which barrel?

S

shawn

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Taking a pole which barrel maker would you choose Douglas XX or Shillen?
 
Which barrel?

shawn said:
Taking a pole which barrel maker would you choose Douglas XX or Shillen?
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It helps if you state what you want to do. i.e.: varmint hunting, benchrest, informal shooting, etc.

While I don't own any Shilen barrels, I do have Kreigers, Harts, Pac Nors and Douglas. The Kreigers and Harts are on my more accurate rifles. The Pac Nors and Douglas are on my varmint rifles. In those applications, I've been very pleased. The Douglas barrels actually surprise me with their accuracy and longevity, considering they are not hand lapped.

Lou Baccino
 
just general shooting. Going on a 7mm rem, will so some longrange shootin but no competitions.
 
shawn,

As of July 18, Stanley Taylor was in third place in IBS 1K Shooter of the Year points. Stanley works for Douglas and shoots Douglas barrels exclusively. Any thought that I had that Douglas barrels might not run with the big dogs because they were not lapped has been satisfied.

Greg
 
Douglas

shawn said:
just general shooting. Going on a 7mm rem, will so some longrange shootin but no competitions.
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With that being the case I would not hesitate using a Douglas. They are readily available with excellent value for the dollar.

Lou Baccino
 
Shawn,

I have several Douglas XX barrels and I am quite pleased with them.

Here is my favorite P-dog gun packing a Douglas.
DSCN1767.JPG
 
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Greg,

Don't be sorry for me. I shoot or have shot barrels from a fat handful of terrific barrel makers including your favorite, Krieger. In fact, the barrel I shot this past Saturday at the Piedmont 600 IBS match is the same one that I set two single target records with in '04. It is still doing really well although it is a lot shorter now and in a different chambering. Check it out, the results are posted.

My point is that if you think that Douglas barrels give something up because they are not lapped after being rifled you might change your mind if you shoot against Stanley like I have.

We are blessed with many fine barrel makers. I don't own any Douglas barrels (except on Merrill pistols) but I'm satisfied by observation that they are included among those fine makers that we cherish.

All the best,

Greg
 
I'm a great fan of Douglas barrels and Tim Gardner, the owner, is one of my best friends. I am friends with Stan Taylor as well so I will admit to some partiality but my favoritism comes from years of great accuracy and superb customer service from Douglas.

Not taking anything away from other barrel makers but Douglas barrels are as accurate as any barrel made. I would go so far as to say that it's difficult to get a bad barrel from almost any barrel maker these days.

Douglas barrels are so good that 98% of them will air gauge to within .0001 in uniformity.
For those who can't visualize a tenth think of it this way. Take a sheet of notebook paper and slice it into 35 layers. One of those layers will measure .0001 and 98% of Douglas barrels will air gauge to that.

The reason they don't lap barrels is because they don't need lapping. One barrel maker uses copper as a lubricant for their button and must lap the barrels to get the copper out. I asked Tim why he didn't lap barrels one time and he looked at me and replied, "If you know how to make a barrel you don't have to lap it." Douglas does not straighten their barrels, either. It it ain't straight they don't sell it.
 
MColeman said:
The reason they don't lap barrels is because they don't need lapping. One barrel maker uses copper as a lubricant for their button and must lap the barrels to get the copper out. I asked Tim why he didn't lap barrels one time and he looked at me and replied, "If you know how to make a barrel you don't have to lap it." Douglas does not straighten their barrels, either. It it ain't straight they don't sell it.
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Mickey,
I hope you are not saying that those barrel makers that do lap their barrels twice, don't know how to make them. Sure sounds like it. ;)

Donald
 
I've only been burnt once by three barrel makers. The first was a Douglas, the second was a Schneider, and the last was Lilja (shipping issue) The best barrels are from Hart but Shillan have been vary good barrels for the six I've owned.

Krieger, has made a lot of good barrels for me. I like everyone I've had. You know when you think about it, most of the barrel makers all turn out some good barrels and the same bunch have turned out some great barrels.

So pays your money and take your chance. Heck even a factory barrel screws up and makes a great barrel once in a while, not as often as a custom barrel maker does. You know the factories might get a great one like every few thousands.:rolleyes:
 
You don't have to be against one thing to be for another but I've heard the same story that MColeman told. I'm not a bench shooter but I've been very happy with my Douglas barrels. And the service has been top notch.
 
Donald said:
Mickey,
I hope you are not saying that those barrel makers that do lap their barrels twice, don't know how to make them. Sure sounds like it. ;)

Donald
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I didn't say it, Tim Gardner said it but he was joking when he did, of course. It was a humorous comment.
 
So pays your money and take your chance. Heck even a factory barrel screws up and makes a great barrel once in a while, not as often as a custom barrel maker does. You know the factories might get a great one like every few thousands.
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I have seen some factory Remingtons that I would be afraid to rebarrel in hopes of making it shoot better. Some were/are fantastic shooters. They have to get some right, you know?

A few years back (4-5) I was talking to Tony Boyer and he told me that the previous year he had four Douglas barrels and two of them were great barrels. He commented that he had never had that high percentage of good barrels from any barrel maker. I asked him if he were shooting Douglas barrels that year and he replied, "No". I then thought about when he was shooting Shilen barrels he would send Dwight Scott 20-25 barrels at the time to chamber and he told me that he would keep 2-3 of them. That's 10% compared to 50%.

I don't understand his thinking but anybody who follows benchrest knows that benchrest shooters look at the equipment lists and use what the top shooters use most of the time. I call it 'lemmingitis' for lack of a better term. Seely Masker remarked once that if he won the Nationals or Super Shoot with paddle wheels on the side of his stock the next year half the guns on the line would have paddle wheels on them.

Makes no difference to me what barrel a person uses but I know from using dozens of Douglas barrels on my guns and probably hundreds in total over the past 15 years that they make a great barrel.
 
Douglas barrels

MColeman said:
I don't understand his thinking but anybody who follows benchrest knows that benchrest shooters look at the equipment lists and use what the top shooters use most of the time. I call it 'lemmingitis' for lack of a better term. Seely Masker remarked once that if he won the Nationals or Super Shoot with paddle wheels on the side of his stock the next year half the guns on the line would have paddle wheels on them.

Makes no difference to me what barrel a person uses but I know from using dozens of Douglas barrels on my guns and probably hundreds in total over the past 15 years that they make a great barrel.
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Mickey,
I have several Douglas barrels and consider them excellent value for the money. I also have Kreigers, Harts and Pac Nors which are all match grade and hand lapped. I personally cannot tell any difference in the accuracy level between any of these barrels; they all shoot well. Many people do make their choices based on what the top shooters use to win matches but neglect the fact that these are excellent shooters with years of experience competing. You can buy the best equipment in the world but that won't make you a great shooter.

I believe in spending wisely as there are many venues competing for my dollar; college tuition payments being one. Douglas makes a great barrel and their availibility is better than the ones on the equipment list of winners.

Lou Baccino
 
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