Need advice for lighter barrel.

[jbzeus]

Hello all.

I have a 54:30 Anschutz purchased last fall. Bought the wood stock version trying to reduce weight as much as possible due to lower back disk problems. It has the standard 26" heavy barrel.

Thinking of a lighter profile and (maybe) shorter. Any advice on barrel contours and who zip could trust to chamber and thread a blank?

I know Mueller and Shilen are popular with the benchrest crowd. Who is good for the 3P shooters?

Jeff

[Kewton]

Just had my daughters 1913 rebarreled with a 3 groove Benchmark so far very happy definite improvement over the old barrel that was about 8 years old. Very nice folks

[jbzeus]

Who did the work?

[Kewton]

Howard Pitts, Pitts Presicion super nice guy that actually shoots small bore.

[spektr]

The Benchmark Guys are Gold Plated Stand up people. Local to me and incredibly accomodating.

[lyoke2]

I went with a Lilja 21" on my Anschutz from the standard 27". It is a hammer.

I have heard nothing but good things about Benchmark and will be using them on my next build.

I used Howard Pitts. Extremely satisfied.

[James Storm]

The people at Lilja gave me a great barrel and superb service.

[Hap Rocketto]

I second the recommendation of Howard Pitts.
He is a quality gunsmith, rifleman, and gentleman.
His work for me has been superb.
Best,
Hap Rocketto

[mgdietrich]

Howard Pitts is a great choice, he has done highpower barrels for me and I would have no problem with him putting a SB barrel on too. He has been using Benchmark I believe, but you normally can buy Shilen blanks from Killough Shooting sports. My shilen ratchet on my SB gun hammers.

[Doc8406]

Yeeup.. just had Howard do a bedding job on my Myers rifle.. it is shooting fantastic!

[1813benny]

Hello all.

I have a 54:30 Anschutz purchased last fall. Bought the wood stock version trying to reduce weight as much as possible due to lower back disk problems. It has the standard 26" heavy barrel.

Thinking of a lighter profile and (maybe) shorter. Any advice on barrel contours and who zip could trust to chamber and thread a blank?

I know Mueller and Shilen are popular with the benchrest crowd. Who is good for the 3P shooters?

Jeff

Jeff
A lighter and shorter profile barrel can certainly reduce the weight of the rifle. A straight cylinder barrel profile of .875 or .900 will weight less and also respond to a tuner. If you reduce the overall length, a a carbon fiber tube can make up the sight radius with little additional weight.

As for a specific barrel manufacturer, I would have no issue going with Benchmark, Shilen, or Krieger. I have also had great success with Schneider barrels. If you can find a Mueller, you are really lucky as they have an extensive wait list.

For the actual work, Mr. Pitts is top notch. The best way to proceed is to do nothing until you contact him (or whoever else you may be considering) and discuss what you want to do. The set up and chambering is critical and if your rifle is not pillar bedded make sure you add that upgrade to the workscope.

Good luck on the rifle upgrades and keep us updated.
Best Regards,
ken