Liberty Barrel quality

[gophernuts]

Well the day before all of this Satern/Liberty drama started...I ordered my Liberty 18in deep fluted barrel. Has anybody had any experience with these? Any accuracy stories or really, any information whatsoever? Thanks again.

[pinzgauer]

Some individuals are saying Liberty is owned by Satern and is a cheaper house brand.

The Satern web site makes it sound like they are a customer/vendor. They are formally registered with the same phone & shipping address as Satern, but with the owner as Eric J Milburn. And listed as a minority owned company in some listings.

Earlier Satern web site had the following:
Liberty Barrels, Inc. is one of our customers/venders and they saw that we had a website (they do not) so they asked if they could put an overrun of barrels on our list. But instead, Deb, not resisting the urge to shop went ahead and bought them all. Liberty is a button barrel manufacturer, but we figured since so many people are looking for Grendels(R) and they may not need or want cut rifled,we decided to feature them here today! Steve has inspected them and for a button barrel, they are excellent.

I can't comment on quality, no personal experience. Cut vs Buttoned, that's an age old debate.

[kamrr4437]

I dont think Steve or Deb Satern would sell the barrels if they werent any good gopher. They are pretty straight up people. I think youll be just fine.

[z06man]

Maybe when they say Deb "bought them all", they meant the whole company.

[LR1955]

I dont think Steve or Deb Satern would sell the barrels if they werent any good gopher. They are pretty straight up people. I think youll be just fine.

KM:

This implies Liberty barrels shoot just as well as Satern with the only difference being cut verses buttoned rifling.

An indicator of product quality is knowing who makes the product. Who makes the Liberty barrel?

And when Satern says they are 'excellent' quality, what does that mean? You can't get better than excellent so how would Satern compare the Liberty barrels to his barrels?

Liberty is a cheapo mass produced barrel not known for its consistency or performance at distances farther than 200.

Great for hunting in most cases, poor choice if you need to be confident in its consistency and precision.

LR1955

[ctrmass]

I think it wouldnt be fair to compare a $310 barrel to a $600+ barrel.
I wouldnt expect Satern would be selling junk either.
Having said that and not owning a Liberty barrel, I'd expect 1.5 MOA with your "best" load and be very happy if it does better.
JM.02

[Hoot]

I think it wouldnt be fair to compare a $310 barrel to a $600+ barrel.
I wouldnt expect Satern would be selling junk either.
Having said that and not owning a Liberty barrel, I'd expect 1.5 MOA with your "best" load and be very happy if it does better.
JM.02

On the flip of the coin, I'd expect a barrel that costs the same as the ER Shaw (AR Stoner) 6.5 Grendel barrels that Midway sells to shoot sub-MOA right out of the box like they do. That is assuming that cost is the only indicator of quality. [sic]

Hoot

[gophernuts]

I'm really hoping for MOA or less. I don't think that's an unrealistic expectation. The stainless barrels aren't the cheapest barrels out there. It's not like it's a standard chrome-moly barrel. It's still an upgrade from that. Frankly if it shoots 1.5 in groups at 100, I'm going to get rid of it as fast as I can. I should be getting it together this weekend, range report to follow.

[Hoot]

If a barrel is not post production lapped, make sure you give it a good cleaning and at least something resembling a break-in before holding it to a high standard. Also, my experience has been that any stainless barrel, regardless of price, will go through a seasoning period up through around 200-250 rounds. Beyond that point, it's where it's going to be for quite some time if you take care of it. That having been said. Any reloader can concoct a load that works against accuracy while still putting the hits on paper. Start off with a known good performing load and that caliber will spoil you quick.

Good Luck

Hoot

[kamrr4437]

KM:

This implies Liberty barrels shoot just as well as Satern with the only difference being cut verses buttoned rifling.

An indicator of product quality is knowing who makes the product. Who makes the Liberty barrel?

And when Satern says they are 'excellent' quality, what does that mean? You can't get better than excellent so how would Satern compare the Liberty barrels to his barrels?

Liberty is a cheapo mass produced barrel not known for its consistency or performance at distances farther than 200.

Great for hunting in most cases, poor choice if you need to be confident in its consistency and precision.

LR1955

Do you reckon this is how stuff gets started? Coming from an administrator at that.
I myself have ordered a Satern barrel. No where in my post did i say that the Liberty barrel being a button barrel was better than a cut rifled barrel. I simply made the statement that being the people that they are i dont think they would sell junk to people. If they didnt think the barrel was pretty decent they wouldnt sell it. Have a blessed day.
Keith

[gophernuts]

Regardless I already bought it so I pay range reports when I can. thanks guys.

[smoke13]

I'm very interested in the range report from the liberty barrel. Please keep us posted. Thanks

[Whelenon]

Regardless I already bought it so I pay range reports when I can. thanks guys.

How did your Liberty Barrel shoot? Anything to report?

[Mutt]

I am currently running an Liberty barrel. It is 18 inch heavy contour barrel (I believe it's mid length gassed .... can't remember will have to check). I asked Saturn for more specifics on the barrel because I forgot what twist I had and wanted to know. This is a quote from the email they sent me.

""We have no problem answering your questions! Liberty Barrels, Inc. is a button barrel company. Steve and Deb Satern helped a guy set up Liberty and Steve also built all of his equipment. They will celebrate their 3rd year of business in January. Mr. Satern is very happy with the way that they shoot, so we buy his over-runs. We will have more over runs coming. Your barrel is a Liberty Barrel, 1:8 twist, 6groove, right hand, stainless steel, button barrel. I hope that this info has helped a little. Give us a call when you are in need of more barrels!""

This barrel shot MOA right out of the box ..... sub MOA after a short break in. I use a WCI muzzle break with great results. After break in, I've had 1" to 1.5" ten shot groups and a few half inch 3 and 5 shot groups. When I was trying some Sierra Pro Hunter soft point rounds I was reloading, I shot a 2 1/2" group at 200 yard (it was a windy day). The bullets that shoot the best are Sierra Match Kings and Nosler Ballistic Tips. I am very pleased with this barrel and would deffinitely buy another one when/if this one wears out. It fit nice and tight in the upper when I was installing it. The chamber and rifling was very smooth and clean when I got it. The fit when installling the gas block was very snug. Who ever machined the barrel did a very good job with the specs.

I don't really care to speculate who actually makes it, and honestly I don't really care who actually makes the barrels. I'm not impressed with big named parts. What really matters is performance. If an off brand works well I'm more than happy with it. As long as these barrels continue to perform as well as they do, I don't care if they are made by a 14 year old girl in her dad's garage.

You'll be more than happy with your Liberty barrel. I've compared it to my buddy's rifle. I built him a carbon copy of my rifle with the exception of the Liberty Barrel. He bought an AA barrel instead. I've shot both rifles together and you can't tell the difference.

[rkflorey]

I have a 6.5 16" Liberty barrel and it has shot most of my reloads at or near an inch at 100. My best 5 shot group has been 1/2 inch with 120 grain NBT. I'm still playing with OAL but am very happy with it so far.