Douglas Barrel grade identification ?

M

Mike Eversole

New member
Hey Guys,

Do Douglas rifle barrels signify what grade of a barrel they are?

Mine says 22-250 only is it really a XX grade barrel?
If you've had or have a douglas barrel does it only say the chambering on it? Thanks Mike /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
I had a Douglas barrel installed in my .243 788 last March. It's stamped "XX", and the 'smith who installed the barrel (at Douglas) said they only stamp XX on the barrels which they personally install.

The fact that yours is not stamped XX simply means that someone else installed it--which isn't a bad thing at all, provided he did it right.

The air gauged barrels are tested thus: A tube is slipped into the bore of the barrel, and compressed air is pushed through the tube. On the end of the tube, there are "feelers" which fit right into the grooves of the barrel. It takes a certain amount of air pressure to hold those feelers against the barrel steel. Then as the "feeler" is moved through the bore, from end to end, they watch the air gauge to see if the pressure rises or falls--which means the bore is ever so slightly smaller or larger in that spot.

Air gauged barrels are made exactly the same way as all of Douglas' other barrels. Just because you don't pay for air-gauging (to check for tight tolerances) that doesn't mean that your barrel wouldn't pass the air gauge test--the tech at Douglas told me that most all of their barrels will pass the air gauge tolerances. But if you want to be sure the barrel you're purchasing will pass the air guage test, you've got to pay extra for them to test it. Presumably, if the barrel you were about to buy did not pass the test, they'd make another for you...

Dan
 
Thanks Dan,

I appreciate your knowledge on the douglas barrel.

I have to send the barreled /action back it won't chamber a round.The smith said it go/no go 'd just fine so i'll let him double check it.
I trimmed the brass to minimum specs and it still wouldn't chamber so back she goes. Mike
 
Here is the info on Douglas Barrels from DOUGLAS....JOHN



A brief description of our barrels.

BASIC BARREL
This is a rifled bar of steel, cylindrical in shape, with a rough lathe turned finish. These barrels will vary in diameter but will always finish at least 1.200" O.D. This barrel is available in three lengths as noted on the price list and barrel shape chart. This blank is intended for those gunsmiths who wish to turn and shape their own barrels.

THE PRETURNED BARREL
This barrel is rough turned to approx. size and shape. Usually it will be .025" to .050" larger than the finished dimensions noted on the barrel size chart. It will be finish centered and will have a rough lathe finish. It is intended to be finish centered and final shaped by you. It comes to you 1-1/2" longer than chart dimension.

THE FINISHED TURNED BARREL
The finished turned barrel is to approx. chart dimensions within a few thousandths. It will have been finish centered accurately on a lathe and turned to dimension and then belt sanded with the final grit size being 180. It also comes to you 1-1/2" over length.

THE FINISHED, THREADED AND CHAMBERED BARREL
Here we use the finish turned barrel above and then cut the proper thread for the action involved, chamber for the cartridge ordered and crown the barrel. The chamber in this barrel is finished in the sense that a finishing reamer is not required. You must however make a slight cut on the breech with a lathe and have a method of gaging headspace. DO NOT FIRE this barrel without making this adjustment. A set of instructions will be enclosed in the package. Be sure that you do not throw it away with the wrapping material.

GRADES OF BARRELS AVAILABLE
Standard grade is a barrel that meets our dimension specifications but may have a minor amount of curvature. Truly, however, I see barrels in our scrap that are straighter than most factory barrels. A PREMIUM grade barrel is one that has been judged straight in checking. It will be marked with the symbol XX to designate this.

AIR GAGED QUALITY
In the process of checking our barrels all are checked with air gaging equipment. In so doing we find some that are more uniform than others. Those that measure .0001" or less variation from one end to the other are classed as air gaged. This does not mean that should you order a barrel of a lower quality grade that you might not receive a barrel that would have graded AIR GAGE but it does mean that if you specify AIR GAGE you will get a barrel with the tolerance indicated above.
You will find that most of our basic barrels are marked for the muzzle end. In the process of air gaging we mark the tight end as being the muzzle. Some people feel that the taper should be to the muzzle, others say that it makes no difference. At any rate the barrel is marked so the choice is yours.

PISTOL BARRELS
Many handgun shooters are having great success with DOUGLAS barrels. We do NOT install these barrels. We do supply basic blanks in chrome moly only, to pistolsmiths and gunsmiths who do cut and fit these blanks to handguns. We do no pistolsmithing with the exception of some silhouette barrels (See below).

SILHOUETTE BARRELS FOR HANDGUNS
Silhouette shooting with handguns is becoming very popular. Most barrel makers are supplying a single shape for this pur pose. We have been supplying our regular sporter shapes and the customers have been cutting to 15" or whatever the customer desires. This allows a choice of weights so as to match stock, action and sights to weight limits. We will fit barrels and supply FTC barrels in suitable calibers for the Remington XP100 action only. Price is the same as for a rifle barrel.

SILHOUETTE and super magnum shape - This barrel shape was developed for silhouette shooting and high pressure 45 caliber cartridges. In the silhouette adaptation the breech diameter is always 1.200" muzzle diameter 750" and an O.A.L. of 24" to meet the weight requirements of this sport. The barrel used with the 458 cartridges will have an appropriate diameter for the action involved. This barrel is available in lengths from 22" thru 26". All these barrels have our sporter profile. Weight of the silhouette barrel is approx. 4 lbs. 7 ½ oz.

NOTE: You must cut 1 ½ “ off of the muzzle of all BASIC, PRET and FT barrels.
 
I kid you not... When I visited the Douglas factory to pick up my rifle, I was told by the guy who 'smithed my rifle that the XX would only be put on barrels which they installed.

From the literature shown above, it could be interpreted to say that you can get a XX marked barrel without having Douglas install it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Dan
 
Quote:
Thanks Dan,

I appreciate your knowledge on the douglas barrel.

I have to send the barreled /action back it won't chamber a round.The smith said it go/no go 'd just fine so i'll let him double check it.
I trimmed the brass to minimum specs and it still wouldn't chamber so back she goes. Mike



Mike, you do not have to send your barrel back, I have a Douglas XX barrel on my 1938 mauser 98 action, the chamber is tight. This happens on custom barrels and you only need to pick up a Redding small base body die. Right now you should be able to load factory ammo, and are having a problem with reloading the fired brass, is that correct? Yes, I know it was fired in the chamber of your rifle, but trust me on this, just order from Midway or Brownell's and your problem is over.
Go to:
www.redding-reloading.com
Check out the Small Base Body Die and see what they say....JOHN
 
Quote:
I kid you not... When I visited the Douglas factory to pick up my rifle, I was told by the guy who 'smithed my rifle that the XX would only be put on barrels which they installed.

From the literature shown above, it could be interpreted to say that you can get a XX marked barrel without having Douglas install it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Dan



Hey Dan, I believe you, and we all know how someone will add stuff to a story. My barrel was installed by Douglas, but we could have ordered it out of Midway as a XX. JOHN
 
I have a 24" 2.5 pound barrel here that is marked "Douglas XX 6mm 10" on the breech.

As soon as I cut threads and chamber on this barrel, the marking will be gone.
 
All the custom barrel makers I have ever used put the markings on the breech end. Of course they are cut off with the fitting.
Douglas is not up there with the true custom barrel people but can sometimes turn out great barrels and a lot cheaper.

Jack
 
Yotehunter59,

I pm'd you ,just wanted to say thanks on here you saved me some trouble.
Going to marine-tex bed my 22-250 and 25-06 today.
Thanks again Mike
 
Quote:
Yotehunter59,

I pm'd you ,just wanted to say thanks on here you saved me some trouble.
Going to marine-tex bed my 22-250 and 25-06 today.
Thanks again Mike



I am glad my experience on my .308 could help you out and save you some aggrevation and time. Keep me informed how it comes out, I am interested...JOHN
 
Back
Top