10-28-2021, 09:45 PM
keystone183 Wrote:I am almost to the point now that i'd rather buy 3 or 4 budget barrels, find the best shooting one, and resell the others. And then be money ahead of having a very expensive blank chambered and then disappoint me.
Key,
I agree with that logic, providing the cost adds up.
I once had a conversation with a national Bench Rest champion who is also a gunsmith. He was talking about how international competitive shooters buy 10 barrels for the season and end up keeping two. Another gunsmith who also competes admitted he buys his barrels in bulk and spins them in a lathe looking for shadows down the pipe. He keeps the brightest ones (least shadows) for himself and sells the rest to his customers.
A Faxon might be $330 whereas a Lilja is $510. Even if you bought them one at a time rather than all at once, what are the odds of getting a Faxon that shoots, or a Lilja that doesn't? No doubt there's ammunition, time and frustration in that as well. I don't have the definitive answer but I imagine best-barrels win as there's not a huge difference in cost. But, if Faxons were $100 each I'd be lining up outside their shop waiting for them to open.