Author Topic: T/C custom shop vs (Bullberry, VirginValley, EABCO) (Read 1403 times)

Reynolds · « **on:** March 15, 2005, 10:30:06 AM »

I'm considering having a rifle barrel cut for my encore but am apprehensive to buy a custom shop barrel. What kind of accuracy difference should I expect between a TC barrel and one made by Bullberry or Virgin Valley or EABCO?

Is there that big of a difference or do those guys just like to charge more money?

mbp708 · « **Reply #1 on:** March 15, 2005, 12:00:28 PM »

I had several factory barrels and also barrels made by the custom shop and Bullberry. Only one that I had a problem with was a factory barrel that TC gladly replaced. Only time I get a custom barrel is when I can't get what I want in a factory barrel. I like the Custom Shop barrels better than Bullberry because I can use factory forends and don't have to have the hanger bar. Mike

New Hampshire · « **Reply #2 on:** March 15, 2005, 12:02:15 PM »

Welllll....Virgin Valley is out of biz. Hear good things about Bullberry. I think EABCOs bbls are from the T/C Custom shop. Fox Rdige (T/Cs custom shop) has a pretty decent record on their bbls. I dont think you can go wrong no matter where you go.
Brian M.

skb2706 · « **Reply #3 on:** March 16, 2005, 03:42:18 AM »

Depends on what you like...........Bullberry and VVCG both used Shilen barrels to make up the ones I have from them. Take a look at the inside of a Shilen barrel then compare it to a TC Custom (??). They are not the same .............not any more than anybody elses "factory" barrel is versus a higher grade Shilen, Douglass, Lilja, Hart or Pac-Nor. They are proven accurate, easy to clean, can be chambered anyway you like but also expensive.
Truth be known my new TC factory .204 Ruger barrel is as accurate as my 6mm wildcat VVCG..........so go figure. One was $195 and one was $430.....you can probably figure which was which.
Like mbp said the only way I go full up custom is if I can't get what I want any other way.
All of my BB, VVCG barrels can use either a hanger bar foreend or factory....the dovetail nuts are exactly the same.....take off the bar use factory foreend.

flabbydan · « **Reply #4 on:** March 16, 2005, 10:16:58 AM »

You can get Fox Ridge barrels through EA Brown, but I'm pretty sure that he also makes his own custom barrels, too.

mbp708 · « **Reply #5 on:** March 16, 2005, 12:02:05 PM »

skb, Are your barrels pistol or carbine? Because when I take off my hangar bar on an 18" BB the factory carbine forend will not fit. Mike

skb2706 · « **Reply #6 on:** March 17, 2005, 03:24:38 AM »

All of my current barrels are carbine. Some have short spacing ....typically called Super 14 spacing and some are the wider carbine spacing. The same foreend fits both as it is cut with a long channel in it. This accommodates either length hanger bar and the foreend locates in the exact same place on all barrels ....even factory carbine. Remove the bar and my old factory foreends fit provided they were drilled according to that spacing. I have Bullberry and Virgin Valley barrels on both spacings....
The hanger bar is ........in addition too...........not in place of.

All the barrels I have use dovetail nuts. Some are spaced at roughly 3 3/8" and some slightly wider...

fyrepowrx · « **Reply #7 on:** March 17, 2005, 01:00:02 PM »

In comparing accuracy, i have seen only a little difference between the various barrel makers. I have never had an inaccurate barrel from a custom maker however.... at the moment i have 4 Virgin Valleys, 3 Bullberry, 1EABCo (which was made by VV) , 9 from the TC custom shop, 2SSK's, and about 14 factory tubes in all sorts of styles & calibers.

The biggest flaw i have noticed with the factory barrels is that there seems to be one occasionally that slips through with a less-than-perfect crown. I have had 2 different .17's that had this flaw, and one .22 Hornet.
In all cases, when i had the barrel recrowned, accuracy inproved. I am sure TC would have probably fixed it for free, but i had a local smith do it who only charged me $30 to do if i remember correctly. I have never had a bad crown on a custom barrel. Once the crown problem was fixed the barrels shot well.

I have gone through a load of barrels in the last 20 years, other than the 3 most have been excellent shooters. In theory TC should have been a bit more careful on what slips through i guess, In the bad barrels cases, you could actually feel a noticeable "jagged edge" or roughness at the edge of the rifling on the crown.

Has anyone else had a barrel with a bad crown? i am wondering how common this is...

I would say that the TC custom shop would be the best bet, unless you are wanting a chambering or configuration they dont offer. Prices are good from them, quite a bit cheaper than the other makers, and their work is good.

Lone Star · « **Reply #8 on:** March 17, 2005, 02:18:34 PM »

You get what you pay for. Most of the T/C barrels I have and have had (over 20) were rough as a cob inside, the lands are as thick as the grooves (good for bore-riding cast bullets, not for much else), chamber casts often showed an off-center chamber, the crowns were usually fair to poor under a magnifying glass. Most shot decently, and 1-2 moa was not hard to get. Cleaning was another matter....

The five Bullberry tubes I've owned are all smooth inside, the lands are much narrower than the grooves for lower chamber pressures, they are easy to clean, the chambers are prefectly centered, the crowns are perfect, and they shoot wonderfully. 0.5 to 1 moa accuracy was not tough to get in appropriate chamberings. The most accurate were a .25 Bullberry and a .300 Savage, with 20-shot aggregates in the .5s firing their best loads. Even the .45LC barrel gets 2 moa consistently.

So, it depends on what you want, and what you are willing to pay. Custom shop barrels are chambered in a drill press, so the chambers can be off center. Barrel blanks are cheap, but they work well. If you can be satisfied with 1+ moa accuracy and more difficult cleaning, the cost difference may be worth it. I enjoy all my Contender barrels, no matter who made them.

kevin · « **Reply #9 on:** March 28, 2005, 01:18:30 PM »

I havent had any real problems with any factroy barrels, can't say as to how a coustum barrel would be but id like to own one some day, the only barrel that ever gave me any grief was a 7x30 waters 16" carbine barrel all that thing was ever to group with was 1 1/2" with anything I fed it with and for some reason It would never do better. otherwise everything else was awsome.
Kevin

musicman · « **Reply #10 on:** April 02, 2005, 06:38:02 AM »

Simple: BULLBERRY Fred is a great guy and he stand totally behind his work. I had heard that VV had gone under. I believe they weren't to far from Bullberry. Ask Fred about VV.

Graybeard · « **Reply #11 on:** April 02, 2005, 06:21:51 PM »

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