I’m having a rifle built for an upcoming safari. My gunsmith put out an order for a barrel from Lilja on July 7 along with other barrels for other customers. Nothing from Lilja since then for me or the other customers. I might need to source another barrel. Any recommendations for reputable companies?
what caliber?
I’ve had a lot of luck with Greg at Southern Precision Rifles (www.bugholes.com). I’d also call Brux directly. They have a fast turnaround for the industry, and make excellent barrels. I run their barrels on my 308, 243, 223, and 223ai (deer gun) rifles.
For giggles, I ordered a 6.5mm gain twist 5R from Bartlein yesterday and they are running between 6-8 months.
.300 Win Mag. Thanks all for the leads so far. Is this wait time for a barrel unusual?
Depends on which barrel maker you order from. Someone like Bugholes keeps quite a few barrels in stock from a few diff makers. When he gets low, he orders several more. Normal wait for a kreiger might be 6-8 weeks or longer. That’ what I would have had to wait last time I needed one if my builder had to order. He had one in stock for my 243, so no wait. Bruno’s, quite often has several in stock also.
Are we talking barrel blanks or profiled barrels just waiting for threading and chambering?
Worst case scenario:
http://www.midwayusa.com/find?userSearchQuery=barrel+blank
http://www.brownells.com/search/index.htm?k=barrel+blanks