Advice on a rebarrel job

[LaOtto222]

I am thinking about re barreling a Remington 700 with a small bolt face, the gun was originally purchased in the late 70's or early 80's in 222 Remington. I am thinking 204 Ruger. I am not going to bench rest this rifle, Or i would pick another caliber. I want it for informal shooting and going West for PD's; 400 yards or a bit more. My question - Would it be better to buy the barrel and have a reputable gunsmith fit it to my action or have the barrel house do it? Depending on the house it costs any where from $250 - $500 to fit the barrel to the action + the barrel. Is it really worth it to have the action face trued and the locking lugs lapped? Just one more opinion  - Which barrel would you get for the 204? I am thinking some barrel makers could do a 20 caliber better than others, but I could be all wet on that.

[gunnut69]

Last first, I like Douglas barrels and Shilen but any of the top brands shoot  better than I can hold.The best accuracy is more than just the barrel. The entire rifle has to be right to get the best possible accuracy. The straight line thrust is evenly distributed when the lugs fit and the bolt face/locking lugs and chamber are in a straight line when the receiver is faced.. Is it worth the expense.. I believe it is..

[LaOtto222]

If I get a Shilen barrel and have them install the barrel to the action, lap the lugs and face the receiver, I am talking $750 or more. Douglas does re barreling jobs at $445 in the white or +$68 for a stainless steel barrel. They do not mention any lapping, truing or any thing but fitting the barrel to the action with a premium air gaged barrel. If you did not have the tools to do a chambering job would you go with one of these places or order the barrel and then have a local gun smith chamber it, lap the lugs and true up the action face? And thanks for the quick reply.

[gunnut69]

I like Douglas barrels but the best barrels work the best if fitted properly.. A lot depends on your rifle. If the action checks out fairly 'true' then you might skip the 'blue printing' and still get a great shooter. If not it may still shoot just fine but will likely lack that little edge.. Truing the action face to the centerline is very important with the boltface being trued next.. Lapping the lugs would likely be least important. Most are quite good... Check them yourself.. Shooting at little bitty targets at extreme ranges really pleads for maximum accuracy. Of course that's just my opinion and for a big game rifle I likely would simply have the barrel of your choice installed and hunt. Varmits are a special circumstance though.. Good luck..

[Les Staley]

Don't rule out E.R.Shaw.. I have used several of their barrels on mausers and Springfields..   they will install one of their SS barrels quite reasonably.   usualy have an add in Gunlist or Shotgun News.. but they do have a website,, just google it up..  Les

[LONGTOM]

I have had very good results with PACNOR? barrels. (spelling)
They seem to be just as good as my Shaw and a little better than my Douglas.
Had a 28" #5 med sporter put on a Remington model 30s express chambered in 225 Winchester.
With factory Win 55gr soft points it shoots about 3/4" at 100 but just by pulling the bullets and using 52gr Sierra BTHPs it will keep 5 completely under a dime and the best I ever shot was 5 that measured .47 outside to outside.
Pacnor is a little cheaper also, or at least they were when I had the last one done which was about 9 years ago.


LONGTOM

[NFG]

All the mentioned barrels are good to go, I have (or had at one time) rifles sporting all of them and several more with Hart and Lilja tubes. 

But don't forget Midway's A&B barrels... I have several A&B barrels for swapping in 3 different brand actions and they shoot almost as good as the "high dollar" custom benchrest tubes.  With benchrest prepped loads they all stay well below .750" I use as a minimum accuracy for larger cal hunting rifles, and below .500" for the varminters.

I'm doing a 458 WM right now and I don't think $119.00 for the barrel and a set of Lee dies, including shipping, is all that much to pay.

They are a bit rough in the bore...sometimes...this 458 tube is well above average in the smoothness department and has a 11° crown too boot...but any non-custom barrel will be rough to a certain extent and working the bore over with a tight fitting patch and some 400-600 grit or using one of the bore polishing kits will take care of that in a jiffy.

[the jigger]

My first choice for 25yrs was and is Douglas. This past summer I decided to try an E. R. Shaw in 220 Swift. After 40 rounds of break-in the first two 100yd groups were .323 and .356. I suppose the excitement caused the second group to open up. The only complaint I have had with Shaw is 12 weeks delivery.
GOOD LUCK and GOOD SHOOTING!!