Tactical Ordnance Barrels HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE!!!

Originally Posted By: pyscodogRandy, you said you were in the same boat as Kino. Did you receive a bad barrel as well?

Randy's barrel was delayed excessively because they kept messing my two up! On the forth try they did build all 3 barrels together. Our gunsmith said ALL 3 had a crooked chamber and looked identical so since the two I have shoot okay we are guessing Randy's will.

Speaking of the 58Vmax, I bought a boatload of them and can't really use them because the COAL has to be so short to chamber a round. Like Varminter 223 I'm going to be stuck in the 70gr bullet range unless I get different brass. I'm running new Starline and 31.5 gr of 8208 is almost flush with the case mouth and the Vmax has to be seated so deep it causes a VERY compressed load
 
I have two of the TO Barrels from Rich and am happy with both of mine, one is a 224 Valkyrie and the other is a 6x6.8 SPC. My 6x6.8 shoots pretty good with about any bullet I put in it from the 55 gr. Varmageddon to the 85 gr. Sierra HPBT. I have shot 18 coyote with it using 70 gr. Speer TNT's and 10 so far with 70 Gr. Nosler BT. and I love the way it knocks them down and am very happy with it. I have had that barrel for about 2 months so far.
 
Originally Posted By: Randy BuddeI have two of the TO Barrels from Rich and am happy with both of mine, one is a 224 Valkyrie and the other is a 6x6.8 SPC. My 6x6.8 shoots pretty good with about any bullet I put in it from the 55 gr. Varmageddon to the 85 gr. Sierra HPBT. I have shot 18 coyote with it using 70 gr. Speer TNT's and 10 so far with 70 Gr. Nosler BT. and I love the way it knocks them down and am very happy with it. I have had that barrel for about 2 months so far.

Glad yours turned out, I'm curious, when exactly did you pay for your 6x6.8 barrel??
 
I have a feeling you were dealing with a worn out reamer and TO just didn't give a shitz. They just got caught. Sorry that you and Ritch got caught up in the mess.
 
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Randy Budde when did you get your barrel? When did you place your barrel order?

Right now I cannot get my barrel to shoot the 58 Vmax decently. I’ve used 8208 and 322. The bullet has to be seated so deep in the case that it’s a compressed load with 30 grains of 8208. The ogive of this bullet is not friendly with the chambering. I have gone through one box of bullets chasing a decent load with no luck. I’m going to continue chasing a load for the 58 Vmax.
The 70 Nosler BT shoots well pushed by the 30 grains of 8208.
 
I have to say my 22NXS barrel works great and the new barrel I have for sale here bore scopes real well. Chamber is nice and the bore is great.
Might be what was mentioned above on the 6x6.8, the reamer may well be worn out.

Gene
 
Guys the reamer was NOT worn out. A dull reamer doesn't have ANYTHING to do with the chamber being cut so short a round sticks out 1/4-1/3 and the bolts won't turn and lock into position!!!!! That is a GIGANTIC headspace/machining/quality issue!!! Dull reamers don't cause that big of an issue and also has ZERO to do with poor packaging, long wait times, zero follow up and pitiful customer service!!
 
Originally Posted By: Kino MGuys the reamer was NOT worn out. A dull reamer doesn't have ANYTHING to do with the chamber being cut so short a round sticks out 1/4-1/3 and the bolts won't turn and lock into position!!!!! That is a GIGANTIC headspace/machining/quality issue!!! Dull reamers don't cause that big of an issue and also has ZERO to do with poor packaging, long wait times, zero follow up and pitiful customer service!!

Kino, you also mentioned crooked chambers and "machine" marks on the shoulder that were determined by your "gunsmith"...I/we were addressing that problem in regards to a dull reamer...if that is not as big a problem to you then so be it. If dull reamers "don't cause that big of an issue" as you stated, then don't get bent out of shape at those of us commenting on what you have posted on the internet. It sounds like you are more concerned with them jacking you around for weeks. We all agree, "if "the barrel was short chambered then that is a problem as well...no doubt...but a short chambered barrel can be fixed...a crooked/poorly chambered barrel from a dull reamer cannot be fixed.
 
Gene I'm actually "bent out of shape" over everything about Tactical Ordnance, everything from beginning to end and the whole point of my post was to inform members here of my experience with them, their pitiful customer service, horrible quality/machining and to think long and hard before they invest in a product from them. If your a fan boy of them great, if you have great barrels from them without issue your lucky, good for you and if my post offends you or hurts the sale of your TO barrel in the classifieds I can't help that. EVERYTHING I posted is 100% true and if you haven't noticed NOBODY from TO or involved with this is here defending them or refuting my claims. I ordered 2 barrels, it took them 4 tries to actually make them to actually get a round to chamber and the bolts to lock up so thats 6 barrels made substandard, I think thats an issue MUCH BIGGER than a dull reamer. Improper headspace is a huge safety concern for anyone who actually knows about guns and can get your face blown up and they OBVIOUSLY didn't check that the first 6 times so yeah thats a huge safety problem. It would/could have been caught easily with standard 6.8 go/no-go gauges. Dull reamers also don't account for different sized gas ports or nonconcentric chambers.

As for the reamer issue, what was told to me from Ritch and Rob (owner of TO) is that the finish reamer was FINE and supposedly checked on an optical comparitor, but they was using a roughing reamer instead of the finish reamer. That absolutely could cause rough machine marks in the chamber as well as headspace being a little short BUT it wouldn't cause a round to stick out 1/4-1/3 of where it should be nor cause the chamber to be non concentric (crooked). IF THEY HAD ACTUALLY CHECKED HEADSPACE AND BORESOPEDED they would have caught this and it would have never left the factory.

The crooked chamber CANNOT be fixed but your incorrect about a poor chamber being fixed as it can and competent gunsmiths do it all the time, the problem is it takes more time and skill than TO has!!

I have barrels from Bartlein, Brux, Rock Creek, Lilja, Krieger, POF, LWRC, WOA, FN, Bison, PSA and zero issues with those companies and you never hear of poor customer service should there ever be an issue so thats where I recommend looking for quality and I recommend Tactical Ordnance to take notes from them if they want to be a class act barrel manufacturer.
 
Originally Posted By: Randy BuddeI have had it about 2 months. I ordered it 14 weeks before that. Randy is in the U.P. and can't reply. (This is his wife).

Thank you Mrs.Budde for the response, according to your timeline that means your barrel was purchased in March and this TOTALLY solidified one of my major issues with Tactical Ordnance. You purchased a barrel well AFTER myself and Randy Merta, yet you received it WELL before us!! I paid for mine on December 11th and literally just got a working pair on exactly August 11th so my wait was exactly 8 months.
 
QUOTE:"The crooked chamber CANNOT be fixed but your incorrect about a poor chamber being fixed as it can and competent gunsmiths do it all the time, the problem is it takes more time and skill than TO has!!"

Kino, I stated that a SHORT CHAMBERED barrel could be fixed...and that a crooked/poorly chambered barrel from a DULL REAMER could not. I was referring to the crooked chamber as being poorly chambered and a result of possibly a dull reamer...crooked/poor chambers can be produced from indicating on the outside of the barrel instead of the bore, feeding too fast, little or no coolant and I am sure other things not mentioned.
As for poorly chambered barrels alone...rough chambers can be polished out and such, small boring bars can "clean up" some rough chambers, but they are still not right and can be a few thousandths or MORE out of spec, including headspace after clean up. Most of my competent gunsmiths won't put their name on this type of work...a minor scratch or rough spot, sure, but much more than that...NO...this can lead to a reloaders nightmare. If you have gunsmiths that are Ok with this...great.

Never said anything about doubting what you posted.

Not a fan boy of TO...just have 2 of their barrels...bought from Ritch...did not deal with TO...dealt with Ritch...which I believe you should have done exclusively. If Ritch "quit" on you, then that was wrong. Just my opinion(as well as some others) and I know what opinions are like...

Nobody has disagreed about the short chambering...or "headspace" as you are referring to. Nobody has said that excess headspace is a good or safe thing to have.

Agree about the use of a roughing reamer and the results...nobody questioning this that I see.

Agree that you have a right to be upset given what YOU have stated...nobody has said anything different.

Most all of us have or have had barrels from the more noted barrel makers as you have noted...they are prone to issues as well...customer service is where they usually come thru...nobody arguing this.

All comments by myself or others have been trying to help figure out what things may have contributed to your problem...everyone seems to have been wanting to help. Most of us ask more questions to better understand the situation...don't take questions the wrong way...we are only going off of limited information and trying to get more.

Lastly, no hard feelings...I hope you get some enjoyment out of your rifle now that it somewhat is working for you and hopefully TO, Ritch and all of us learn from this.

Regards,
Gene
 
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