01-21-2015, 01:36 PM
I'm not one to avoid paying for quality, I tend to wear redwing boots, a filson jacket, and have some really nice hand made pipes. Here is where my perception of grendel being an expensive build based on barrel alone. There seem to be very reputable barrel makers making a range of barrels from low, to mid, to high end for a variety of calibers from 5.56, .300blk, .308 and so forth. With the grendel I might be looking or a mid range Toyota (reliable well built, yada yada) but I finding only Lexus (premium leather and all that jazz, really nice but not absolutely necessary) . I'm a detail oriented person and I'm not going to buy a non-SAAMI at this point. So either I drop the money for one of the match barrels (seems to be only option) or I switch calibers and find me a reputable mid range barrel. This is the beauty of a free market, choices. It's just that for some reason the grendel market is very small and the only makers using SAAMI reamers are the high end match barrel machinists.
I understand that the reamer doesn't influence the barrel price. The issue is that only the best match barrel makers seem to be using the SAAMI reamer. I realized that all Lilja barrels are the same prices as any other caliber. It's just that a Lilja barrel costs X and if I got a more common caliber I assume I could find a "toyota" level barrel for X-$300. That is all.
Here's another thought. If the caliber is to increase further in popularity with the proper SAAMI chamber I could see more people getting into if if there were mid level barrels. It's just like any other product or market I think. People come in for or are attracted by some lower cost offerings, they begin to like it, and then they end up buying Kreiger and Lilja. Now if someone wants to get in, they pretty much have to go straight to Kreiger/Lilja for a SAAMI chamber. Just an observation from a unbiased guy new to the caliber that is not a long range shooter . It applies to pipes/pipe tobacco, cigars, and craft beer (I'm a brewer and former Cigar shop employee), and I'm sure many other "hobby" type product markets. Introduce new comers to good mid-level cost product and you tend to keep them coming back and you can watch them buy more product and more expensive product. Unless barrel making is different there has to be well made mid level barrels on the way to high quality higher end barrels. There were good $4-$5 cigars just as there are good $15 smokes.
If I do continue with the build it will be with Mark at PF.
I understand that the reamer doesn't influence the barrel price. The issue is that only the best match barrel makers seem to be using the SAAMI reamer. I realized that all Lilja barrels are the same prices as any other caliber. It's just that a Lilja barrel costs X and if I got a more common caliber I assume I could find a "toyota" level barrel for X-$300. That is all.
Here's another thought. If the caliber is to increase further in popularity with the proper SAAMI chamber I could see more people getting into if if there were mid level barrels. It's just like any other product or market I think. People come in for or are attracted by some lower cost offerings, they begin to like it, and then they end up buying Kreiger and Lilja. Now if someone wants to get in, they pretty much have to go straight to Kreiger/Lilja for a SAAMI chamber. Just an observation from a unbiased guy new to the caliber that is not a long range shooter . It applies to pipes/pipe tobacco, cigars, and craft beer (I'm a brewer and former Cigar shop employee), and I'm sure many other "hobby" type product markets. Introduce new comers to good mid-level cost product and you tend to keep them coming back and you can watch them buy more product and more expensive product. Unless barrel making is different there has to be well made mid level barrels on the way to high quality higher end barrels. There were good $4-$5 cigars just as there are good $15 smokes.
If I do continue with the build it will be with Mark at PF.