New Barrel for .308

[Bosman]

I have been searching this Forum and Googled the net in search of local Barrel builders. I know of Truvello, but is there another option? Should I even be looking at another barrel maker?

Who makes the best barrels locally in your opinion if not Truvello?

I somehow managed to cock up my chamber and would like to replace the barrel. I can have it reamed to another caliber but I prefer the .308.

I will be using it for general hunting where I prefer to use 180gr bullets. I do a lot of varminting loading it with 110gr V-Max bullets. I am also a member of the Busveld Hunting Association where I use this rifle in club and inter branch shooting competitions. Talk about "kerk, werk en dans skoenne" ;-)

[carlp]

Dit klink soos my 308, DKW geweer

[THOMAST]

Bosman,
Is it not possible to rechamber the barrel? (if the knocks form allows)
At the prices the locally made barrels are being sold at, I would get an imported one.
I've heard of issues with metal quality and tempering (on separate barrels) not being consistent with one local manufacturer. In the one case my friend was threatened with litigation when he did not get satisfactory results and threatened to publish a report and post the debacle on the net. He was bullied into submission by their legal team with money and resources on their side.. Saw the barrel myself- it had a half moon defect half way down the barrel at right angles to the axis of the bore. He ended up with a Bartlein barrel.
I'm not saying all the local barrels are shyte, but quality control does seem to be an issue at times, hopefully not always.
I use American manufactured barrels when rebarreling -the American shooters expect quality and will not hesitate to howl in protest if they receive a defective product, keeping the barrel manufacturers on their toes.
European made Krieger and Ferlach barrels are very good, as are US made Shilen, Hart, Broughton, Bartlein and PacNor barrels, to name a few.

---------- Post added at 06:25 ---------- Previous post was at 06:21 ----------

What type of action is on your .308?

[Andrew Leigh]

Why dont you have a new chamber cut, it will shorten you barrel slightly or did you wreck it that bad. Will probably cost you about R 1000, just got a quote for my boets 7mm REM MAG.

[Bosman]

Why dont you have a new chamber cut, it will shorten you barrel slightly or did you wreck it that bad. Will probably cost you about R 1000, just got a quote for my boets 7mm REM MAG.

I should maybe post a photo. On the neck of my casings just in front of the shoulder after firing I have this bulge running around the outside of the case. It looks like the outside of a doughnut around the neck if I can explain it like that. I have no idea how it happened. That is a option though, I will look into that.

---------- Post added at 09:23 ---------- Previous post was at 09:14 ----------

Bosman,
Is it not possible to rechamber the barrel? (if the knocks form allows)
At the prices the locally made barrels are being sold at, I would get an imported one.
I've heard of issues with metal quality and tempering (on separate barrels) not being consistent with one local manufacturer. In the one case my friend was threatened with litigation when he did not get satisfactory results and threatened to publish a report and post the debacle on the net. He was bullied into submission by their legal team with money and resources on their side.. Saw the barrel myself- it had a half moon defect half way down the barrel at right angles to the axis of the bore. He ended up with a Bartlein barrel.
I'm not saying all the local barrels are shyte, but quality control does seem to be an issue at times, hopefully not always.
I use American manufactured barrels when rebarreling -the American shooters expect quality and will not hesitate to howl in protest if they receive a defective product, keeping the barrel manufacturers on their toes.
European made Krieger and Ferlach barrels are very good, as are US made Shilen, Hart, Broughton, Bartlein and PacNor barrels, to name a few.

---------- Post added at 06:25 ---------- Previous post was at 06:21 ----------

What type of action is on your .308?

This is an option. Have you any experience in this regard? Is it a complicated affair. Can I order it and have it be sent to a gunsmith or does the gunsmith do all of this?

I have a Musgrave and it sports a Mauser K98 or K98 clone. I am not sure what Musgrave used.

[THOMAST]

Bosman, the knocks form is the part of the barrel inside which the chamber is cut. Some (most) hunting rifles have a relatively short knocks form, in other words the barrel starts to taper shortly after the chamber (which needs to be strong to contain the pressures). If you cut the chamber deeper and the knocks form is short you will end up with not enough metal around the chamber to keep it within safety standards. A gunsmith would be able to help you with this conundrum.
Otherwise replacing the barrel is not too big a deal. Firstly you need to source a barrel. Safari & Outdoor normally have supplies, as do Die Skietwinkel in Bloemfontein and Garden Route Supplies in George, to name a few.
Then you choose a gunsmith do do the job.(Choose wisely.) He will write a report as to why the barrel needs replacing. You take this report, along with a copy of your license & ID to your local DFO and apply for a barrel change. This is sent to Pretoria and in time(2-3weeks) you will get permission to do the barrel change. Said gunsmith now does the work and on completion the weapon is courier'd up to SABS for proofing. They sent the weapon back with a proof certificate.
Now you go back to your local DFO and a form is completed with the details of the new barrel number on it plus copy of Proof certificate. At this point you pay R70.00. Stuff goes back to Pretoria and new barrel number is put on system and new card is printed.
You collect weapon from gunsmith once you have new license card.
My last one took about 4 months. Could take as little as 4 weeks, if the gods smile on you and the gunsmith doesn't have a long queue of work ahead of you- the good ones are always busy.
If you contact Jimmy at garden route supplies he might be able to help you with a Palma profile barrel which has a nice contour and is not too heavy,not too light. Ive seen him sell some Ferlach and Sporco barrels from time to time.This will have to be courier'd to you chosen gunsmith.
Otherwise you will get a blank barrel (looks like a seriaas waterpipe) and the gunsmith will need to profile it to your specifications, cut to your desired length, cut a chamber and thread the barrel to fit your action.
Go look at the Shilen website to get an idea of different barrel profiles. ( http://www.shilen.com/contours.html )

[Bosman]

Bosman, the knocks form is the part of the barrel inside which the chamber is cut. Some (most) hunting rifles have a relatively short knocks form, in other words the barrel starts to taper shortly after the chamber (which needs to be strong to contain the pressures). If you cut the chamber deeper and the knocks form is short you will end up with not enough metal around the chamber to keep it within safety standards. A gunsmith would be able to help you with this conundrum.
Otherwise replacing the barrel is not too big a deal. Firstly you need to source a barrel. Safari & Outdoor normally have supplies, as do Die Skietwinkel in Bloemfontein and Garden Route Supplies in George, to name a few.
Then you choose a gunsmith do do the job.(Choose wisely.) He will write a report as to why the barrel needs replacing. You take this report, along with a copy of your license & ID to your local DFO and apply for a barrel change. This is sent to Pretoria and in time(2-3weeks) you will get permission to do the barrel change. Said gunsmith now does the work and on completion the weapon is courier'd up to SABS for proofing. They sent the weapon back with a proof certificate.
Now you go back to your local DFO and a form is completed with the details of the new barrel number on it plus copy of Proof certificate. At this point you pay R70.00. Stuff goes back to Pretoria and new barrel number is put on system and new card is printed.
You collect weapon from gunsmith once you have new license card.
My last one took about 4 months. Could take as little as 4 weeks, if the gods smile on you and the gunsmith doesn't have a long queue of work ahead of you- the good ones are always busy.
If you contact Jimmy at garden route supplies he might be able to help you with a Palma profile barrel which has a nice contour and is not too heavy,not too light. Ive seen him sell some Ferlach and Sporco barrels from time to time.This will have to be courier'd to you chosen gunsmith.
Otherwise you will get a blank barrel (looks like a seriaas waterpipe) and the gunsmith will need to profile it to your specifications, cut to your desired length, cut a chamber and thread the barrel to fit your action.
Go look at the Shilen website to get an idea of different barrel profiles. ( http://www.shilen.com/contours.html )

Great, thanks a lot for all the info this is most helpful. I will get to it.

[MyLani]

I have just had a Thor barrel put on my 6x45

[THOMAST]

How does it shoot, MyLani?

[MyLani]

3 Shots into 10mm @ 100m is the best so far.
Only problem is that that is with Hornady RN's which is discontinued. Groups open up a bit with spire points.
Need to find another brand of 100gr RN's!