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After market barrels?

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eyeCyou View Drop Down
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    Posted: February/07/2010 at 17:57
This may be a silly question but here goes. I have a Howa 1500 30-06. Can I put any brand barrel on my rifle? Do they have a universal fit?
 
FYI- I want to put a 20 inch stainless bull barrell w/ the Trinite coating like the Rem. XCR. Then get it fluted so it shows stainless flutes on black barrel.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RifleDude Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/07/2010 at 18:06
Yes, you can put any brand barrel on your Howa action.  No, there is no "universal fit."  You cannot just buy a barrel and screw it onto your action.  With the exception of short chambered barrels (requiring final chamber ream and headspace), prethreaded barrels for Savages, "drop in" fit rimfire barrels (i.e. 10/22), AR platform barrels, etc, no barrel maker sells completed barrels, only blanks.  Any barrel you buy must be threaded, chamber reamed, and headspaced for your action, so you need to have it installed by a qualified gunsmith.  
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote eurolynn Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/07/2010 at 18:27
No.  It has to be made for that action.

A barrel is like a car part, got to have the right make and model.  Or at least the right design.  The contour has to be correct to fit the action, the threading has to be properly machined.

You can have a barrel blank made to fit your Howa action, but I doubt you would want to put that kind of money in to it.  Check out Douglas Premium barrel, or  ER Shaw.  And just use a search engine and keep looking.

I did a bit of surfing, and found the Howa 1500 barreled actions are sent as a whole.  So the importer has no spares.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote eyeCyou Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/07/2010 at 18:58
Howa makes actions for a number of brands like Weatherby (vangaurd) S&W, etc. U think that might be good place to start ?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RifleDude Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/07/2010 at 19:05
Even though Howa does make the action for the Vanguard and others, you cannot simply get a barrel for another rifle and exchange for the one you have, even from a rifle with the exact same action.  Barrels have to be threaded and the barrel shank shoulder faced to the proper headspace length for safety TO THAT SPECIFIC ACTION.  There is no shortcut to this.  You might find a "take off" barrel that will thread into your action, but don't be tempted to use it.  Unless it came off that specific action or is specifically fitted to that action, it may not be safe to use it!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Dale Clifford Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/07/2010 at 19:42
and the labor cost is the same for putting on a cheap barrel as a good barrel, or working with a top action as compared to an average. so the cost of the completed job becomes alot compared to your initial purchase.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote silver Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/07/2010 at 20:49
Finishing is normaly done After fluting.  Fluting happens while the barrel is still a blank to make for a more stable cut and there is less to go wrong.   
 
Talk to some place like Kreiger or Shaw for a barrel.  Expect to pay a couple hundred bucks for a GOOD barrel. Surplus barrels are often junk, that why they got pulled. You will be better off in the long run to put the fluting money towards blue printing the action.  It may not look as Kool, but will be a more dependable tack driver.  Which in the long run matter when your buddy's beater rifle out shoots your Kustom Kool.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote magshooter1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/08/2010 at 08:30
Check out E.R. Shaw.  I had a S&W (Howa) rebarreled by them.  No other work done and it was $215 returned to me with my old barrel.  It's less if you give them your old take off barrel.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SVT_Tactical Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/08/2010 at 08:56
$215 installed and for a new barrel is a great price!  I have an action at Douglas Barrels curretnly getting a new barrel and having it installed and it farily resonable prices and great folks to deal with.  I will be doing a review on it as soon as I have it back so stay tuned.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote pyro6999 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/08/2010 at 09:00
shaw is good as is lilja douglas and mcgowan. a new company that many may not have heard of is a company called brux, i have a friend who has a couple of them now. their cs is excellent. my friend ordered a barrel from them for a rifle and he was comparing it to another custom rifle of his and he thought the contours were different even though he ordered a #2. so he measured it and come to find out it was in fact the wrong contour. he called the company and email pictures and they told him they were very sorry about the mistake and would promptly get him the right barrel. to make it even better they told him he could keep the one the messed up on and the correct barrel cost him nothing.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote supertool73 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/08/2010 at 09:13
Bartlein makes some of the best barrels as well.  
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RifleDude Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/08/2010 at 16:20
As does Broughton, Lilja, Krieger, Shilen, Hart, Pac-Nor...
 
All the custom barrel makers make great tubes.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SVT_Tactical Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/08/2010 at 16:23
Originally posted by RifleDude RifleDude wrote:

As does Broughton, Lilja, Krieger, Shilen, Hart, Pac-Nor...
 
All the custom barrel makers make great tubes.
 
the age old question I have heard time and time again, who makes the best? is there a such thing as the most accurate aftermarket barrel? tell me this if say brand a shoots exactly 1/4 MOA and brand b shoots exactly the same are they not equal? even if brand a cost thre times more because of the engraved name on the side?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RifleDude Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/08/2010 at 16:27
Originally posted by SVT_Tactical SVT_Tactical wrote:

the age old question I have heard time and time again, who makes the best? is there a such thing as the most accurate aftermarket barrel? tell me this if say brand a shoots exactly 1/4 MOA and brand b shoots exactly the same are they not equal? even if brand a cost thre times more because of the engraved name on the side?
 
The short answer is "no."
 
At least not with certainty.  If there was an absolute answer, all benchrest shooters would be using the same brand barrel.  They're not.  Plus, not all barrels coming from the same manufacturer are equally accurate, even though they are all made using consistent manufacturing processes.  There's more than a little voodoo involved in turning out a superb barrel. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Roy Finn Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/08/2010 at 16:30
Just as important as the tube is the guy doing the fitting and chambering. You would be surprised just how many "bad barrels" there are out there that were really just not correctly installed. Have it fir properly.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote SVT_Tactical Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/08/2010 at 16:30

Thank RifleDude you answered the more of a retorical question but got the point across It kinda like when you buy a car thats a lemon and someone else has one that runs to 250k miles.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Duce Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/08/2010 at 16:32
I have a Douglas barrel on a 30-06 it was the AA air gaged version, very happy with it made the old Savage into a tack driver. The blank was 30 in long when it arrived and I had to have it cut down, chambered and crowned etc.  The gunsmith has to have your action and barrel to fit it properly.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Duce Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/08/2010 at 16:35
The smith that did the work for me wanted the entire rifle so he could test fire it after the fiting, that is not a bad idea to have him do the first few rounds and check out the entire package.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RifleDude Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/08/2010 at 16:41
Originally posted by Roy Finn Roy Finn wrote:

Just as important as the tube is the guy doing the fitting and chambering. You would be surprised just how many "bad barrels" there are out there that were really just not correctly installed. Have it fir properly.
 
Absolutely!  Excellent point!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote eyeCyou Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/08/2010 at 18:13
Thanx guys! Lots of great advice! I tell you what, when I am ready to do this I am going straight to the gunsmith I use and saying "here you go, this is what I want. Call me when its ready". He has got A LOT more experience than I do and he will save me much headache and time wasted (probably money too). Thanx again.
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