Gunsmithing Rock Creek Barrel Comparison

[mildot326]

So I'm looking for a barrel for a 300 WM project, I'm somewhat familiar with Bartlein, Krieger, Douglas however I asked a few buddies and can't get any opinions on Rock Creek barrels?Any owners or end users care to comment good or bad? I'm looking for a REM varmint/sendero contour, do they use the same "profile" model on there barrels? Thanks

 

[GhostFace]

i have a Rock on my one and only custom and its a hammer! Its also a pretty fast, nothing crazy but so far my speeds are a little high. I have no fouling issues and it cleans up easy. I will buy another when i burn this one up unless I cant find one at the time.

 

[Pusher591]

I’ve used rock creek for years. Their cut rifled blanks are very accurate if the smith is competent. All of mine have shot sub and sub half moa routinely. They always seem to be a little faster then most other brands as well.

 

[mildot326]

Thanks, I'm looking at a REM varmint/sendero contour, it says it has a 3" breech cylinder? would that make a difference in installation in my Manners MCS-T5 stock? it's inletted for the REM varmint/sendero contour.

 

[padom]

Cut rifled Rock shoot like any Bartlein, Krieger, Hawk Hill. Josh at PVA uses Rocks in all his builds unless the customer specifies otherwise...

I have recently been testing Mullerworks cut rifled barrels which are also tack drivers. Dan Muller worked for Rock Creek for a while and is well known in the industry. His barrels are awesome.

 

[m1match]

The only Rock Creek barrel I have is a M40 contour barrel in a 2003 GAP custom build in 308. It is very accurate, 5R profile rifling, doesn't foul, and cleans up very well. I don't have any experience with recent production Rock Creek barrels but I think they have had some changes of people there in the last few years.

 

[Ledzep]

I have a Rock Creek rem-varmint contour .22-250 barrel that was a replacement for a Bartlein rem varmint that wouldn't shoot as fast as I wanted (not sure what the deal was, I repurposed it as a .223 barrel and it's fine but wouldn't shoot accurately at .22-250 speeds). Anyway, the contour was about as exact a match as I could hope for, the fitted thread protector for the first barrel was still almost seamless on the rock creek. That barrel is scary precise, too. Simple load dev gave 1-hole groups @100yd.

 

[Sheldon N]

I've got a Rock Creek barrel from PVA in 6 Dasher. Shoots great. Prior Dasher barrel was Hawk Hill, maybe shot a tiny bit better and 15 fps faster? Both pretty much bughole groups so really splitting hairs and could easily be in the subtle variations from barrel to barrel regardless of manufacturer. Other shooters I know have had good experiences with Rock Creek also.

 

[g.ross]

Ran Rocks in the past with great luck , my gunsmith recommended them after his success . I spun won one and am very impressed with the results . I'm not a fan of break in procedures so I thought I would clean it after 87 rnds and this is the only barrel that has showed 0 copper on the patch . Here's a picture of some fireforming groups .
Top target is 95 grn berger Classic hunters
Middle target are 110 smk along with 3 I threw the magneto speed to check speed.
Bottom row is 108 eldm .

 

[jetmd]

I have a Rock barrel on my Badger 2013 in 300wm. Shoots great and it cleans well. Speeds are fast from actual data obtained and bullet drop computed.

The only thing I would change after this one is shot out is to order a 1/9 next time, as mine currently is a 1/10 and I would like to move up to a little heavier bullet,
Specifically the Berger 230gr.

Mike delivers a very good barrel.

 

[Geno C.]

I have a Rock barrel on my Badger 2013 in 300wm. Shoots great and it cleans well. Speeds are fast from actual data obtained and bullet drop computed.

The only thing I would change after this one is shot out is to order a 1/9 next time, as mine currently is a 1/10 and I would like to move up to a little heavier bullet,
Specifically the Berger 230gr.

Mike delivers a very good barrel.

Mike hasn't been there for quite a while now. I've had a few rocks over the years and they have all been very good barrels. Like most others have said, they have all been on the fast side.

 

[Jimmy31593]

Rock Creek makes a solid barrel. I wouldn't second guess using them

 

[fmaglin]

Just ended up running 200 rounds through my Rock Creek Sendero contour. It's a 308 with a 10 twist that I had installed on a Remington 700P. Right around 120 rounds I had a big increase in MV. After 150 rounds it began to settle down, but is still pretty fast. Accuracy is great. Was told not to clean it until around 300 to 400 rounds. I did do a minimal cleaning at 150 rounds but saw no signs of coppering.

 

[writtenbytylerkee]

I had a Rock Creek barrel fitted to a trued Remington 700 on the advice of Mark at Accurate Ordnance. It's a 1:11.73 twist in .308 Win finished at 20 inches. It is a consistent sub 1/2 MOA performer with Federal Gold and pretty much everything else of quality. Load development has been very easy as everything I shoot through it is sub minute (no joke). I've also found it to be very fast. I get pretty consistent 2650 fps out of 175 gr. loads. I also managed to get 2900 fps out of a 168 Hornady BTHP using CFE 223. Your mileage might vary.

As others have commented, it's a fast barrel that's very accurate, and cleans up with very little work no matter what I run through it. I'm only a single datapoint, but one that's positive.

 

[Wrong hander .243]

I have a rock creek on my match gun. 243 win in m24 contour . This thing is a hammer. It stays clean for a long time. I have 2 more builds I am doing and the only thing I am going to use is a rock creek. Russel would be glad to awnser any question I am sure. He's a good guy to work with don't hesitate

 

[Bully]

This is a timely thread for me. I just ordered and should receive by Tuesday a 7twist Rock barrel in .224. I'm going to spin it up and put it on my soon to be trued R700 action. I'm looking to run 80gn pills as accurately as possible to 300 and hopefully out to 750 this summer on steel. Hearing all the good press the Rock barrels get makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. I may put on my bunny slippers and sip some tea when I get home.

 

[bohem]

I use LOTS of Rock Creek barrels.
Russ handles the phones and the cut rifled side of the business. He's great to deal with and they've been cutting a lot of barrels for me on both sides of the house.
Mike has not been there for almost 5 years now.

I would not hesitate to use them for a personal rifle or, more importantly to me, a customer rifle. They are excellent pipes.