Button vs Cut for Trainer barrel

[Dthomas3523]

All other things being equal (quality barrel, quality Smith, etc)

For a .308 or .223 trainer barrel, any reason not to go with the cheaper button rifling?

 

[MtnCreek]

If you were planning to have it fluted or re-contoured, that can supposedly be an issue with button rifled. FWIW, the most accurate barrel I have is button.

 

[m1match]

I have cut rifled from Rock Creek, Bartlein, and Obermeyer, and button rifled barrels from Lothar Walther, Douglas, and Pac Nor and I cannot tell any difference in accuracy between the two or in barrel life. My AR service rifle has a Pac Nor barrel with over 4000 rounds through it and I can tell my X count is down but it still shoots well.

 

[natdscott]

WHOSE button barrel is the better question.

Dan Lilja knows things. Ed Shilen knows things. Schneider knows things. There are others, of course.

But some don't know as much. We need a little more info.

-Nate

 

[nexusfire]

*waiting for orkan*

 

[Sheldon N]

I'm shooting the piss out of my button rifled Shilen 223 trainer barrel right now. Bought it because I found a good deal on the blank. Shoots great for me, sub 1/2 MOA with Dillon progressive press ammo.

I like it because it's cheap and I don't need to feel bad about abusing it. Next one around I might buy a more expensive cut rifled blank, but if a deal came along on another button rifled barrel I wouldn't have a problem running it.

 

[lte82]

Keystone Accuracy is doing button barrels for $379 installed. If I needed an accurate but inexpensive practice barrel I would go that route.

 

[Sheldon N]

Keystone Accuracy is doing button barrels for $379 installed. If I needed an accurate but inexpensive practice barrel I would go that route.

Damn.... $379 for a shouldered barrel chambered and threaded barrel to fit my TL3? That's seriously tempting.

 

[Estes640]

Damn.... $379 for a shouldered barrel chambered and threaded barrel to fit my TL3? That's seriously tempting.

I just saw the keystone website. I will for sure be ordering a 223 barrel from them at some point. Dang. $399 with muzzle threaded and everything

 

[lte82]

Damn.... $379 for a shouldered barrel chambered and threaded barrel to fit my TL3? That's seriously tempting.

Yep. He's done a few barrels for me, they've all been shooters. His lead time is real short too. It wouldn t surprise me if it was less than 2 weeks.

 

[RonA]

WHOSE button barrel is the better question.

Dan Lilja knows things. Ed Shilen knows things. Schneider knows things. There are others, of course.

But some don't know as much. We need a little more info.

-Nate

Dan Lilja knows how to make a barrel. Scary good stuff.

 

[Dthomas3523]

WHOSE button barrel is the better question.

Dan Lilja knows things. Ed Shilen knows things. Schneider knows things. There are others, of course.

But some don't know as much. We need a little more info.

-Nate

That’s why I said “all things being equal, quality barrel.”

 

[Dthomas3523]

Thanks for all the responses.

This makes me confident going with cut barrel for main and button for my trainers.

 

[natdscott]

Scandale has a somewhat rough personality, but he's hell on wheels with a CNC lathe.

That’s why I said “all things being equal, quality barrel.”

I read what you typed.

I just wanted to make sure you knew that basically ALL the custom cut barrels in this country are of very high quality--some would argue the best ever made--where there is greater variance in the buttoned stuff.

 

[SPAK]

Yep. He's done a few barrels for me, they've all been shooters. His lead time is real short too. It wouldn t surprise me if it was less than 2 weeks.

Do you know what kind of blank he uses for the button rifle barrels? It doesn’t say on the website.

 

[Sheldon N]

Do you know what kind of blank he uses for the button rifle barrels? It doesn’t say on the website.

I believe he uses Green Mountain blanks for the button rifled barrels. Not high end, but they are a big manufacturer.

 

[natdscott]

Scandale's house barrels are indeed GM blanks. Even in AR, 3/4 Minute barrels or better, but it is advisable to have a replacement on hand earlier than with a premium cut tube.

 

[JMGlasgow]

Don't forget Criterion. I have three of their barrels and they all shoot well.

 

[MLC]

My 22lr, 17HMR, 223AI, 6.5 and 308 barrels are all button rifled( all but the 223AI Liljas).
All are more accurate than I can read wind and hold. I've shot the 308 to 1200y and the 6.5 to 1791y.

 

[SPAK]

Scandale's house barrels are indeed GM blanks. Even in AR, 3/4 Minute barrels or better, but it is advisable to have a replacement on hand earlier than with a premium cut tube.

Thanks for the info, I had a friend who had said the same thing about his 6.5 creedmoor GM barrel. It shot well for a while but didn’t last nearly as long as his higher end barrels...I think I’d rather spend another 125.00 and get a rock creek button rifled barrel for the added barrel life. But that’s just me.

 

[BigJimFish]

Funny that you said go with a cheaper button barrel. I was just thinking that I have had both excellent cut and buttoned barrels. The buttoned barrels were not cheaper though. I have not generally looked to save a whole lot on the barrel blank. The smith and ammo are going to cost me a lot so I am not looking to roll the dice for ~$150 savings on the blank. Having something come out that is not a shooter is is just such a terrible outcome and will cost a lot in time and reloading components to definitively determine is garbage.

On the rifling technology, I have vacillated over they years on my thoughts. Button does offer some geometries that sound sexy like asymetric lands and such whereas cut offers freedom from stresses and so possibly better behavior at different levels of heat. Really, I think all this might be mostly marketing speak that, though based in good engineering logic, just doesn't have much of a magnitude to it's real world effects.

 

[SPAK]

I’ve had button and cut barrels shoot comparable to each other. Enough that I can’t shoot the difference or find the difference in cleaning. I was just making the comparison that if I were to buy a “cheaper” button rifled barrel, I’d rather spend the extra and know I was getting a quality barrel.

 

[natdscott]

On the rifling technology, I have vacillated over they years on my thoughts. ... Really, I think all this might be mostly marketing speak that, though based in good engineering logic, just doesn't have much of a magnitude to it's real world effects.

I agree, with the notable exception of barrel life. Buttons typically do not produce a barrel of ultimate life, all else being equal.