Re: Oppinion of E.R. Shaw barrels
If thats all you can afford, its better than factory, escpecially if you trying out a non standardized caliber. I shot one on a 700 chambered to 6.5x284 and I posted a 5" group at 1000 with it, but only once. Lots of 8"-15" groups were the norm, but was that me or the barrel?
It cleaned hard as hell, lots of tooling marks in it, fouled bad. After 1200 some odd rounds, the throat only moved out about .003 from what I started loading ammo to the lands. So dont believe the internet BS about lesser quality steel. None of these barrel makers (popular ones anyways) are smelting steel in their backyards, I would bet there is overlap from company A to company B from where they get their blanks from. (Purely speculation on my part)
There are better choices, but in my experiance, it shot very well, definately a MOA barrel, and most times much much better.
Expect a low end barrel for a low end price, but you might get lucky like I did. I just got my rifle with a Broughton barrel, and I couldnt be happier than I am, a little more money goes a long way in barrel quality. (lapping, rifling method, etc.)
My .02