Brux barrels.................................

Rich De

Rich De

Member
I don't know if this is an appropriate section for this or even the right spot? It concerns giving recognition to a company who wants to do right for the customer. Norm and Ken at Brux barrels are people who are concerned that their customers are satisfied.
This past year I had purchased four Brux 6mm 1 - 8.5 twist SS barrels for myself and a few friends I shoot with. They were all chambered in 6BRX with one of Dave Kiff's reamers. All barrels are shoot very accurately with one problem.....One of them produces high pressures and was blowing primers. Yep, tried them all! Three of the barrels can shoot most any of the loads used by many shooters with no pressure signs. Up to and including 34 + gr. of Varget with 105 Bergers, 36 gr. H-4350, 33 gr. Re-15 and 4895.
These same loads and much lower are routinely blowing primers and blew one case apart to the extent I had to mill the brass from the bolt face. Different bolts were tried with the same results. A custom fit Holland's firing pin was fitted and still blew primers. Even another complete action (Rem) was used and still the piecred primer condition continued. Lighter bullets would often be ok. The cases formed perfectly and mic'd the same and from my chamber and the other barrels. Case length was some .040" short of bottoming out. Loads from my gun and another were fired in this chamber and still blew primers.

I called Norm at Brux and explained that we were about out of ideas. He suggested slugging the barrel or sending it to him. I opted to send it to him.
Less than two weeks after sending it, I received a phone call from Ken. He apologized for all the trouble we had with the barrel. While he felt the barrel was ok, he also told me they were shipping me out a new one immediately. Since I had advised him we were in the middle of the match season. There was absolutely no hesitation on his part that making it right with the customer was number one.
I just felt it was right to give a Big "ATTA BOY" to Norm and Ken at BRUX barrels. It is nice to know good people like them exist in our sport.
Rich De
 
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Rich

As I read your posting, I keep thinking, why is it a certain barrel must accept the loadings that you are able to run in other barrels, or if it doesn't there is something wrong with the barrel?

Some of the barrels I own will not take the same loads other barrels will, and I consider that part of the natural variations in barrels.

It was very generous for Brux to give you a new barrel for sure, but in my mind as I read your posting I keep asking myself why you did not consider modifying the load you had to work with the particular barrel you had. When I read your posting it's almost like you kept bludgeoning forward blowing primers and cases, etc. refusing to believe one barrel could be different from others and not making any adjustments in what you were doing based on what was clear evidence before you. Maybe I am reading your posting wrong but that's what it looks like.

Robert Whitley
 
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Robert............First of all, it is not MY barrel! It belongs to a friend. But even if it was, I would feel the same way. It is however one of three that were ordered as a group. Another one was purchased a month or so later. What you are saying is somewhat logical but even reasonably lowering the charges produced pierced primers. The guys at Brux felt the barrel was OK after they checked it. With that being said, you would think that the pressures should be the same as the other three I chambered? No? When my barrel, along with the other three can shoot 34.5 gr. of Varget with out blowing primers and the questionable one cannot shoot 32 gr? And yes, we even switched lots of powder! And not just Varget, but H-4985 and Re-7 caused problems.
All I am saying and the purpose of this thread was to praise the people at Brux for the way they are handling the situation. They could have argued with me and said its not their barrels fault? But they were very polite and said: "Hey, we just want our customers to be happy with our product!" Thats a good feeling to get when dealing with a company.

Rich De
 
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Rich

You will get no argument from me that Norm and Ken are very decent and honorable in the handling of the Brux barrels business - good people to deal with for sure - and I appreciate your posting.

I was not trying to put you on the spot with my earlier posting (just thoughts and reactions beased on what I read) and I appreciate your desire to spread the word of good deeds by the people at Brux!

Robert Whitley
 
wouldnt this be a matter of a possable bad chamber job?? I really wouldnt know, and you did say the cases were specked out all the same. This is weird for sure. I also like Brux barrels. I have only had a couple but they bother were great shooting barrels. I will definitely buy from them in the future. Good luck to you and your buddy on the new barrel, as i hope this one works out for you. Keep us posted on it, i would be curious to know the out come. Thanks Lee
 
skee...........I chambered all four of these barrels. I have a Hawkeye bore scope and can see nothing wrong. The cases form perfectly. They match in dimension to the ones from the other three barrels. We even put the barrel on another Remington action? I am also sure the guys at Brux have a borescope and would have told me if they suspected something wrong. Ken said I should have the barrel by tomorrow or Monday. If I get it tomorrow, I will have it chambered for our regular Tuesday shooting session.
Rich De
 
I would like to know chrono results for all barrels and loads.
 
This sounds EXACTLY like my "exploding gun" (parts I , II, and III ). Exactly!!! But, I have had the gun for 2 years and it must have 800+ rounds down the tube.

I am not even going to try contact Brux......I figure it is a little late.
 
snakeeye.........It would be a little work to gather the information on all the barrels just to answer your question. But just from my recollection, there was never anything way out of line. Then you would have to factor in we all are shooting over different chronographs. I would think the only valid comparrison would be if all rifles were shot over the same chronograph at a given range session. And.........one of the barrels is on a rifle 650 miles away.
By the way, Ken Liebetrau just sent me an e-mail thanking me for putting this post on the forum and advising me to let him know if I had any problems.
The new barrel, which came Friday, four days after he called me it was shipped, is now chambered and ready to shoot tomorrow on my friends rifle. I put one test shot thru it (in my basement) using 33 gr. of Varget and a 105 A-Max jammed into the lands. The once fired case came out perfect and the primer was not pierced. Tomorrow should be a better test.
Rich De
 
Rich
Your load is really 34.5 grains of Varget in a case 0.1 longer than a standard 6BR.
Waterboy
 
Lynn........What is your point???? The case I used was previously fireformed to BRX. I loaded 33 gr. of Varget. How is that 34.5?

So, the rifle was shot today fireforming a few cases with 30 gr. of H-4895 and a 88 gr. Berger; 3,000 fps instrumental, 15 ft. from muzzle. After remounting the scope with no adjustents, the first shot was 7" dead high at 6:00. Dialed it in and shot a three shot fireforming 1/2" group. Then using preloaded cases from the previous barrel: 31 gr. Varget with 105 Berger, 2900 fps insturmental, my friend put together a 3 shot .109" bughole at 100 yds. Two five shot groups at 300 yards (fire forming) were right around one inch. Needless to say he was happier than a "pig is poo!" More serious testing will be done next week. Lets just say, no signs of primer piercing was experienced thus far.
Rich De
 
They were all chambered in 6BRX with one of Dave Kiff's reamers.Three of the barrels can shoot most any of the loads used by many shooters with no pressure signs. Up to and including 34 + gr. of Varget with 105 Bergers, 36 gr. H-4350, 33 gr. Re-15 and 4895.

Rich De
I thought you had your powder charges mixed up in your original post.
On the westcoast of the United States we use more RE15 than Varget in our 6BR's and 6 Dashers by about a full grain.Your original post quoted above seems to say you have 3 barrels shooting 34+ grains of Varget so that is were I got the 34.5 from.I guess after reading 34+ grains I should have said 34.1 34.2 34.3 or 34.4 grains in my post?
Your new results with barrel 5 seem more inline with what I see out here.
My 6BR load at 31.5 grains of Varget gives me 2970 fps and is considered by some of the shooters you shoot with on a regular basis to be dangerously hot.I am glad to know adding 0.1 to the cases length will allow 2.5 grains more of the same powder to be used without showing any pressure signs.
Good Luck with the new barrel
Waterboy
 
Lynn.......Yes, there are a number of shooter using RE-15. I have shot it and it does well but as you know, on a given day, you shoot a couple good groups with a powder and now it becomes the better one???? The next time you play at the range and try a different combination and it shoots better, you say......."Man, I'm gonna shoot that at the next match!" This is all part of game for me. Trying a lot of different powders to see if there is a "Holy Grail?" A couple of months ago the guy on the next bench told me he was shooting 32.6 gr. of Re15 with the 105 Berger boat tail. He shot a few butt kickin' groups. So, I tried it and it was no better than my 32.5 Varget/ 108 Berger load???? So, you know how it goes! Everyone has to individually turne their own rifle.
Rich De
 
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