22 Creed Build Specs?

You mentioned bang for the buck, which is a lot different from the best. Brux, Bartlien, Krueger, etc. are in the best category and you’re at least $450 for the blank and $300 if the barrel maker will chamber and thread for your action, or $400 to have a smith do it. The mid tier Shaw, Shilen, Douglas, etc. are less expensive for a reason, but can produce some very accurate barrels, the odds are just lower one will be exceptional. Don’t believe anyone who says a $300 is as good on average as a $450 one, because if they were it would be easy to get that extra $150. When Proof started out it seemed they were closer to the top, but for the top price I’ve not been impressed with the performance many guys have been getting.

Like many things, barrel accuracy with a specific brand will be on a bell curve more or less, most likely it will be rather average, but we hope for an outlier to be extra accurate, and unfortunately some are an outlier in the bad direction. I’ve had a second tier barrel shoot better than most top tier barrels and another shoot no better than the factory barrel it replaced.

IMG_1026.jpeg

Since you have the budget for it, get a top tier barrel for the best odds. A top barrel on a factory action will usually outshoot a top action with a mid tier barrel. If accuracy is your top concern look for accuracy minded smiths. If cool looks are important look for one who’s good at that. Your gun will never look or shoot better than the last few guns they’ve chambered or finished.
 
TaperPin said:
You mentioned bang for the buck, which is a lot different from the best. Brux, Bartlien, Krueger, etc. are in the best category and you’re at least $450 for the blank and $300 if the barrel maker will chamber and thread for your action, or $400 to have a smith do it. The mid tier Shaw, Shilen, Douglas, etc. are less expensive for a reason, but can produce some very accurate barrels, the odds are just lower one will be exceptional. Don’t believe anyone who says a $300 is as good on average as a $450 one, because if they were it would be easy to get that extra $150. When Proof started out it seemed they were closer to the top, but for the top price I’ve not been impressed with the performance many guys have been getting.

Like many things, barrel accuracy with a specific brand will be on a bell curve more or less, most likely it will be rather average, but we hope for an outlier to be extra accurate, and unfortunately some are an outlier in the bad direction. I’ve had a second tier barrel shoot better than most top tier barrels and another shoot no better than the factory barrel it replaced.

View attachment 943330

Since you have the budget for it, get a top tier barrel for the best odds. A top barrel on a factory action will usually outshoot a top action with a mid tier barrel. If accuracy is your top concern look for accuracy minded smiths. If cool looks are important look for one who’s good at that. Your gun will never look or shoot better than the last few guns they’ve chambered or finished.
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In which group do you put preferred barrel blanks?
 
wirehead said:
Barrel profile (stainless and will be suppressed): I’m thinking heavy sporter… what’s the best?
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I missed this part initially and saw the varmint profile you mentioned. Heavy sporter would fall real close to the 750 taperless I mentioned depending on which manufacturer contour you’re looking at and weights would be real close potentially as well.

Bartlein 3b is a popular “heavy sporter” profile people seem to like. That being said, I’ve been very impressed with my Brux barrel I’m running currently. They also offer a couple heavy sporter options worth gandering at.
 
sierracharlie338 said:
I missed this part initially and saw the varmint profile you mentioned. Heavy sporter would fall real close to the 750 taperless I mentioned depending on which manufacturer contour you’re looking at and weights would be real close potentially as well.

Bartlein 3b is a popular “heavy sporter” profile people seem to like. That being said, I’ve been very impressed with my Brux barrel I’m running currently. They also offer a couple heavy sporter options worth gandering at.
Click to expand...
Thanks!

Checking Brux's website... I did not see a twist open faster than 1:8. Did I miss something?
 
wirehead said:
In which group do you put preferred barrel blanks?
Click to expand...
A lot of guys have talked about them, but I’ve not paid attention. If you read enough builds and look at average results and not just the ones that shoot lights out, it shouldn’t take long to get a feel for how they are doing. The guys with good groups are quick to post photos, the guys who have them and don’t mention group size are probably getting nothing special.

For instance one fella from another site with a big shooting budget gets lights out stupid-good accuracy in 25% of his preferred barrels, so the other 75% are less than MOA, but not by much or I get the impression from the conversation he’d point them out if, say, less than 3/4 MOA. If they averaged out to 3/4 MOA that’s not bad

It’s overly simplistic and depends on a number of other things like the chamber dimensions, accuracy of gunsmith work, etc., but I tend to think the center of the bell curve of the top barrels being 5/8 MOA, second tier 3/4 MOA, and third tier being 1 MOA. Random variation takes some barrels at least 1/4 MOA either way.

I jumped and down when a new custom barrel made little 3/8 to 1/2 MOA clusters, and wanted to shove another from the same company up a prairie dog hole when it never fired a MOA group the entire time before it was sold. You roll the dice and get what you get. I can’t think of anything more of a let down than getting a new barrel and it doesn’t shoot well - for that reason alone I’ve tried to get the highest quality barrel possible. 🙂
 
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