Mcgowen Barrel Reviews

My history with mcgowen is a sample of one barrel. It’s a 7 twist 25-06 that was installed by a reputable smith in my area. I bought it because the price was right and now I can see why the price was right. I am not a barrel snob having barrels from most of the popular barrel makers (Shilen, Douglas, benchmark, Krieger, Lilja, Wilson, etc) this is by far the pickiest oddest barrel I have ever used I have fired close to 200 rounds through the rifle even trying a box of factory loads and have only had one with any kind of promise. With that being said I will probably end up changing it out to something else since I am tired of chasing it at this point. I don’t believe I have ever had a factory rifle that was this hard to tune.
 
Maybe I got lucky but I hope the 300 PRC barrel I have on order shoots half as good as this 7 PRC barrel from them. It’s been the best shooting barrel I’ve ever had, not picky whatsoever. This is 10 shots under 1/2” inch. I will admit I was shooting pretty dang good that day and everything felt perfect but it lays down awesome groups every time it’s out.

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Well after about 20 weeks I finally got my 300PRC barrel for a Stiller Predator action. First issue being they didn't use the AW2 reamer like I requested. I figured that's why it was taking so long. Second issue is they did not accommodate for the recoil lug thickness which is standard and noted on the tenon print. I also stated the .187" recoil lug thickness on my order just as a reminder. This go round has been pretty frustrating as it has been very hard to get ahold of anybody for the last couple of months. Multiple requests for updates were ignored, and I still have not heard back from Sam on the issues stated above. I will likely be using a different company for future barrels.
 
Well after about 20 weeks I finally got my 300PRC barrel for a Stiller Predator action. First issue being they didn't use the AW2 reamer like I requested. I figured that's why it was taking so long. Second issue is they did not accommodate for the recoil lug thickness which is standard and noted on the tenon print. I also stated the .187" recoil lug thickness on my order just as a reminder. This go round has been pretty frustrating as it has been very hard to get ahold of anybody for the last couple of months. Multiple requests for updates were ignored, and I still have not heard back from Sam on the issues stated above. I will likely be using a different company for future barrels.
Yup. Sam promised a lot and he’s became just as unhelpful as his predecessor. Definitely a big bummer.
 
I recently had McGowen rebarrel a LH Ruger to 9.3x62. Think it took about 4 months. The only load I tried shot under 1 inch at 100 yards. I'm happy.
 
Yup. Sam promised a lot and he’s became just as unhelpful as his predecessor. Definitely a big bummer.
I would not blame Sam unless he is the owner. The issue is the owner. The staff obviously do not have the resources or processes needed to operate successfully. Ive run into this before with other companies in other industries. Why can PBB nail every order but mcgowen is like 50/50? It is way more work to have to redo things for customers over and over you are doubling your work. Someone on the floor cutting Chambers needs to be fired or learn how to read. Mcgwoen could literally save 100s of hours of both their staff and their customers if they just did basic qc and learned how to read orders abd learned how to communicate with customers and ask questions. Instead their time is spent redoing work. They could also easily slow down and remain very competitive. Their lead times are super short. I feel like they are just rushing everything.
 
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