Who makes the best barrels for air rifles?

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Edit key seems to have died again-- 
but yes you'd think that the pellet manufacturer's would up their game- we should demand better - 
yes there are enough of us to make this request -
but pellet uniformity within a tin can be really frustrating -I've weighed a tin of 16 grain beasts and have found the range from 13 to 17 grain! Within the tin!
and that has nothing to do with varying head sizes -- 
or bubbles trapped in the pellet- non concentric - 
we really are in need of much better ammo -
CK 
 
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I purchased one from Alfred of Beaumont - he removed it from an older rifle and sold it to me-
I had it machined to fit my bench rest rig - shot more than a 100 rounds though it, a real disappointment 😫
So another barrel on the pile - 
some are truly lucky in finding that one special barrel -
I heard a story about a gunsmith buying a quantity of LW barrels - out of ten he found 3 usable cometiton barrwls -
sold 2 and has the third fitted on his rig --
the barrel makers just don't want to re tool reset just to make a few barrels -
but if barrels were made perfect -there would be no need to index one. They would already be straight! Drilled that way-
but like any other business it's a numbers game - or should I say profit 
But I do believe somewhere down the road -there will be enough of us willing to spend 1000 plus for a shooter ( barrel that is) that they will then become interested -
Hell in the firearm benchrest game- the guys might shoot one or two matches before dumping a barrel --
also they cryogenicly dip barrels to unstress the metal? Lots of serious money spent ---
are we heading in that direction ?😬
CK 
 
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Yes the barrel and the regulator are 2 of the biggies in repeatable accuracy - and again - not really the realm of -Plinker or hunter --
but most competition shooters are very close to the vest on techniques and rabbits foot that aide in giving that all important edge😬
It's a highly competitive game, at both ends - manufacturer and marksman --
CK 
 
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"Coldking"
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It depends on the barrel maker. Some of the top brands on the powder burner side offer genuinely custom barrels. By this I mean made with your twist rate, length and number of grooves etc. I don't know how much they charge or how long it takes but I am fairly confident that the answer to both questions would be enough to put me off (given the price and wait for one of their catalog blanks). 

Being able to spec a custom high end blank would also require a level of knowledge I don't have. For example: Lilja is one of the only top powder burner barrel brands that also makes an air rifle barrel. They only offer .177 but the twist rate is 1:17 (from memory) - I.e. almost the same as LW. However, LW airgun barrels have 12 grooves whereas Lilja (and Krieger and Benchmark etc) seem to have a max of 6 grooves on any barrels with anything close to air gun twist rates. I have no idea at all why I would want one amount of grooves vs another or who is correct for air guns or if it matters at all. 

From what I have read, people on the powder burner side typically do not consider LW barrels to be in the same league as Keiger, Hart, Benchmark and Lilja. Most think they are above average and good for hunting but not for benchrest matches (although, as with everything, some disagree). 

The more I read about this topic and the more opinions I am offered, the less I seem to understand. 

 
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"fe7565"
"zebra"I just noticed that Mac1 lists Benchmark and Lilja barrels on their site in 22 and 25. If they are still available to order, I am going to try one of the 22's.
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There is an interesting thread on Benchrest Central that (amonsgt other things) mentions Mac1 as the only one selling them (back in 2012): http://173.236.14.55/showthread.php?83260-Airgun-Benchrest-Barrel-Question!
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I've just been told by the guy from Mac1 that the Benchmark barrels were not accurate at all and the Lilja barrels were just ok. I think he is back to using LW barrels. He specifically mentioned the LW polygon barrels.

I've now heard from two sources that genuinely compete at the top level that LW barrels are the best for air guns. 

The only issue with that for me, is that the top level of competition with air guns is almost exclusively .177 as far as I can tell. It doesn't mean the tooling is as good for the other calibers. If you were going to take extra care in one caliber, I would choose the one most people compete with to showcase the brand well.

I have no idea why the top barrel brands in America are unable to make an accurate air rifle barrel, given that the specs came from a top airgun smith and one that competes too. 
 
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One groove ( LD came up with that one perhaps?) 3 groove ( mac-1?) other , didn't work great in the long run - single production seemed okay I do know an unfortunate soul who purchased 10 ( ten) of them and none were good enough, ugh. 

LW makes many barrels. For a good number of years ( more than 3 ) the standard 15mm LW .22 was crap. As LW admitted the buttons (?) were " a little worn" but "still good" so ........ .

Currently there does seem to be some (16mm? larger?) LW poly barrel that is great in .177 and .25 ( maybe others just haven't seen the current offering preform). 

Generally, IF you really require the best grouping barrel ( which will out shoot 99% of shooters) you need to decide what is a good barrel brand/type/other RIGHT NOW, TODAY. What was "the best" just a year ago may well now be totally different - too mucu run on the tooling/slightly different meatl compound/..... . 
So find out what the best shooters ( BR generally is a great place to track this infor) are buying/using right now, then purchase 10 then machine/polish/... then test if your REALLY lucky you'll get 1 - very good barrels.

Or if you can never hope to or have no desire to shoot say a 250 25x at BR, (like me) any of the LW's that are NOT already known to be , not so good, prep it right and the common shooter will be all smiles.

IF you do need the best, it's only money.



John
 
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"spysir"One groove ( LD came up with that one perhaps?) 3 groove ( mac-1?) other , didn't work great in the long run - single production seemed okay I do know an unfortunate soul who purchased 10 ( ten) of them and none were good enough, ugh. 

LW makes many barrels. For a good number of years ( more than 3 ) the standard 15mm LW .22 was crap. As LW admitted the buttons (?) were " a little worn" but "still good" so ........ .

Currently there does seem to be some (16mm? larger?) LW poly barrel that is great in .177 and .25 ( maybe others just haven't seen the current offering preform). 

Generally, IF you really require the best grouping barrel ( which will out shoot 99% of shooters) you need to decide what is a good barrel brand/type/other RIGHT NOW, TODAY. What was "the best" just a year ago may well now be totally different - too mucu run on the tooling/slightly different meatl compound/..... . 
So find out what the best shooters ( BR generally is a great place to track this infor) are buying/using right now, then purchase 10 then machine/polish/... then test if your REALLY lucky you'll get 1 - very good barrels.

Or if you can never hope to or have no desire to shoot say a 250 25x at BR, (like me) any of the LW's that are NOT already known to be , not so good, prep it right and the common shooter will be all smiles.

IF you do need the best, it's only money.



John
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I'm currently looking for a good 22 cal. I can't tell if you are saying that the LW 22 cal blanks used to be average but now they are good or if you are saying that they still have issues?

The 22 LW's used in the Daystate guns seem to be accurate but I guess they are probably made in Europe. I think I read that the blanks sold by LW America are made in Georgia. 

If I was buying a .177 it would be easy to choose as you said. I would just need to find out what the top match shooters were using. 

22 cal and above falls more into the realm of opinions and as with everything else, nobody agrees. 

It's a shame you can't easily buy CZ blanks as I have always had good luck with them in the 22's I own. 

Does anyone know know if a regular gunsmith can machine an airgun barrel if they have the original to use for reference? Or does it require some airgun smith specific knowledge? There is a resident gunsmith a my local range so it would be convenience to deal face to face...
 
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I got a fantastic .177 LW poly barrel from Martin at RAW, but it wasn't cheap.. Allan Zasadny say's it's one of the best he's ever worked with. He's getting 1/4 groups at 55 yards shooting FT sitting. He's pulling from a tin (not sorted) with only lubing so even better could be possible. So far 1,600 pellets though the barrel with no cleaning or accuracy degradation (he's doing alot of testing to learn this new barrel), The gun is on the way back to me as I type. I'm super excited to see what I can do with it!!)
 
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ajshoots,

I don't know the answer to RAW v Thomas v older poly and the specs. Based on AZs work, we know it's not the same barrel as the Thomas as it doesn't need cleaning after even 1600 shots. I know AZ has worked on Thomas guns and now a lot of work with the RAW barrel and pellet speeds so I'm sure he knows the answer. I also have to believe there is a reason he was working and testing at 65 yards even though I only asked for 55. I didn't ask him for detailed barrel specs (this is a 24" barrel though) and he didn't say anything other than this is one of the best rigs he has been able to build.
 
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