UrbanRifleman 6BR Savage Small Shank Nut Barrel Testing

[padom]

I got a 26" 1-8 Savage Small Shank Nut Prefit straight barrel from https://theurbanriflemanstore.com/ALL-PREFIT-BARRELS-FOR-BOLT-GUNS

Ive been hearing people talk about them and saw good results so I decided to reach out to Brad and get a test going. I was really interested in what kind of performance can be had out of a $289.00 (+$100 for muzzle threads) ready to go nut barrel for a savage small shank or ReMage, Tikka, etc...

The barrels are made using a Wilson blank. This is my first Wilson bolt gun barrel but Ive owned, tested and shot a lot of Wilson barrels in AR's for years and they were very accurate.

Test setup was as follows

Bighorn/Zermatt TL3
Bighorn/Zermatt 12 Point Barrel Nut
XLR Envy Pro JV Comp Chassis
BnA TacSport Pro 2 Stage
Razor Gen3
SEB Neo Rest
LabRadar

26" 6BR Urbanrifleman 1-8 Straight


I loaded up some mini OCW around my known 30gr Varget loads shot in my other 6BR barrels with 105 Hybrids and 105 Scenar-L's. I was amazed how well this barrel shot, especially for $289.00!! One other thing I noticed, this barrel is FAST. I mean VERY FAST. Looking at data on my last 4 28" 6BR Bartlein and Kriegers... I was at 30gr Varget getting 2850 from my 28" Bartlein with 105 Scenar's 2 weeks ago... Where Im getting 2852 with 29.6gr Varget (SAME 8LB just of Varget) out of the 26" Wilson..... So 2" shorter, and 0.4gr less powder, same velocity with same bullet, brass, primer and Lot of powder Crazy.. Also, with the 105 Hybrid in the 28" Bartlein, Im at 2844... In this 26" Wilson with 30.0r powder Im at 2860..... so 15 fps faster and 2" shorter barrel......

Anyone looking for a prefit nut barrel for their Origin, TL3, Remington, Kelbly, Tikka, Terminous, Curtis, etc.... your gonna be hard pressed to find something that shoots this good for anywhere close to what these barrels cost.

I havent even done a seating depth test yet and we have groups in the 0.1's and 0.2's. Looking forward to testing these loads out further.

 

[spife7980]

Gonna beat the inevitable comments to the punch

Glad to see hes got different contours now

 

[padom]

Gonna beat the inevitable comments to the punch

Glad to see hes got different contours now

He does actually do shouldered barrels they are $499.... but shit that's not $289!!

 

[Urbanrifleman]

Thank you Dominic. I've learned a lot in the last few weeks.

 

[Kiba]

Those are some pretty spectacular results for a *very* moderately priced barrel.

Crazy to think the blank and chambering work costs less than most places charge just for the labor for a shouldered chambering job on a barrel blank you provided.

I've also used Wilson barrels on several ARs and I found them all accurate, they didn't foul excessively, and they were easy to clean.

I've always wanted to try some flavor of .20 caliber for varmint blasting, and at the price of these barrels I'm very, very tempted to order a 20-223AI barrel as not only do they have the reamer I have about 400 pieces of already fireformed 223AI brass from a rifle I sold a few years ago that I could easily neck down to 20-223AI. If I don't like it I'll only be out $289 instead of $700+.

I'm sure I'll catch some crap for saying it, but I actually kind of like the look of that Zermatt 12 point barrel nut you used, it's far more streamlined looking than hex or spline drive style barrel nuts which usually look pretty bulky. Regarding barrel nut style barrels, last year I bought a clearance PVA .223 Remage barrel for a friend with an R700 who had a very tight budget, and not only was it cake to headspace it's a laser beam with everything from 40s to 75s. While I would not use a barrel nut for a rifle you plan on using as a switch barrel, if you plan to screw it on and leave it on until you shoot it out they work fine.

 

[Urbanrifleman]

Those are some pretty spectacular results for a *very* moderately priced barrel.

Crazy to think the blank and chambering work costs less than most places charge just for the labor for a shouldered chambering job on a barrel blank you provided.

I've also used Wilson barrels on several ARs and I found them all accurate, they didn't foul excessively, and they were easy to clean.

I've always wanted to try some flavor of .20 caliber for varmint blasting, and at the price of these barrels I'm very, very tempted to order a 20-223AI barrel as not only do they have the reamer I have about 400 pieces of already fireformed 223AI brass from a rifle I sold a few years ago that I could easily neck down to 20-223AI. If I don't like it I'll only be out $289 instead of $700+.

I'm sure I'll catch some crap for saying it, but I actually kind of like the look of that Zermatt 12 point barrel nut you used, it's far more streamlined looking than hex or spline drive style barrel nuts which usually look pretty bulky. Regarding barrel nut style barrels, last year I bought a clearance PVA .223 Remage barrel for a friend with an R700 who had a very tight budget, and not only was it cake to headspace it's a laser beam with everything from 40s to 75s. While I would not use a barrel nut for a rifle you plan on using as a switch barrel, if you plan to screw it on and leave it on until you shoot it out they work fine.

20 Sploder thread.

You are being redirected...

20 Sploder kicks butt.

 

[soklvc88]

I actually love this riffle.

 

[Kiba]

20 Sploder thread.

You are being redirected...

20 Sploder kicks butt.

Was reading that thread earlier.

I think some of those loads shown in that thread are probably well above 65ksi (and a quick check in Quickload seems to confirm my hunch that some of those loads are probably in Sherman Mini Improved territory, lol) but I'm also sure they explode the crap out of squirrels and prairie dogs.

Problem for me is finding bullets... I'm in CA and have to use non-lead even for varmints. Of all the non-monolithic lead free varmint bullets I've tested, the Noslers have been by far the most accurate and consistent in multiple rifles-- but they are very hard to get as they are limited production runs since they're really a California only bullet, and Nosler generally only runs one batch per year (or longer.) I had to wait almost 2 years for the 40gr and 50gr lead free 223's to finally come back in stock late this spring, and of course the leadfree 32gr 204s are out of stock everywhere and who knows when Nosler will make another run of them.

The next issue is the 10 twist barrels you stock probably won't work for the 32gr leadfree bullets I'd want to use, it looks like very marginal stability or possibly unstable since I'm at 20' above sea level. Based on the stability numbers I'd want an 8.5 or 9 twist to guarantee stability with the 32gr lead frees.

Twist/stability is an issue with my 17HMR Sako Quad and leadfree bullets as well; it has a Lilja 9 twist barrel on it which shoots the normal 17gr Vmax lead bullets extremely accurately, but pick up a box of 15.5gr NTX lead free and it makes 4" groups at 50Y. However, when I go hunting up at 5000' elevation the same 15.5gr NTX ammo makes 1 ragged hole groups at 50Y; the 9 twist just can't stabilize the 15.5gr NTX lead frees down at sea level. I have Lilja making a custom 7 twist barrel to deal with that issue.

Sucks being stuck having to use lead free for *all* hunting in CA now. For many years lead free was only required in the condor areas, then it went statewide for big game only but not for varmints, and now it's required for any kind of hunting state wide. I had to rebarrel a couple of my varmint rifles with faster twists to shoot the lead free bullets I wanted to.

While I'd love to try one of your 20-223AI barrels (I have an action sitting here that would be perfect for it) the 10 twist is very likely a no-go for the 32gr leadfree bullets I would want to shoot.

Anyways, I've sidetracked enough from the original post. Looking forward to more testing with that 6BR barrel.

I'm still amazed Wilson can turn out a barrel blank at the prices they do, but I also see they have 100 pieces as a minimum order.

 

[Urbanrifleman]

Yeah, the Urbanrifleman barrels are a bargain. I installed his 8T ISSF chamber .223 barrel on my Zermatt action back in the winter and finally took it out about a month ago to zero the scope and shoot some 5 shot groups at 100 yards off a bench. The barrel shot pretty well with Berger 77 OTMs and AR Comp.

View attachment 8181683View attachment 8181694View attachment 8181695

I had to send that one to the owner of Wilson. He said he'll try harder to get them all in one hole haha

 

[MarshallDodge]

Nice review

To confirm- Are Wilson Arms barrels the same company as Wilson Combat?

Since 2016, I have been running a Wilson barrel based prefit in 223, from another prefit company, and they do shoot well. My shouldered Krieger shoots better but not a whole lot more!

The next time around I will give ubanrifleman a call.

 

[padom]

Nice review

To confirm- Are Wilson Arms barrels the same company as Wilson Combat?

Since 2016, I have been running a Wilson barrel based prefit in 223, from another prefit company, and they do shoot well. My shouldered Krieger shoots better but not a whole lot more!

The next time around I will give ubanrifleman a call.

No, Wilson Arms is not the same as Wilson Combat....Wilson arms is one of the biggest barrel makers in the US and makes tons of OEM barrels for lots of companies.....

 

[padom]

I just got back from doing a load confirmation at 300yd.. Loaded up the 30.2gr 105 Hybrid load and it was hammering! I was fighting a switching wind out there today but I was able to time some groups ok when the wind wasnt blowing... I cleaned the barrel good last night after putting 100rd through it since the last cleaning.






Put my velocity into my Kestrel and it called for 0.9 mil to 300yd. The cold clean bore was about an inch high POI from POA... I fired 4 more shots and they stacked right on top of each other right on the POA... Kestrel was spot on... Took this shitty pick through my scope.








I then shot this 5 shot group at 300yds with good timing while the wind was consistent... I mean, for $289 barrel, this group is pretty damn remarkable.. 0.25" @ 300yd or 0.119 MOA.... Crazy. I then proceed to bang steel out to 700yd and it was spot on. Straight hammering at 500, 635 and 700yd!

 

[warnera1102]

So for my own knowledge what would cause a barrel to run faster with the exact same load? Would it be the barrel bore being tighter?

 

[Urbanrifleman]

So for my own knowledge what would cause a barrel to run faster with the exact same load? Would it be the barrel bore being tighter?

Different lands and grooves profiles produce different speeds.

 

[Slowshot18]

Different lands and grooves profiles produce different speeds.

Is this a common trend for Wilson barrels to run a tad bit faster than others? I’m aware of a myriad of other variables and most people’s assumptions are biased but with this review and who has performed it has some validity.

 

[padom]

To confirm, I took my 28" 7.5 twist Bartlein 6BR out today to test the exact same 105 Hybrid 30.0gr ammo shot in my last outing in the UR Wilson 26" barrel to confirm speeds.

2835 SD 2..... thats 25 fps slower in a 2" longer barrel....

 

[padom]

Is this a common trend for Wilson barrels to run a tad bit faster than others? I’m aware of a myriad of other variables and most people’s assumptions are biased but with this review and who has performed it has some validity.

This is my 1st so I can't answer that question. Maybe I'll have some more to compare to my other barrels in the safe to see if this is a 1 off....or consistent with these Wilson barrels...

But....shooting the exact same ammo loaded at the exact same time from the same batch of brass, Primers, powder jug and bullet box in the same weather conditions....I'd say it's faster for sure

 

[Slowshot18]

@padom if the data was from anyone else on the forum (ok maybe there are 1-2 others) I would not believe their statement or take it with a grain of salt, etc. This might be a one off, but it would be interesting if this is a trend with Wilson’s, although not many are able to maintain as many constants as you.
Thanks for your reviews. This has likely led to a purchase from UR in the near future.

 

[Urbanrifleman]

I have lots of 6 BR and 6 BR ackley barrels out there. I shoot the 6bR ackley myself. My personal load in the 6BR ackley is the fire forming node. It is 29.6 grains of AR comp. That gets me 2850 to 2880. The upper node for 6BR Ackley is 2940. H 4895 and AR comp are essentially interchangeable as far as loads. They have nearly identical velocities at the same charges. I've shared this load with lots of people and they either shoot h4895 or AR comp and they all get 2850 to 2880 for the node in 26 inch barrels.


I never really even thought about it being fast.

I shoot the 223 in seven twist my free bore is 230 and I shoot the 88 ELDM. My favorite node is 2730 but I have been all the way past 2850 without hurting the brass. That is also a 26-in barrel. I think people are getting similar velocities in longer barrels. By the way I have this ringer now with the 230 freeboard and the seven twist 223 combined with the 88 EL DM is boringly awesome. Shockingly easy to load for and shoots incredibly consistently.

Until Dominic pointed it out I made no claims of having fast barrels or anything like that. I still don't really. That's just the speeds that I have tested and shared with customers. I did not realize they were unique.

 

[Urbanrifleman]

I just wanted to be clear I never made any claims to having barrels with unique numbers. I've only been concerned about seeing small groups and small spreads. I see lots of those. As my barrels get in the hands of better and better shooters I'm seeing smaller and smaller groups at longer distances. I have been very pleasantly surprised.

 

[Urbanrifleman]

Sent to me yesterday.

 

[Urbanrifleman]

Some other recent pics texted to me.