X-Caliber vs BHW
- Thread starter pyscodog
- Start date
You won't know until you've got about a hundred rounds down the barrel. Almost every premium barrel maker has been the "Barrel To Have" some months. It was a great barrel when you ordered it, I can't see where that would change just because somebody else is in the limelight now.
Rustydust
Active member
Originally Posted By: pyscodogThe reviews are good. If it don't shoot, I'll just blame Ackleyman!! LOL
Heck, blame me too! My .243 AI barrel is an X-Caliber and one reason that I got one was simply because Keith liked them so much and so far so good. I must admit that I have not put as many rounds down mine yet as I would have liked to but it seems that Idaho weather has been very fickle as of late and when I do get a nice day I find myself out shooting ground squirrels rather than at the range. But after all my brass is fireformed I will start getting a bit more serious with load development. And if the groups that I have gotten so far are any indication I am not going to be unhappy in any way with my barrel choice.
Heck, blame me too! My .243 AI barrel is an X-Caliber and one reason that I got one was simply because Keith liked them so much and so far so good. I must admit that I have not put as many rounds down mine yet as I would have liked to but it seems that Idaho weather has been very fickle as of late and when I do get a nice day I find myself out shooting ground squirrels rather than at the range. But after all my brass is fireformed I will start getting a bit more serious with load development. And if the groups that I have gotten so far are any indication I am not going to be unhappy in any way with my barrel choice.
Squeeze
New member
I had X-Caliber make a LR-308 barrel for me. It is pretty, and it cleans up easy, but so far the groups have been kind of average. I went with a 1:11 twist 308 Win barrel trying to get 130 gr. Barnes TTSX bullets to shoot well. I have a few development groups go sub-MOA, but nothing yet where one gets a huge grin at one big ragged hole.
I have never tried a BHW barrel, and might next time, if I could get responses to my e-mail inquiries. I guess they are like John Holliger, at White Oak Armament. If you want to know about a custom barrel you better call him.
Squeeze
I have never tried a BHW barrel, and might next time, if I could get responses to my e-mail inquiries. I guess they are like John Holliger, at White Oak Armament. If you want to know about a custom barrel you better call him.
Squeeze
Originally Posted By: SqueezeI had X-Caliber make a LR-308 barrel for me. It is pretty, and it cleans up easy, but so far the groups have been kind of average. I went with a 1:11 twist 308 Win barrel trying to get 130 gr. Barnes TTSX bullets to shoot well. I have a few development groups go sub-MOA, but nothing yet where one gets a huge grin at one big ragged hole.
I have never tried a BHW barrel, and might next time, if I could get responses to my e-mail inquiries. I guess they are like John Holliger, at White Oak Armament. If you want to know about a custom barrel you better call him.
Squeeze
If you have problems reaching BHW don't hesitate to contact Ritch or me and we can probably answer any questions you have. Ritch is a BHW distributor and that is why most of the time he can beat the price on the BHW sales site.
Greg
I have never tried a BHW barrel, and might next time, if I could get responses to my e-mail inquiries. I guess they are like John Holliger, at White Oak Armament. If you want to know about a custom barrel you better call him.
Squeeze
If you have problems reaching BHW don't hesitate to contact Ritch or me and we can probably answer any questions you have. Ritch is a BHW distributor and that is why most of the time he can beat the price on the BHW sales site.
Greg
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ChuckWilliams
New member
I have 3 rifles built up with Xcaliber barrels now but havnt got to shoot them yet. I went with them for the price. Just looked at the BHW blanks and they are awful expensive. Is there a group buy or something going on? For top dollar i will use another maker!
I did a google search on X-Caliber reviews. For the most part, the reviews were very positive although there was one guy who said he had bought several barrels and they weren't good enough to even bother threading and chambering. I only read three or four pages of reviews, several with pictures of groups that were shot with X-Caliber barrels and if mine shoots that well, I'll be very pleased. Seems if you were standing on a corner giving away $100 bills, someone would complain. Most said they shot very good and cleaned up easily with very little to no copper fouling. Good enough for me and my purpose.
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ChuckWilliams
New member
Originally Posted By: CZ527Originally Posted By: ChuckWilliamsI have 3 rifles built up with Xcaliber barrels now but havnt got to shoot them yet.
I will never understand this Chuck....
One time, I waited a full 24 hours before shooting a new rifle.
One is my sons new .308. The other two are mine. A 6TCU and a twin in .308. Started working with the TCU today and am not impressed with this barrel thus far! I statted a thread on the rifle.
I will never understand this Chuck....
One time, I waited a full 24 hours before shooting a new rifle.
One is my sons new .308. The other two are mine. A 6TCU and a twin in .308. Started working with the TCU today and am not impressed with this barrel thus far! I statted a thread on the rifle.
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the barrel is one issue, the guy chambering the barrel has a LOT to do with how that barrel will shoot...MOST forget this.
I have three X caliber barrels, groups will make you stand up and shout they are so good!
There are a lot of pipe fitters out there, and as you read these comments, you have no idea how the guys' bench techniques are, cleaning habits, wind reading ability, etc.
About 5 years, I sold my pet 7 mag to a guy. This was a Browning A bolt that shot bug holes, no kidding. I gave him the targets, load data, a dummy round with the OAL. Not much for him to do but duplicate the loads. He called me up and said that the best he could do with the rifle was 1 1/2". I spent quite a few hours going over details with him in loading techniques and he had changed just about every component. Then found out he did not have proper cleaning equipment. But the real kicker was he was laying on the ground shooting off a harris bi pod....7 Mag...
I have X caliber barrels in 6 BRX, 6.5x47 Lapua, and 6 XC, all are shooting bug holes. Now, these 3 barrels are just a sample. None of them copper foul, and all were shooting tiny groups within 12 shots, with no break in. The guy that does the chambering indicates the barrels in through the headstock to the 0.0001. Using this technique, some rather poor quality, cheap barrels have shot extremely well over the years. If a barrel is chambered with .003 run out between the chamber and bore, it may not shoot well at all, or may just be very finicky on how it does shoot. This is the issue you deal with a lot with factory barrels.
I do believe that X caliber is a rising star for several reasons, they have brand new equipment, and the best equipment, including a new Honing machine that some barrel makers do not have. This Honing machine gives consistent dimensions from front to end, and does away with any drill marks from when the barrel was deep hole drilled.
I like the X caliber folks because they are an American Success Story. These people were making barrels for Remington. Remington came up and told them that they were moving the company to Alabama and offered them jobs. They did not want to move to Alabama. So, they found an investor with deep pockets, who bought them all new equipment, latest and greatest. They have been keeping their prices way down so as to get well known in the market place. They have excellent customer service, and that is an understatement. I like pulling for the underdog, especially when they are trying so hard to put out a quality product, and break their necks serving the public.
When you evaluate any barrel, remember, the gunsmith and his attention to detail can make or break the whole deal. Little details like him having a set of pilots that will allow him to fit the proper pilot for the reamer bushing so the reamer is not flopping around in the chamber cutting an over size(not centered) chamber, checking his set up several times to see if the machining process has caused the barrel to move out of alignment by .0002-.0004, checking to see if the bullet will be getting started in a straight part of the barrel, checking for tight and loose spots in the barrel, etc.
Attention to detail will allow bargin basement barrels to shoot bug holes with regularity, such as ER Shaw, Green Mountain, and Adams and Bennett.
Then when you get a good X caliber, you just have to pinch yourself. I also have Krieger, Brux, Broughton, Shilen, Hart, Krieger, Lilja, and Bartlein.
Using the Hawkeye bore scope, X Caliber barrels compare with all top brand barrel makers, you don't see drill marks, gouges, thin or wide lands, short lands. For this reason, and the experience that I and about half a dozen friends have had with X caliber, I will be buying half a dozen more this year.
I am still not going to give up certain other brands, but when you can save $100 and still shoot groups in the sub 2's an lower, what is not to like? Tiny groups on a hunting rifle are a great thing, especially if you can save some money.
I have three X caliber barrels, groups will make you stand up and shout they are so good!
There are a lot of pipe fitters out there, and as you read these comments, you have no idea how the guys' bench techniques are, cleaning habits, wind reading ability, etc.
About 5 years, I sold my pet 7 mag to a guy. This was a Browning A bolt that shot bug holes, no kidding. I gave him the targets, load data, a dummy round with the OAL. Not much for him to do but duplicate the loads. He called me up and said that the best he could do with the rifle was 1 1/2". I spent quite a few hours going over details with him in loading techniques and he had changed just about every component. Then found out he did not have proper cleaning equipment. But the real kicker was he was laying on the ground shooting off a harris bi pod....7 Mag...
I have X caliber barrels in 6 BRX, 6.5x47 Lapua, and 6 XC, all are shooting bug holes. Now, these 3 barrels are just a sample. None of them copper foul, and all were shooting tiny groups within 12 shots, with no break in. The guy that does the chambering indicates the barrels in through the headstock to the 0.0001. Using this technique, some rather poor quality, cheap barrels have shot extremely well over the years. If a barrel is chambered with .003 run out between the chamber and bore, it may not shoot well at all, or may just be very finicky on how it does shoot. This is the issue you deal with a lot with factory barrels.
I do believe that X caliber is a rising star for several reasons, they have brand new equipment, and the best equipment, including a new Honing machine that some barrel makers do not have. This Honing machine gives consistent dimensions from front to end, and does away with any drill marks from when the barrel was deep hole drilled.
I like the X caliber folks because they are an American Success Story. These people were making barrels for Remington. Remington came up and told them that they were moving the company to Alabama and offered them jobs. They did not want to move to Alabama. So, they found an investor with deep pockets, who bought them all new equipment, latest and greatest. They have been keeping their prices way down so as to get well known in the market place. They have excellent customer service, and that is an understatement. I like pulling for the underdog, especially when they are trying so hard to put out a quality product, and break their necks serving the public.
When you evaluate any barrel, remember, the gunsmith and his attention to detail can make or break the whole deal. Little details like him having a set of pilots that will allow him to fit the proper pilot for the reamer bushing so the reamer is not flopping around in the chamber cutting an over size(not centered) chamber, checking his set up several times to see if the machining process has caused the barrel to move out of alignment by .0002-.0004, checking to see if the bullet will be getting started in a straight part of the barrel, checking for tight and loose spots in the barrel, etc.
Attention to detail will allow bargin basement barrels to shoot bug holes with regularity, such as ER Shaw, Green Mountain, and Adams and Bennett.
Then when you get a good X caliber, you just have to pinch yourself. I also have Krieger, Brux, Broughton, Shilen, Hart, Krieger, Lilja, and Bartlein.
Using the Hawkeye bore scope, X Caliber barrels compare with all top brand barrel makers, you don't see drill marks, gouges, thin or wide lands, short lands. For this reason, and the experience that I and about half a dozen friends have had with X caliber, I will be buying half a dozen more this year.
I am still not going to give up certain other brands, but when you can save $100 and still shoot groups in the sub 2's an lower, what is not to like? Tiny groups on a hunting rifle are a great thing, especially if you can save some money.
ChuckWilliams
New member
I have chambered a number of other blanks in TCU and they all shot well. I am not saying that i couldn t have made a mistake on this one, but i dont think i did. I am certainly not giving up yet and i dont have quite 100 rounds through it. Its sitting in the cleaning cradle now and when i get off work in the morning i will get after it again. The HS stock isnt bedded at this point and i may have to go there.
I bought the X-Caliber on Keith's recommendations. If they're good enough for him, they should be plenty good enough for me. I've never used the smith I plan on using but have heard he does good work and have seen his shop and equipment. It too is all new and he seems to know how to use it. I have also seen a few of the rifles he has built and they are very nice also. Time will tell.
ChuckWilliams
New member
Originally Posted By: ackleymanI bed all my HS stocks before I ever pull the trigger. I have only seen two over the years that did not show a dramatic improvement from bedding. There is a simple way to check and see if your gun needs bedding. Contact me if you are interested.
You will be happy to know the bedding is curing as we speak.
You will be happy to know the bedding is curing as we speak.