have a used up 308 that needs to turn into a 260...

No bud sorry but we don't do pre-fits/drop in type barrels. Why? The actions vary to much. Even the custom actions can vary. Take my Model 112v for example. The threads are .002" bigger than my other 110. What happens here is we can make the barrel and thread it and have the barrel threads right in the middle of the spec. range but then a guy gets a barrel from us and ends up with a action like mine where the threads are oversize and then he complains about the thread fit. Blames us for the threads on the barrel and wants to exchange it or a refund. When in some cases it won't effect anything. I've also seen actions where the threads are really tight and the barrel won't even thread on.

Now throw in different types of actions/guns and the bolts can vary to much and effect headspace etc....or worse yet a guy buys a used rifle that has been previously worked on it's life and someone trued the receiver and now the specs. are really off.

It can turn into a can of worms. So for those reasons we won't offer drop in barrels. In the end you just end up with a factory fit instead of a custom fit to your action/rifle.

Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels

 

[Duff]

I had a .338 Lapua on a old Savage 112V (Series J that was originally a .220 Swift). It's my shop test rifle. Gun shoots like a million bucks regardless of what barrel is on it. I set mine up though with out the Savage barrel nut. Set it up just like a Rem. 700. This allows you to run a larger breech diameter on the barrel. My barrel was 1.238" x 3.000" and straight tapered to .905" @ 27" finish. 5R rifling and 1-9.5 twist, S.S.

Criterion is not the same as Krieger. Criterion was started at Krieger for the O.E.M. market and the Criterion barrels are button rifled barrels not cut rifled barrels.

Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels

thanks for the clarification! i knew they were some how attached at one point just never got the full story i guess. what are the advantages to having a larger breech? is it just kind of like a safety deal?

 

[Frank Green]

thanks for the clarification! i knew they were some how attached at one point just never got the full story i guess. what are the advantages to having a larger breech? is it just kind of like a safety deal?

Krieger and Criterion to my knowledge have totally split and are no longer connected to each other in any way but I could be wrong.

Advantage to the larger breech diameter? I'm going to say yes. Especially with a round like the .338 Lapua. That case is so big (like almost .600" at the base) and with the pressures involved the larger diameter of the steel helps with steel expansion/stretching upon firing. If it was my gun I wouldn't put a barrel with a 1.125" or 1.055" breech diameter on the gun in .338 Lapua. I feel a 1.250" should be at the very min. Why did I use 1.238". Because it's the actual spec. for some barrels we had to make for a customer for testing purposes and we made one to test here. I had no issues with my gun. Extraction after firing etc...was a breeze. Even when I had rounds loaded that were really hot (hard bolt lift).

The other thing I ran into (this was before Savage was making bolt's for .338 Lapua) was I had to open up the bolt face for the .338 Lapua round and also polish the extractor so it would snap over the rim of the case.

Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels

 

[Duff]

so would having a larger diameter breech allow you to use higher pressure loads? something I've noticed is how the powder charge from the load data varies from guys using savage 338s (90-92gr.) vs like a remington or a sako (96-99gr.) is that just coincidence or could that be because of the breech diameter? thanks for the help! i know i got a lot of questions for you but I'm pretty green to all this stuff.

 

[Frank Green]

so would having a larger diameter breech allow you to use higher pressure loads? something I've noticed is how the powder charge from the load data varies from guys using savage 338s (90-92gr.) vs like a remington or a sako (96-99gr.) is that just coincidence or could that be because of the breech diameter? thanks for the help! i know i got a lot of questions for you but I'm pretty green to all this stuff.

I'm going to say no. Just because the breech diameter is larger doesn't mean you can run a hotter load. .338 Lapua's have been known to have soft brass possibly early on. Guys have had hard times with extraction (supposedly with even normal loads/ammo), and have hard times with resizing the cases. If the barrel is stretching more than normal then the brass is going to do the same thing. The extra wall thickness will help with this problem (if it's a problem).

Just because one guy can only run a load of 90gr. and the next guy can run a load of 92gr. is the individuality of the barrel/gun etc....What reamer was used to chamber his barrel, what the bore and groove dimensions are, types of bullets (lot's vary), what powder is he using etc....all can play a part. I just feel the larger breech diameter is going to help not hurt.

Depending on what powder I was using my loads ran from 88gr. up to 98gr. The 98gr. load with one powder was a really hot load and I only shot 10 rounds thru the gun. Had hard bolt lift but the rounds extracted no problem and the load accuracy wise just hammered but I won't run or suggest that load or the powder I used. It was strictly for testing.

Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels

 

[Duff]

thanks for your help Frank!

 

[tipper]

If you are going to make it a single shot the only thing you will need is the larger bolt face
If it's a repeater the OACL is going to be a problem in the mag area

 

[_shawn_]

sinarms currently has my bartlein barrel and is making it a 7-08 for my savage. hoping he'll finish it this week