Who makes the best barrels for air rifles?

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zebra

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Sep 29, 2015
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Can anyone tell me which company makes the best air rifle barrels (either production or custom). 

What at is the difference between the most accurate and an average barrel? Is there a difference that can be seen under a microscope or is it just random?

Is it the barrel that makes most of the difference in accuracy between guns? I.e. If I took my Cricket's LW barrel and it's regulator and put it on a Maraduer, would I replicate it's accuracy?

i noticed that LW sells air rifle barrel blanks on their site for $130. These are already chambered, choked and rifled. Would it be a case of just buying the correct die or tap to add the right threads for your action to finish the barrel or is there more too it?
 
But, if you were going to purchase an aftermarket barrel to improve your air gun's accuracy, which one would you choose? Or, is there no clear winner and it's just luck if you happen to get one of the most accurate examples from any of these manufacturers?

I understand that there is multiple factors when it comes to accuracy. Some you can control more than others but buying a high quality barrel and a decent regulator would seem like the place to start if you wanted to make a Career 707 perform like a Cricket....

My understanding is that all the barrel makers you mentioned are known for making a good product but, if money was no object and the best possible accuracy was the goal, is there one we should buy above all others? I don't know if the LW barrels on a $600 Airforce gun are the same grade as the ones on a $2000 Daystate? Part of me would like to believe that my more expensive guns get the cream of the crop...

Ignoring all all the other factors, I would also like to know what makes two barrels from the same manufacturer, same process, same length etc perform differently. 

My assumption is that, if I were to look at two barrels under a microscope, I would see that the more accurate one has a smoother and more streamlined interior surface. I'm a technology guy. Air gun manufacturers don't seem to be the most up to date on modern manufacturing processes. It looks like many use the same process as they used to make firearm barrels but with a different twist rate. Only FX seem to be trying to innovate with air gun barrels and even FX is nowhere near consistent accuracy between units. I cringe when I read terms like "hand made in the traditional way" for things like barrels as handmade things are usually the least consistent. 

I am specifically interested to know if modern techniques like nano imprint lithography (or a variation of it) could be used to make a predictable and consistently high performing barrel liner. I have no intention of become a barrel manufacturer btw. I'm just curious and if the reason we're clear, I might ask someone with access to nano manufacturing technology to make one for me. 

I would like to own a rifle that put pellets in the same hole every time at 75 yards (when shot from a vice in perfect conditions). I'm a dreamer but I'm not the only one.

It seems like a lot of people who enter competitions favor upgrading the barrel on their air rifles. Maybe they pay extra for a custom job. 
 
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I think you answered your question in the first paragraph. "Or, is there no clear winner and it’s just luck if you happen to get one of the most accurate examples from any of these manufacturers?" Many top competition shooters try many barrels before settling on the one "magic" barrel. Then they will keep that barrel forever. Even swapping it to new guns. I think there is more to be gained through pellet sorting and maybe resizing and careful tuning of the gun to the best pellet than by trying lots of barrels. At least for average shooter just looking for the best accuracy within reason. Barrel swapping is very expensive!
 
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 First you buy what hopefully is a good barrel. Then you ( someone ) prep it, this has as much to do with it being a truly "good" barrel or average. Some sizes/cal. of LW are know the be, perhaps not as good as others. A visual with a good scope, after cleaning, would show a gross defect but couldn't guarantee it a one hole shooter and as people beginning to expect even greater accuracy only those who have their barrels correctly prepped including hand lapping will enjoy blaming every miss on themselves .

And for History the Career rifles had " Walther " barrels and were outstanding and still sought out by some. The .177 was the first to ( have a good enough barrel) and high enough shot count with a reg installed to finish and win a Field Target match. 

So a quality barrel, several hours of prep and you chances of a golden barrel are much higher =) .

 
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"sharroff"I wonder about the specs for the Thomas BR barrel which is sweeping the top competitions
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This is the sort of info I was after. I hadn't heard of these but a barrel that is sweeping the top competitions certainly seems like it's worth checking out. I'm going to look into it. Thanks for the tip. 

If they have a product that consistently outperforms the traditional barrel makers, perhaps they are making better use of technology.
 
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"spysir" First you buy what hopefully is a good barrel. Then you ( someone ) prep it, this has as much to do with it being a truly "good" barrel or average. Some sizes/cal. of LW are know the be, perhaps not as good as others. A visual with a good scope, after cleaning, would show a gross defect but couldn't guarantee it a one hole shooter and as people beginning to expect even greater accuracy only those who have their barrels correctly prepped including hand lapping will enjoy blaming every miss on themselves .

And for History the Career rifles had " Walther " barrels and were outstanding and still sought out by some. The .177 was the first to ( have a good enough barrel) and high enough shot count with a reg installed to finish and win a Field Target match. 

So a quality barrel, several hours of prep and you chances of a golden barrel are much higher =) .

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I have read differing opinions about who made the Career barrels. Usually one person will state they are LW and then someone else will claim they were made in-house but nobody seems to know for sure. What reason do you have to believe they are LW? Shin Sung aren't the easiest people to ask for info... 

 
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For ultimate accuracy top airgunsmiths will slug the barrel to check for tight or loose spots as well as choke or remove choke as needed. They will Han lapand polish the bore smoothing out any microscopic scratches or burs that would put drag on the pellet. Many also go through and make sure barrel is true to the action and the probe. Check out what AZ does to airguns that he tunes it is very in depth.
 
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"AZBOBCAT"For ultimate accuracy top airgunsmiths will slug the barrel to check for tight or loose spots as well as choke or remove choke as needed. They will Han lapand polish the bore smoothing out any microscopic scratches or burs that would put drag on the pellet. Many also go through and make sure barrel is true to the action and the probe. Check out what AZ does to airguns that he tunes it is very in depth.
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Is AZ the name of a gunsmith or a member here? I'd like to check it out. 

In a slightly better world than this one, that sort of thing would have already been done for us when we spend $1500+ on an air gun but unfortunately, we're lucky if it doesn't arrive with potatoes growing in the barrel. 

Please forgive me if this is a stupid question but is polishing the barrel something you can do at home and what equipment is used for an air rifle barrel?

I'm curious to know if this is part of the "tuning" people pay for. That word always sounds so vague to me and the way people talk about it, it sounded like they were paying for someone to turn the hammer spring adjuster until it output 950fps. The process you described sounds much more in-depth and worthy of the time and money (if that's what it means). 

Have you ever used that service for one of your guns and if so, what sort of improvement did you see?
 
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Zebra,
I'm basing the old Career rifles having "Walther" NOT "LW" barrels on the word of ARS the Importer. Whomever "Walther" is the barrels were outstanding, and, long gone unless Davis has one in his Barn.

Some ( RAW anyway) top end rig comes with hand polished barrels, that's the first way they know one isn't exactly too good and cant be used, they are "hand selected" just like if you call AZ , he grabs a barrel, inspects it, polishes it, laps it, inspects it, test fires it, maybe it's good - hopefully as they do get expensive- maybe not, if not the process starts over. IF a manufacturer doesn't have a pile of "failed" barrels ( and most do not as they just buy them, machine then, install them and sell them) well you can figure it out.

Can a person lap/polish at home?
Certainly, and depending on how it goes you "might" make it a better barrel, or, or might now have total scrap metal. Depending on what you are working with, not much to lose on say a Cummings B-3 with a rough bore, a $28.00 marauder barrel or... but when you spend a couple of hundred on a blank "I" personally do not have the skill to lap/polish.
Naturally you never have any idea of how good your barrel is or is not until you've fired it many many times. I believe that if you take most any 16mm LW barrel machine it and mount it, maybe just run a swip of Flitz down the bore and it will shoot as well as most people can at reasonable range, hard core BR and FT shooters may be able to take advantage of better barrels. 

John
 
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I had an AZ tuned Rapid in 177, it had everything possible done to it, it was so smooth shooting and accurate it was boring, I liked 22 and 25 more and really didn't use the 177 like I wanted to, wanted to do more Field Target but I spend more time hunting and it found a new home. You can certainly do tunes yourself how do you think these airgunsmiths started. Little trial and error you may be very good at it.
 
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Serious competitors would pay thousands for that magic barrel - 
its not so much the ability to shoot several rounds into one hole, but the ability to do this at least 75 times plus sighters --
without the crazy need to constantly clean the barrel of leading -- 
and so far I haven't found this perfect barrel - thought I had - only to shoot several hundred shots and have it go wild - 
the dreaded WTF shots show up! Real match killers ! Right now the chase has gone in the direction of LW polygons -but they are not the perfect barrel either -
the quest continues - 
I really think part of the problem is the pellet manufacturer's - needing to up their game. The quality really needs to come up to par with the vast improvements made recently 
with air rifles --
Regards'
CK
 
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It's kinda interesting that none of the top 5 barrel brands used by the 50 best long range shooters in America make air rifle barrels. I really want to try a Krieger or Benchmark barrel but I can't find any info on others who have tried them in air guns. 

The he twist rate of their 22 rimfire barrels is 1:16 which is fairly close to the 1:17 of air gun barrels and the bore diameter is the same.
 
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Do Belive RAW had tried them before going to the LW - Also Mark Chanlyn barrels in .22 cal?
but the twist rates are part of the holy Grail -and very few will talk about those magic rates -- 
after all most are in it to win it. -----
for most plinker's the barrels mentioned are more than adequate -
again the competition setup needs to shoot 75 plus sighin shots on a daily basis -
far more than the average air gunner would even consider ---
'I think I saw on the clasifieds a LIlja barrel for sale - the guy selling went back to LW?
wish there was a go to guarrenteed barrel- I've got a stockpile of tried barrels --
CK 
p.s 
id asked a prominent Rifle maker if he'd tried certain barrels in his quest-
he said - you name it and I've tried it. I rattled off all the major and some minor names- his response was yup yup yup--
i think even Marin of RAW has a pile of useless barrels that he's tried -
it's a really expensive endever 
 
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"Coldking"
I really think part of the problem is the pellet manufacturer's - needing to up their game. The quality really needs to come up to par with the vast improvements made recently 
with air rifles --



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I started to think the same recently. There is a reason why JSBs (and its derivatives like AA, etc) almost always expected to group well in all my rifles. While I have about 20 different .22 pellet brands/models it's a hit and miss to find one that is consistent and accurate. Little did I know about the role of pellets in the equation for accuracy when back in the late 1980's I was shooting mostly RWS pellets. If I had JSBs those groups would have been much much smaller and consistent. There is a reason why Gamo and similar pellets are considered trash IMHO and that proves the fact "that pellet quality does matter!"

I am surprised that pellet manufacturers do not use laser measuring/cutting on a large scale to ensure uniformity of not only the overall shape but also head/skirt sizes/diameter....where thousands of inches do matter, and weight is also paramount for long ranges. I would think that our sport has enough potential for profit to make that investment, especially if it pans out...you could corner the market.
 
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