Shouldered Barrel Options

[Precisiondada]

I’m looking at a few options to spin up a cut-rifled shouldered barrel for a Bighorn Origin. I’ve broken it down to three workshops, LRI, CORE, and PVA...

My question is this... The guys over at Core are able to spin up a pre-fit in 3-5 days and the smiths performing the work are highly regarded in the industry. Whereas the PVA Barrel is anywhere from 16–22 weeks.

What am I missing? Is there any reason why people are lining up for a PVA prefit as opposed to using Core or LRI or any other number of smith’s? What are they doing differently?

 

[darrenk75b]

Price. PVA has run sales as well which are very appealing. The lead time estimate you claim though may be generous. A number of people have rather extended lead times in the barrels they have ordered from pva.

 

[Precisiondada]

The price is negligible on cut-rifled prefits, they’re all in the $7-800 range not including Cerakote or whatever.
PVA website is where I got the 16+ week lead time from

 

[Precisiondada]

What are they doing differently that commands the lead times

 

[Precisiondada]

I should also preface this thread with this... This is not a knock on PVA at all. They’re doing something special and that’s clear to everyone here.
Just wondering why the line out the door.

 

[Bandit31]

Bugholes/ SPR, Keystone Accuracy, and i think Mile High does as well.

 

[Supersubes]

What are they doing differently that commands the lead times

Josh is a member here, who’s been contributing for a long time, so people know him. He’s one of very few shops that have taken the approach to rifle building he has. That’s to say he’s gone high tech along with high productivity. He offered precuts and various tooling before others did. The deal he worked with Rock creek to produce a very well priced button barrel undoubtedly adds the the prefix popularity. All the pre-orders for the John Hancock rifle, as well as the Origin/Nucleas rifle preorders, are probably peaking out right about now. The sales undoubtedly added to all this, as they were quite good. I’m scratching the surface here really.

It’s amazing, frankly, how many barrels/rifles he’s likely producing. If it was 2005(pre-CNC age), and he had the backlog that I think he has now, you'd be asking why his lead time was 5 years.

I don’t know who does CORE’s work, if it’s in house or farmed out, but I’m sure they do a fine job.

 

[Sutherlandsd]

I have owned many barrels over the years... I will say this my PVA 260 barrel was worth whatever the wait (luckily I got it off the exchange and didnt have to wait lol). It's easily the most accurate and easiest to clean barrel I have ever owned, and no mine isnt the cut rifled barrel. The barrel shoots much better than me likes 140's... likes 130s... my SD are in the low single digits and I am pushing 140hybrids with 43.4 gr H4350 at 2910fps. Its fast, its accurate, it cleans easy, its worth the wait go buy a criterion or a used barrel off the exchange and screw around with it while its being made.

 

[Precisiondada]

I’m not disputing PVA’s contribution to the sport, the site, or their ability to produce a barrel that shoots.

 

[Garyc]

Shooters are notoriously faddish. If someone vocal on a board like this becomes a cheerleader for a certain shop then it becomes a must have for a lot of folks, their business stacks up and their lead times lengthen. They may or may not be doing anything better than another shop.

Personally, if one shop is quoting 16 weeks for turnaround and another is quoting 3-5 days then if the 3-5 day shop is known for quality work then they're gonna get my business. Turnaround time does not equal quality, I learned that a long time ago. I have a semi-retired benchrest gunsmith near me that I can drop the parts off at noon and pick up the barreled action at 5 pm as long as I catch him on a day he's not busy. His work will compete with anyone out there and most shops couldn't think of holding the tolerances he does. With all the online vendors like Bugholes.com that are stocking quality barrels I can have it to me in a couple of days and be shooting it the day after unless I want some kind of weird contour.

Unless you're requesting something weird there's no reason to wait 4-5 months for a barreling job.

 

[SPAK]

Josh’s work is high quality. I was a customer with josh before pva even existed and my turn around time for a barrel was 3-5 days. I still have that barrel and it’s easily one of the most accurate rifles I own. His workmanship since pva went full time has only gotten that much better. Do I miss those days?? You bet I do! But for me, it’s worth the added wait.

I have enough rifles/barrels to keep me busy all year long. If I know I’m getting down to needing another barrel, I call up josh and he’s got all my actions on file. I never need to send in my action to get a barrel. BIghorn tl3 prefits have been lights out. Never had a bad barrel from pva. It’s worth the wait for me.

Now if I was just starting out putting a build together I can understand the desire for short lead times. I will say this, my first custom rifle was a nightmare. Some good recommendations for this particular Smith but the workmanship was horrible and I had nothing but problems. There are plenty of excellent smiths out there. Pva is one of them and has earned my business through their consistency and customer service.