I have read and read about buying a barrel and all, even re-chambering a barrel, threading, blablabla, but have yet to find a difinitive answer about how to order a barrel and have it finished to a customer's specs, soup to nuts. Can somebody school me a bit? Kind of like custom barreling your stick for dummies?
I've committed to building a MK12 Mod 0 clone in 6.5 Grendel; and while I can buy a bolt/barrel combo online as a complete kit, none of these have the rifle length gas system that I need on an 18" stick for this build. Since the 6.5G is super proprietary, it looks to me like I will have to have a barrel made to my specs, and I had some questions so that I don't waste somebody's time.
1) Do I go to a barrel maker who is licensed to chamber it in 6.5G or xx caliber, and have them make a finished barrel to my specs with a bolt and barrel extention installed/headspaced? Basically a one-stop solution? This seems about like buying a bolt/barrel combo from MidwayUSA, but getting a rifle length gas system.
2) If not, would it be better to buy a barrel and have it chambered by a gunsmith who may already have the reamer? I have heard that barrel makers make barrels, and gunsmiths chamber barrels. True?
3) If #2 is correct, do I just buy a Shilen, Hart, Krieger etc. barrel that is basically an 18" long steel tube with a 6.5mm hole in it, albiet a perfect one, and then send it to a gunsmith for chambering, contouring, threading the muzzle, putting on the barrel extention, headspacing the bolt?
4) If I buy a top shelf barrel and have it made right, do I buy standard dies or do I have them made to work for my chamber?
If I'm going to have to have the work done to make the barrel the way that I want it, vice ordering a full solution from Bob'sBarrels.com, I might as well do it right and make the gun shoot as tight as an AR can. I know going custom is going to cost more, and I don't care as long as it shoots. I would like to find my way through some of my confusion first, and then start making phone calls. Any help would be appreciated.
I've committed to building a MK12 Mod 0 clone in 6.5 Grendel; and while I can buy a bolt/barrel combo online as a complete kit, none of these have the rifle length gas system that I need on an 18" stick for this build. Since the 6.5G is super proprietary, it looks to me like I will have to have a barrel made to my specs, and I had some questions so that I don't waste somebody's time.
1) Do I go to a barrel maker who is licensed to chamber it in 6.5G or xx caliber, and have them make a finished barrel to my specs with a bolt and barrel extention installed/headspaced? Basically a one-stop solution? This seems about like buying a bolt/barrel combo from MidwayUSA, but getting a rifle length gas system.
2) If not, would it be better to buy a barrel and have it chambered by a gunsmith who may already have the reamer? I have heard that barrel makers make barrels, and gunsmiths chamber barrels. True?
3) If #2 is correct, do I just buy a Shilen, Hart, Krieger etc. barrel that is basically an 18" long steel tube with a 6.5mm hole in it, albiet a perfect one, and then send it to a gunsmith for chambering, contouring, threading the muzzle, putting on the barrel extention, headspacing the bolt?
4) If I buy a top shelf barrel and have it made right, do I buy standard dies or do I have them made to work for my chamber?
If I'm going to have to have the work done to make the barrel the way that I want it, vice ordering a full solution from Bob'sBarrels.com, I might as well do it right and make the gun shoot as tight as an AR can. I know going custom is going to cost more, and I don't care as long as it shoots. I would like to find my way through some of my confusion first, and then start making phone calls. Any help would be appreciated.
