Barrel contour/weight for Short well balanced rifle

[atmat]

Yeah I’ve looked into some of the bad reviews , I might change my mind on McGowan not sure I just hate the lead/ship time on preferred barrel is so much longer but i guess rather wait and get quality

I get that. And 10-12 weeks sucks, but they’ve been great to communicate with. I haven’t met a single person who has communicated with McGowan who’ve said it was pleasant.

 

[Harvey_NW]

There also doesn’t seem to be too many steel prefits out there less beefy than a 3b. Is there a functional reason for this? Or is it just market demand?

I'm assuming you're referring to available items in stock? All blank manufacturers I've looked at that offer prefits let you pick your profile when you order one.

 

[crich]

Yeah I’ve looked into some of the bad reviews , I might change my mind on McGowan not sure I just hate the lead/ship time on preferred barrel is so much longer but i guess rather wait and get quality

PVA is much quicker

 

[SDHNTR]

I'm assuming you're referring to available items in stock? All blank manufacturers I've looked at that offer prefits let you pick your profile when you order one.

Like who? Most of the ones I’ve looked at had very limited options and most were fatties.

 

[DangerRanger]

fwiw you can also find a smith and ask if they will cut a tikka prefit. My smith had no issues with it so I just drop shipped him a blank

 

[Harvey_NW]

Like who? Most of the ones I’ve looked at had very limited options and most were fatties.

Preferred, McGowen, Criterion, and X-Caliber all offer either Tikka, sporter, or taperless contours. PVA has light palma and #3b hunter contour, but they don't list the dimensions for the #3b so not sure if it's a Bartlein 3b or closer to common #3/4.

 

[SDHNTR]

Preferred, McGowen, Criterion, and X-Caliber all offer either Tikka, sporter, or taperless contours. PVA has light palma and #3b hunter contour, but they don't list the dimensions for the #3b so not sure if it's a Bartlein 3b or closer to common #3/4.

Gotcha. Of those, I’ve only considered Preferred and PVA. No hair on a 3b, great contour imo, if it mimics the Bart 3b.

 

[762 ULTRAMAGA]

Yeah I’ve looked into some of the bad reviews , I might change my mind on McGowan not sure I just hate the lead/ship time on preferred barrel is so much longer but i guess rather wait and get quality

I'd stick with McGowen, I have 5 in a row that shoot .5 or better. Ones a 7-300wsm tikka prefit and I've literally shot a 2" group at 1000 yards with it.
I Gave PBB a try a few years ago and had 2 barrels in a row that wouldn't shoot under 2 moa ( the 2nd was a replacement).
I had to raise holly hell with those guys but eventually they sent a 3rd barrel, it had a bad chamber job and had to go back. This was last year.
They fixed it and now it shoots pretty good .7ish

 

[Usernameisusername]

What did you go with?