Mcgowen Barrel Reviews

[z987k]

This alone would have me furious. Why should you pay shipping to return something they obviously screwed up? You are quite literally paying to fix their mistake.

Yes.

 

[MuleyFever]

The one I had to return they told me to return it and I told them to send me a label and they did.

 

[derekbeaudry]

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.

 

[Qholum37]

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.

 

[Qholum37]

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.

 

[Leaf Litter]

The more things change, the more Mcgowen stays the same.

 

[Timberline001]

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.

 

[Snowwolfe]

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.

 

[Packmansion]

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.

 

[Leaf Litter]

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.

You hit the nail on the head right here. I work in manufacturing and supply chain with years of fixing broken facilities. Any moderately competent production manager can solve this issue by simply listening to customer complaints and performing a root cause analysis. The rubber meets he road where that person's solutions are adopted or rejected by company management and accountants.

McGowen ownership/upper management simply doesn't prioritize doing things the right way, they prioritize getting orders out the door in the least expensive manner possible, and nothing beyond that. I've fought with production facilities over this in the past, and nothing will change until there's change facilitated from above. Some changes may be effective at a production employee level, but that will require a lot of 1 on 1 time from a manager who cares, and I doubt they currently have that manager because of bad ownership/upper management.

 

[bojangles808]

I agree their email is weird (when I tried to email the email listed on the website Gmail said it was invalid or something and it got sent back) but I've gotten through to them multiple times on the phone over the last couple months. Sometimes I've had to call a couple times but I assume they are in/out of the office or on the other line. I got a return shipping address I will send back in the next week or two and update everyone once it's sorted.

Update. Returned the barrel. It had been there for almost 10 days per tracking so I called to follow up because no one contacted me. They said bore wasn't concentric? Not sure how that was making chambering a round so difficult as I thought free bore was undersized but they're making me a new barrel. They said they will expedite it . We will see and I will update.

 

[atmat]

They said they will expedite it

With McGowen it’s probably best for them to slow it down rather than expedite it. Perhaps that would lead to less errors.

 

[bojangles808]

With McGowen it’s probably best for them to slow it down rather than expedite it. Perhaps that would lead to less errors.

Yea I told them I'm in no rush just make it right

 

[Timberline001]

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.

Sam’s the one not answering calls and emails. Not the owner. I blame the guy not doing his job.

 

[Packmansion]

Sam’s the one not answering calls and emails. Not the owner. I blame the guy not doing his job.

I blame the guy who either hired someone who is incompetent or the guy who isn't hiring e ought staff to get the job done. Either way its the owners fault if their staff are not performing or more likely they are u der staffed or have bad processes in place.

 

[Sled]

Yea I told them I'm in no rush just make it right

Yeah, I feel for you because I've been there before with mcgowen and C6. I've said it here before but the lesson I learned was my time and materials are valuable to me. So when I chose the next time to go with a reputable company and pay a little more on the front end, I was actually giving myself a raise. Barrel roulette is no way to enjoy your spare time.

 

[bojangles808]

got my replacement barrel back about a week ago. It would have been pretty quick but it needed cerakote so that made it a little longer wait but was still pretty fast. fit and finish fine and got it spun on and headspaced fine. fatter 105 BTHP still a little stickier cycling but 112 MB and 108 ELDM cycle fine. not sure when I will get to shoot it but will update it when I do.

 

[bojangles808]

Got about 20 rounds through it to get a rough sight in and see some velocities with some different factory ammo.
3 shot group is hornady black 105bthp after bore sight. 2829 avg fps
5 shot eldm 108. 2800 avg fps
Had a second lot that grouped a touch bigger.
5 shot 112 MB was bad, like 3 inches so won't even bother posting a pic but 3 different barrels didn't like that lot so not sure what the deal was. 2920 fps though.

It fed everything which was a stark contrast from last time. I was off the bench going back and forth with my 5yo and his cricket but will get prone for a solid zero next time and I think it will tighten up the more I shoot it in. I think they made things right in a reasonable amount of time so I'm happy.

 

[bojangles808]

Got about 20 rounds through it to get a rough sight in and see some velocities with some different factory ammo.
3 shot group is hornady black 105bthp after bore sight. 2829 avg fps
5 shot eldm 108. 2800 avg fps
Had a second lot that grouped a touch bigger.
5 shot 112 MB was bad, like 3 inches so won't even bother posting a pic but 3 different barrels didn't like that lot so not sure what the deal was. 2920 fps though.

It fed everything which was a stark contrast from last time. I was off the bench going back and forth with my 5yo and his cricket but will get prone for a solid zero next time and I think it will tighten up the more I shoot it in. I think they made things right in a reasonable amount of time so I'm happy.

I take it back.

I think i'm sending this one back too. was messing with some things again today and unless I am slamming things open and closed on two different lots of eldm its a struggle to open and close the bolt. the fatter ojive black was even worse. marks on extracted bullets show things likely only getting worse the more I shoot and this is only after 20 rounds through it.. My same saami spec 6cm PVA and PBB don't have marks like this with same lots and will open and close fine running the bolt slow or fast

 

[Packmansion]

McGowen is trash. You get what you pay for...