One of the competitive clubs I'm a member of is doing a group buy. I've used Benchmark, Krieger, Lilja, and Brux mostly but have no experience with X-Caliber. The pricing is well and I am considering buying a couple but would like to know any experiences you've had, good or bad.
Gunsmithing X-Caliber barrels
- Thread starter KineticPerformance
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I chambered one recently and found that the groove diameter was oversized. They were very interested to see it. I sent it back and got a quick response that they'd replace it. Still waiting on the new one. The ones ive shot though have been great. There are a number of varmint hunters at my club who use them. Through the borescope they're indistinguishable from krieger and bartlein. I'll buy more.
Junk, I've sent a lot of them back because they were way over size and the bore shadows the contour when you slug them, they miss the twist rate frequently and the heat treat is variable!! Some will shoot despite how poor they are but your not stacking the odds in your favor!!
I bought Two last week to check out, a 6mm and 338. Barrels slugged ok and looked decent. I didn't check twist rate though the last post makes me think I should. Bore was .062 off center on one and both were not terribly strait, about like a factory barrel so timing them is a must. We are breaking in the 6mm now and it looks promising. I'll post up groups and final speeds when I have them. The first person I talked to up there was great but today I called for a couple 6.5 blanks and was totally put off, told just to go online to order and that he only dealt with dealers. Bartlien hasn't ever told me that- the extra 100$ may just be worth it.
I purchased a 375 Raptor barrel from X-Caliber (LR 308 project), along with a X-Terminator muzzle break. Unfortunately, the barrel they sent me had no freebore, a condition they blamed on a defective reamer. X-Caliber believed they had tracked down all of the "freebore free" barrels prior to leaving their shop. Nope. And on top of that, I had ordered 5R rifling, but the same chamber cast that revealed the freebore issue also displayed traditional 6 land and groove rifling. I've read that the shop is experiencing some turnover of a few key people. If that's true, that could explain the lack of quality control concerning the barrel they shipped me. I have no doubts that they're capable of producing a quality product at a reasonable price, but given that I have to wait another 10-12 weeks for a new barrel due to their negligence, I'm not real happy with X-Caliber at the moment.
I ordered a couple barrels from them, lots of miscommunication. I cancelled my order and will stick with Bartlein and Hawk Hill.
Agreed. They never could get me the infoi wanted or needed about their products and I've got overwhelming negative feedback. I shot with the guys from Hawk Hill and they are good dudes and make goodstuff. I've had great experiences with Krieger and Benchmark so I'll stick with those three.
How funny you should ask. I chambered it this afternoon for my tempest. Ive had it for some time now though, August perhaps. While the turnaround was a bit slower than I would have liked, other projects took over and I never got back to it till today. Definitely give them a call.
So, I contacted Dustin Berg on 11/10 regarding the status of my 375 Raptor replacement barrel (original barrel was defective, see above). He said the barrel remained at the vendor X-Caliber contracts out for black nitride treatment (a service X-Caliber is not charging me for given I had the original barrel cerakoted prior to discovering it was defective). So, Mr. Berg suggested that I call back on 11/17. I did and was told that the barrel remains with the black nitride vendor. It’s been nearly 5 months since the replacement order was initiated. Had this been an original order, I wouldn’t have much cause to be upset given X-Caliber’s stated turn around time for black nitride treated barrels is between 18 and 20 weeks. However, this particular order is replacing a defective product solely due X-Caliber’s quality control (or lack thereof). Maybe I’m old fashioned, but shouldn’t correcting a mistake that you made be priority number one? Well, all I can do is rant and wait. I sincerely hope the new barrel was worth the hassle.
Sorry didn’t realize what wrote did get in my post these 2 groups are from 2 different 308 win don’t think I have had any shoot more than 1/2 moa all i know is they shoot better than i can
I screw up again the groups or from same rifle it sucks to get old
I use a lot of Rock Creek, PROOF, Spencer/MPA and Hawk Hill. Folks send me Bartlein, Kreiger and Mullerworks regularly and they make excellent barrels as well.
I have the benefit of having some very high end equipment for a little gunshop. I section barrels, check rifling forms on an optical comparator, check hardness of the material across the section of the barrel, pin gage checking bore sizes. All of this checking is to ensure quality that leaves my shop.
I use button rifled and cut rifled barrels from Rock Creek. Different projects, different products, different costs. It is always disclosed to the customer and they are always given choices.
The button rifled barrels that Dan Muller, Spencer and Rock Creek make are top end products. The price reflects it and that price is reflected in the product that I produce.
When I get someone that wants to know about button vs. cut rifled there is probably a book of information that I've learned in the last 7-10 years about the topic. The sad part is, the hit and miss product quality of some button rifle shops is why the internet is so easy to dismiss the idea of a button rifled match rifle barrel.
Think about this:
A rifle that has 2500rd of barrel life costs about $2000 worth of reloaded ammo alone to burn it up. The barrel costs $400 or $700 installed on your rifle.
Do you want $2700 worth of ammo/barrel to to through a barrel that is routinely capable of 1/4MOA repeatability or do you want to send $2400 through a barrel that MIGHT shoot 1/4MOA and it might shoot 1MOA... you don't know til you get it.
Just to find out if the barrel is good or bad it takes about 200rds plus your time. The difference in cost is rapidly diminishing.... ammo, reloading time, driving time to the range... all of these things cost money and while each of our time may be worth different levels the bottom line is that it still costs something. The guy who doesn't fret the cost of 200rds of rifle ammo might have time that is more valuable in raw dollars... The guy who has to worry over the cost of the 200 rounds may not be pulling in the same salary. It's a balancing act and it all equals out though.
End of the path, do you want to spend money on a barrel you KNOW is going to shoot and it comes with a warranty and support? Or do you want to roll the dice knowing that at some point it's coming up with a dud barrel and you're going to have a poor shooting rifle to show for it?
The barrels I use are heavily inspected by not only the folks making them but also by me. Call Rock Creek and ask how persnickety I get when it comes to spec'ing a barrel out for my shop shelves. This isn't an inexpensive sport and as with everything else in life you get what you pay for... cheap barrel blanks end up costing just as much money as the very top shelf ones; the only difference is at what point along the time-line the money is spent.
And all of this soap-boxing isn't even starting the discussion of what I've seen doing hardness testing and barrel life testing on some of the "cost conscious" options out on the market...
Sorry guys, bit of a rant. I'll go back to the lathe now
I have the benefit of having some very high end equipment for a little gunshop. I section barrels, check rifling forms on an optical comparator, check hardness of the material across the section of the barrel, pin gage checking bore sizes. All of this checking is to ensure quality that leaves my shop.
I use button rifled and cut rifled barrels from Rock Creek. Different projects, different products, different costs. It is always disclosed to the customer and they are always given choices.
The button rifled barrels that Dan Muller, Spencer and Rock Creek make are top end products. The price reflects it and that price is reflected in the product that I produce.
When I get someone that wants to know about button vs. cut rifled there is probably a book of information that I've learned in the last 7-10 years about the topic. The sad part is, the hit and miss product quality of some button rifle shops is why the internet is so easy to dismiss the idea of a button rifled match rifle barrel.
Think about this:
A rifle that has 2500rd of barrel life costs about $2000 worth of reloaded ammo alone to burn it up. The barrel costs $400 or $700 installed on your rifle.
Do you want $2700 worth of ammo/barrel to to through a barrel that is routinely capable of 1/4MOA repeatability or do you want to send $2400 through a barrel that MIGHT shoot 1/4MOA and it might shoot 1MOA... you don't know til you get it.
Just to find out if the barrel is good or bad it takes about 200rds plus your time. The difference in cost is rapidly diminishing.... ammo, reloading time, driving time to the range... all of these things cost money and while each of our time may be worth different levels the bottom line is that it still costs something. The guy who doesn't fret the cost of 200rds of rifle ammo might have time that is more valuable in raw dollars... The guy who has to worry over the cost of the 200 rounds may not be pulling in the same salary. It's a balancing act and it all equals out though.
End of the path, do you want to spend money on a barrel you KNOW is going to shoot and it comes with a warranty and support? Or do you want to roll the dice knowing that at some point it's coming up with a dud barrel and you're going to have a poor shooting rifle to show for it?
The barrels I use are heavily inspected by not only the folks making them but also by me. Call Rock Creek and ask how persnickety I get when it comes to spec'ing a barrel out for my shop shelves. This isn't an inexpensive sport and as with everything else in life you get what you pay for... cheap barrel blanks end up costing just as much money as the very top shelf ones; the only difference is at what point along the time-line the money is spent.
And all of this soap-boxing isn't even starting the discussion of what I've seen doing hardness testing and barrel life testing on some of the "cost conscious" options out on the market...
Sorry guys, bit of a rant. I'll go back to the lathe now
Very succinctly put Mr. Bohem! Thanks for sharing your insight in a professional and interesting manner
Had to send a barrel back to them very recently that a friend bought because it looked like they pulled the reamer with the barrel still spinning. It looked almost like someone tired to internally thread the chamber. I wish I was making this up. I've got a picture somewhere.
I know this thread is 11 months old but I wondered if any of the original participants are still around. I am having issues with a new albeit year old X Calier barrel I finally got installed. I cant chamber rounds without them being jammed into the lands as lengths far shorter than published guidelines. I am wondering if the chamber was cut incorrectly and am looking for others who may have experiences similar. Thanks
Its noteworthy that they don't Google themselves to check customer satisfaction. That's standard procedure for most. And they must not be on the sites that most of their customers use...hmm...
Maybe someone should email them this thread link. See what happens.
Maybe someone should email them this thread link. See what happens.
I am breaking in an AR-15 barrel from X-caliber and so far it's shooting pretty good.
Got it on one of their sales. A bull profile 28" +2 gas shoulder 1:7 5R but requested NO gas port/no dimple (Straight pull side charger).
Took it to a 600yd meet (I'm new at this) and got 10 X's out of 60 , wind gave me 5 8's (not my fault
).
22 Nosler, 88ELD's, IMR4350, 2880fps.
So far I am very happy with it.
Got it on one of their sales. A bull profile 28" +2 gas shoulder 1:7 5R but requested NO gas port/no dimple (Straight pull side charger).
Took it to a 600yd meet (I'm new at this) and got 10 X's out of 60 , wind gave me 5 8's (not my fault
).22 Nosler, 88ELD's, IMR4350, 2880fps.
So far I am very happy with it.
I find them hit or miss in how they shoot. I certainly don't put them in the same group with other top end barrel blanks.
Myself and a friend each bought ar15 barrels from them . They shoot OK, but the muzzle threads were slightly undersized, the brake would wobble when threading it on. With all the choices, I probably wont buy another.
I have purchased a few barrels from X-caliber and they have all shot extremely well, usually around 0.25 moa (and often in the teens) in my varmint guns.
Just bought a couple more and expect they will shoot well based on the other ones I have purchased.
Just bought a couple more and expect they will shoot well based on the other ones I have purchased.
I only purchased a blank for my smith to chamber but my 25 creed wearing a 7 twist xcaliber blank shoots better than I can.
I know this is almost 3 years old, but I'm wondering if there's any others out there experiencing problems with X-Caliber.
I purchased an AR 375 Raptor barrel from them and the bullets appear to be jamming and empty cases are sticking as well.
Just tried it out yesterday and had a wasted trip to the range (should have brought other guns with me).
I realize our government caused issues have put a real drain on component/material suppliers and worker shortages are reeking havok, so I'll cut some slack for now. Just in case, does anyone know of other manufacturers that supply AR 375 Raptor barrels?
I purchased an AR 375 Raptor barrel from them and the bullets appear to be jamming and empty cases are sticking as well.
Just tried it out yesterday and had a wasted trip to the range (should have brought other guns with me).
I realize our government caused issues have put a real drain on component/material suppliers and worker shortages are reeking havok, so I'll cut some slack for now. Just in case, does anyone know of other manufacturers that supply AR 375 Raptor barrels?
I have a few not impressed either
Buddy ordered a prefit and it won't thread into the receiver... threads were wrong.... to their credit they had no problem fixing it.
I have a AR15 224 Valk barrel from them. It's nice looking and fluted... but it just shoots "OK". I've tried all sorts of loads (factory and handloads)
I was really tempted to try another one with their 20% off sale, but just don't want to be that guy who has to learn the same lesson twice lol
I have a AR15 224 Valk barrel from them. It's nice looking and fluted... but it just shoots "OK". I've tried all sorts of loads (factory and handloads)
I was really tempted to try another one with their 20% off sale, but just don't want to be that guy who has to learn the same lesson twice lol
I understand this was posted a little over 4 years ago, but this is well worth bringing up again. Excellent considerations which are often overlooked.. Thanks Bohem. Is it possible for you to clean up chambers and turn a bowl of turd into an acceptable cake? What's the name of your company and do you have a gunsmithing menu with prices? Please pm this information if your still active.
I have done a few friend/family rifles on razor thin budgets using green mountain, x caliber, and wilson blanks.
Out of the 3 mentioned above.......wilson were best......but still not top tier for sure.
In my opinion, if you are browsing snipershide.com for barrel blank advice.......you need to shop top tier parts......otherwise your results may not meet your expectations.
Most of us have spent more on premium reloading tools than the cost difference in mid-grade to premium barrel blanks.
The accuracy game is about minimizing (hopefully eliminating) errors on target. Highest quality parts do just that.
Ern
Out of the 3 mentioned above.......wilson were best......but still not top tier for sure.
In my opinion, if you are browsing snipershide.com for barrel blank advice.......you need to shop top tier parts......otherwise your results may not meet your expectations.
Most of us have spent more on premium reloading tools than the cost difference in mid-grade to premium barrel blanks.
The accuracy game is about minimizing (hopefully eliminating) errors on target. Highest quality parts do just that.
Ern
