MPA Vs Hart

[PRSDietitian]

I'm looking at getting a barrel spun up for a future build. I know everyone will end up saying "Go with Bartlein" and lead times are an issue. I have a guy back home in Alabama that sells hart blanks and I alreadyhave a good relationship with MPA.

The hart blanks are 5 groove 6mm 1:7 twist with a custom contour, 1.20 for 4" and straight taper to .950 at the muzzle.
MPA said they can contour a blank to whatever I want.

Woody at MPA quoted me at 330 for a blank and the Hart was quoted at 345. I'm likely going with deep south tactical for my chamber/thread job.

Which would ya'll recommend?

 

[Ebar48]

I own both, they both work great, you probably wouldn’t know the difference. Both are great barrels

 

[PRSDietitian]

I own both, they both work great, you probably wouldn’t know the difference. Both are great barrels

Probably one of those, go with whatever you can get the better deal on?
I emailed DST to see if they are still doing the $300 deal on thread/chamber job for hide members

 

[swampbuck]

Either are fine. Barrel making is the most competitive nich industry in firearms. Bartlein Krieger are at top of my list but cost a little more and have a longer wait time. If I had to choose between MPA and Hart I would go with Hart. They have a long storied history and make a great barrel.


This thread may help you.

Barrel Rankings

A while back on another forum there was a barrel rankings chart,call them Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3. Now for the most part these were just personal opinions , but repete usage says a lot. Also, some shops selling barrels AND pre-fits only handle Tier 1 barrels , "bugholes"being one. Your comments...

www.snipershide.com

If you want a fluted barrel I would definitely go cut rifling.


The custom contour you described above
1.20 for 4" and straight taper to .950 at the muzzle.
is a very big barrel. I little too much for my liking. But if it suits you go for it. My 2 cents on barrels starts at post #24 I think

 

[PRSDietitian]

Either are fine. Barrel making is the most competitive nich industry in firearms. Bartlein Krieger are at top of my list but cost a little more and have a longer wait time. If I had to choose between MPA and Hart I would go with Hart. They have a long storied history and make a great barrel.


This thread may help you.

Barrel Rankings

A while back on another forum there was a barrel rankings chart,call them Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3. Now for the most part these were just personal opinions , but repete usage says a lot. Also, some shops selling barrels AND pre-fits only handle Tier 1 barrels , "bugholes"being one. Your comments...

www.snipershide.com

If you want a fluted barrel I would definitely go cut rifling.


The custom contour you described above
1.20 for 4" and straight taper to .950 at the muzzle.
is a very big barrel. I little too much for my liking. But if it suits you go for it. My 2 cents on barrels starts at post #24 I think

I used to shoot a buddies rifle in matches, he had a proof comp contour barrel, weighed in around 7lbs. Hart said this would shave off about .5lbs or so. it was similar in weight to an MTU or so. I did the numbers and with optic i'd be at around 16.5lbs which isnt too shabby overall.

Im not a fluting fan and i have heard cut barrels are definitely the way to go with fluting

I just checked out that thread last night. gold mine of info!

 

[PRSDietitian]

Either are fine. Barrel making is the most competitive nich industry in firearms. Bartlein Krieger are at top of my list but cost a little more and have a longer wait time. If I had to choose between MPA and Hart I would go with Hart. They have a long storied history and make a great barrel.


This thread may help you.

Barrel Rankings

A while back on another forum there was a barrel rankings chart,call them Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3. Now for the most part these were just personal opinions , but repete usage says a lot. Also, some shops selling barrels AND pre-fits only handle Tier 1 barrels , "bugholes"being one. Your comments...

www.snipershide.com

If you want a fluted barrel I would definitely go cut rifling.


The custom contour you described above
1.20 for 4" and straight taper to .950 at the muzzle.
is a very big barrel. I little too much for my liking. But if it suits you go for it. My 2 cents on barrels starts at post #24 I think

also on your comment, from what MPA told me, they make all their own blanks like the Spencer barrels. I think they used to use x-caliber for the PMR then did lothar walther for PMR pro and i think both use their barrels now

 

[swampbuck]

Either will be fine. I listed MPA as an outlier because I wasn't sure what their current status was. 30 years ago Hart and Shilen would have been the gold standard and still make a damn fine barrel. Cut rifling seems to be the rage these days and button rifling has dropped into the minority. But they are still excellent barrels and are competitive with anything else.

 

[PRSDietitian]

Either will be fine. I listed MPA as an outlier because I wasn't sure what their current status was. 30 years ago Hart and Shilen would have been the gold standard and still make a damn fine barrel. Cut rifling seems to be the rage these days and button rifling has dropped into the minority. But they are still excellent barrels and are competitive with anything else.

Much appreciated. This is the first PRS rifle I have owned and I don't make enough just yet to go full on buy once cry once. So this with the new CDG action and the aero chassis sounded like a good option for the money

 

[swampbuck]

It is at that. My first customs all had Hart a few decades back. I placed Hart on the 2nd tier list because they have lost market share and you don't see them on the benchrest leader boards like you used to. Not because they have issues with their product. Great people to deal with as well.

 

[PRSDietitian]

Thinking

Hart barrel chambered by DST
ARC CDG action
Meraki Machine 4 port brake
triggertech special
aero 17" comp chassis

So i think that's one hell of a deal for under 2500
Then MDT Grnd pod, ARC rings, and Tract toric, for a full build under 4300