Very Opinionated Question.

[CZforlife]

I have a very old Anschutz 54, that is in great shape, but the accuracy just isn't up to par for my standards. I'm looking to do a rebarrel. Trigger and action are great, it just NEEDS a barrel. My question for you guys, and I do mean everyone when I say that, what barrels do you guys like most and what would you put on your gun right now if you were doing a rebarrel. I have my own opinions on this but am gonna hold off on those until I hear what y'all have to say that way I don't alter any of your opinions possibly.

All help is extremely appriciated,
Patrick

[Trent]

Pat, I will toss my my "opinion" in to the fray.

I don't think you can go wrong with ANY of the top known brands.

That is my opinion.

I don't think individual people can shoot enough rimfire in their lifetime to shoot enough selections of barrels and ammo to give "accurate" proof on which barrels are truly best. Even someone with say... 50 years of experience shooting competitive rimfires. Technology and methods change and that negates "old" experience. Also, there are so many barrel makers and you can't compare only one or two barrels and draw a solid conclusion from that small sample. Rather than looking at personal choices and opinion I would maybe look at collective experience. Like... what is THE most common barrel used by rimfire benchrest competitors. If that is too expensive then what is the next most preferred. This way you are drawing on the experience of a group of people instead of individual experiences.

Just my thoughts.

Then again, I would have no second thoughts about ordering a barrel from the likes of Lilja, Shilen, Lothar Walther, Clark, VQ, Benchmark... etc.

[steve b.]

There are alot of good barrel makers out there, but the trick is knowing what a good barrel feels like when you are installing it. Things that the smith looks for when deciding that a particular barrel is any good. I could care less who made the barrel, it just needs to have the right characteristics to get installed.

I have have the best luck with Shilen 4R barrels. I also like Lilja, and have also been pleased with some Benchmark, Border, and Hart barrels. If I'm gonna order one, it would either be a Shilen or Lilja. Just depends on who has what in stock that fits my countor needs. I don't like waiting on barrels, so I keep a stash set aside for an emergency. Krieger and Bartline make a fine rimfire barrel, but their wait times, especially Bartline, can be very long.

Cutting corners on barrel quality to save $100 is crazy to me. If you are gonna go through the effort, spend the money.

Also, make sure you know it's the barrel on the rifle that is giving you the problem. If you are confident, then any one of these makers will be able to fit your needs.

Not as a comment against Trent, but I would not consider makers like : "Lothar Walther, Clark, VQ," for a premium barrel. If I could pick from a large pile of them and be paid for my time in selecting one good one from bunch, then maybe. But chances are they will not have the internal finish or uniformity in taper that is found on a Shilen, Lilja, or other mentioned barrels. Will it matter for the sport of Silhouette, maybe not. But I have yet to build a competition rifle with the idea of " Good Enough" in my mind.

s.

[Trent]

That's good stuff right there Pat.

[Boyd L.]

I have a very old Anschutz 54, that is in great shape, but the accuracy just isn't up to par for my standards. I'm looking to do a rebarrel. Trigger and action are great, it just NEEDS a barrel. My question for you guys, and I do mean everyone when I say that, what barrels do you guys like most and what would you put on your gun right now if you were doing a rebarrel. I have my own opinions on this but am gonna hold off on those until I hear what y'all have to say that way I don't alter any of your opinions possibly.

All help is extremely appriciated,
Patrick

I doubt you'd change the opinions of this bunch, especially the ones that have been formed with experience and dollars. And probably that's how yours will eventually be shaped.
Now my opinion on barrels has been shaped by a lot fewer barrel purchases and installation costs than some, but you asked....my Hart and Lilja barrels both perform much better than I can shoot, though the Hart needs cleaning less frequently to keep that accuracy. I've never purchased a Shilen rimfire, but if they are anything like my .22PPC barrel (and I expect they are), Shilen would be my choice for my next "money pit" project.

[Evelio Mc Donald]

Pat
In my opinion, for silhouette competition, I would highly recomend the Lilja 53RF contour tight bore. This particular contour will make weight for standard or hunter class. Shilen, Hart, Bartlein are very popular in the benchrest competition, but the contour that is most popular, will not be acceptable for Sil. competition. All premiun barrel brands would be fine, the problem would be to find the right contour to make weight in both classes. The lead time in any of them is from 3 to 6 months.
Evelio.

[CZforlife]

Thanks for the great ideas and suggestions. I have been a little extra curious about Hart and Broughton barrels for this build. In specific the 2 groove Broughton. Some of the best official benchrest scores ever shot for a 3 target aggregate, I believe the PSA target were shot with the 2groove. Also, I'm not really worried about making weight as it's not my hunter, would be a standard gun as it currently has a 10oz trigger, the trigger could be raised up the road as other than that right now it would make a fine hunter. Not a deal breaker either way.

[steve b.]

CZ,

Those barrels are good as well. I couldn't care less what event a barrel maker has won, and that would be about second to last on my "give a crap" list when it comes to selecting a barrel. The last item being what color it is. There have been hundreds of major events, and if you take the time to closely study the past 20 years of results, you will see one clear factor - there is no one best barrel maker. It's an illusion to think otherwise.

Basing your decision on what happened at a PSL event is a very poor selection process at best. Countless things happen from the time that blank is sent from the factory until that shooter (might) truthfully write down the name of the barrel maker on the match report.

Maybe I'm not conveying the point well, but the name on the outside of a barrel, the number of grooves, ect, absolutely do not matter. Not one bit. Zero. In fact, unless you have the barrel in hand, it is an excellet way to get a bunk barrel that is sitting on a smith's rack.

I have been in a well known shop where the smith says: "Well, Billy wants a X brand barrel to shoot, let's just see what we have of X Brand on the shelf." And then they walked past a rack full of excellent barrels from other manufacturers.

In reality, your smith should say: "I have a great barrel here, it slugged very well, the twist is uniform because I checked that, it fits your countour desires, and will ballance as you want. Oh, it also happens to be a 3 groove Hooboojo."

This ain't about designer jeans or sneaker brands. This is about WTF is going on inside the barrel. If you are interested as to something very unique about how Hart or Braughton is manufacturing the barrel, such as rifling design, twist layout, or a new type of lapping - these are things that may or may not be an advantage over a 4R, Gain Twist, Octagon ( and I mean the inside of the barrel ), cut rifled, ect - could be a rational for picking them. My guess this is not your driving force.

I highly advise you make a list, with your favorite makers, and have that handy when the smith selects the barrel. If he is saying he is gonna install a "reworked Ruger barrel", then flags should go up, but if he is picking a barrel from a good manufacturer ( I can think of about 10 ), the actual name should mean nothing to you.

[CZforlife]

I gotcha! I'll have to make a few calls around when I decide to get the job done. I totally see what your saying though. Some just look better to a smith than others, each brand has their cherry barrels and they all have their "duds" somewhat. Thank you alot for the advice. Didn't really think for searching for a barrel that way until now.

Thanks,
Patrick

[steve b.]

Lemme add in a bit more.

I waiting over a year for a Gaint Twist Bartline rimfire barrel. The Blank was $400, and counting the cost of my labor, all the things I do to install a barrel on an Anschutz action, the end result was : Eh... so/so.

Then one day I'm slugging a few new rimfire barrels that came into our shop. I got there and Sheldon already had them in a sluggng fixture, and he said: "Feel this barrel" I slugged it and the bullet popped out like a cork. It had a lapped taper like nothing else; in short it was perfect. That barrel blank when into my pile. I later found out it was a Shilen. The name didn't do it, it was the actual barrel.

Later on, we found a benchmark that slugged almost as well. And then a few weeks later, we got a few great Lilja's in. All the makers are building good barrels, and they all put out "Eh" barrels.

Find the smith who can tell the difference.

[steve b.]

Good. Do some sniffing around and see who has what. Keep your cards close to your vest, don't get sucked into the name game. It's a great way for smiths to unload barrels that they don't want. Been there a few times, no fun and an expensive lesson to boot.

Think hard about barrel length and OD. You really want to have that as close to established as you can. Those were my leading needs on my last build for silhouette, and I was very pleased with the results.

[CZforlife]

I really appreciate the advice! I see how barrel crazes start now! A top smith finds a great barrel regardless of brand, pairs it up with a great shot and then everyone goes wild for that specific barrel if the competitor wins with it, even though there is so much more than just the name and model of the barrel that goes into the choice. Makes alot of sense!

[steve b.]

Boom. Simple as that.