Preferred barrel blanks - REVIEWS?

#4
I have a Uintah bolt action AR 6mm ARC that has one of their barrels, shoot .5 to .75 MOA without much effort. I had mine nitrided by H&M Metal Processing to extend it's life after I got it broke in. You won't go wrong with one of their barrels. They were formally Match Grade Machine.
 
#5
I had a 20” 308 barrel in their .900 taper less contour with a spiral flute pre fit for a Kelby Atlas Lite. It shot .5 moa with 178gr ELD-X and I felt it was a good balance of diameter and weight. For the price I wouldn’t hesitate to buy again.
 
#7
Put a shouldered prefit carbon wrapped 24" 6.5PRC on a defiance anti for my dad. It's in an ALG carbon stock with a tbac ultra 5 on it.

It shoots. It's his long range hunting rifle, it took a handful of loads to get it shooting sub .5moa with eld-x and he has left well enough alone.
 
#9
I love their barrels and am about to place another order with them for a short 8.6 build. Good quality, great communication, and the barrel is dead to nuts.

They do a pretty sick spiral flute if you’re into it as well.

Overall, no complaints from here. 🤙🏼

6CM Terminus QC. Sub MOA with hand loads and no POI shift on barrel swaps.
IMG_6966.jpeg
 
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#10
O
Screach said:
I love their barrels and am about to place another order with them for a short 8.6 build. Good quality, great communication, and the barrel is dead to nuts.

They do a pretty sick spiral flute if you’re into it as well.

Overall, no complaints from here. 🤙🏼

6CM Terminus QC. Sub MOA with hand loads and no POI shift on barrel swaps.
View attachment 8582125
Click to expand...
Are you going to go 3tw ?
I’m just about to order a Defiance pre fit for a dedicated subsonic for the Maker 350Rex
 
#12
Screach said:
Im on the fence I will probably go with a 1:3 but I’ve heard people having issues with the 1:3 trying to run supers which I would like to be able to do.
Click to expand...
I’ve just talked to Paul the guy at Maker that made the 350Rex and he also said he’s not a huge fan of the 3tw and says the 350 will expand fine out of a 5 and 6tw so that’s what I’ll go with
 
#14
I purchased a 7PRC barrel and Kelbly action from them in 2023. Communication was great from start to finish. They will take time to answer questions on the phone if necessary. It shoots Hornady factory ammo .5” all day, which is good enough for my purposes. They’re good to go in my book.
 
#15
Old Man with Gun said:
I noticed when my barrel shipped to me the UPS account was MGM, I wondered if they were the same or subcontractor.
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MGM = Match Grade Machine, I believe.
If memory serves, they changed their name several years back.
Regardless, they are great. Bryce takes time to answer questions on the phone. Comms via email will update you anytime the barrel moves through the process.
I have a 30-06AI Tikka shouldered barrel from them that is a joy to shoot. Yesterday I placed an order for a 300 HAM’R Nucleus prefit for my boy.
 
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#16
I recently bought a 26" full bull 7mm PRC barrel from Preferred Barrel Blanks and installed it on a Kelbly Prometheus action. After testing it with Go and No-Go gauges from Pacific Tool and Gauge, the bolt closed easily. However, the bolt wouldn't close with the Field Gauge, which suggests there might be too much slop in the headspace. So far, PBB has been great with communication and has asked me to send both the barrel and action back to them. They mentioned that if they find any issues, they'd reimburse me for the shipping costs. just waiting to see what they find at the moment. Has anyone else had this issue?
 
#17
@ShowMeMile2024 that sucks to learn that. Please keep us advised.

Fwiw, when I was checking the 30-06AI barrel mentioned above, the bolt also closed on a PT&G no-go gauge (which was a standard 30-06 go gauge, being it was an AI chamber).
Long story short, the 30-06 go (aka 30-06AI no go) was out of spec. I discovered this, spoke to PT&G, who was suspicious, and sent the gauge back to them. Weeks later, they sent me a good gauge, a tacit acknowldgement that they F’d up.
But PT&G didn’t bother to reimburse the shipping charges I incurred to send one of their bad products back to them.

Sorry this is long winded. All that is to say, check your gauges with a comparator, too. And kudos to PBB for offering to reimburse you if the fault is theirs.
 
#18
Regarding PBB's barrels, I can say that I know several people running their barrel blanks chambered by a local guy and they are stellar. A lot of PRS regional matches have been won by them, and no one's sponsored by them. My .223 barrel cut from a PBB was incredibly accurate and consistent. I'm getting my next barrel cut from one of their blanks as soon as it arrives at the smith.

As to prefits... I don't trust anyone's prefits. I've known too many people who've had out of center chambers, dasher chambers finished by a BR finished reamer, conservative loaded bartleins cut on a CNC crapping out at ~900 rounds, etc., and these are coming from reputable smiths, and from Proof Research itself. I'm sticking with traditional lathe cut chambers from a smith who'll stand by his work.
 
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#19
PBB recently built me a Carbon pre-fit for a Definace action chambered in 6x45. I sent them a dummy round so they could set the freebore much longer. The barrel has been great. Not one bit of copper fouling, easy to clean and super accurate. They got the freebore perfect and the headspace is within .001 of the barrels I’ve had done by my local smith.

IMG_3220.jpeg
 
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#21
6x45 said:
PBB recently built me a Carbon pre-fit for a Definace action chambered in 6x45. I sent them a dummy round so they could set the freebore much longer. The barrel has been great. Not one bit of copper fouling, easy to clean and super accurate. They got the freebore perfect and the headspace is within .001 of the barrels I’ve had done by my local smith.

View attachment 8611049
Click to expand...
Love that nightstalker. Who did the paint?
 
#22
I used PBB when the new ARC CDG came out. It's a 6 BR prefit and overall my expectations were high given the caliber. Handloads are typically sub-MOA but rarely will they be <0.5 MOA, even with the standard load of 30.0 grains of Varget. Today, I tried Vihtavouri 540 30.0rgrs at 300 yards with Berger 105 and 108, Hornady 103ELD-VT and 108ELD and 105 Match BTHP. Velos were 2770-2820 but the best group was 1.6" while the 108 ELD, which the chamber is throated for, shot horrendous, 4.5". The groups were the average of 2x5 shot. I blame the swirling 5mph wind and my skill more than the barrel but again, it's a 6BR. I believe PBB is a good value and I would consider again, but not a prefit.
 
#24
Screach said:
Im on the fence I will probably go with a 1:3 but I’ve heard people having issues with the 1:3 trying to run supers which I would like to be able to do.
Click to expand...
All copper supers are no issue in the 3 twist 8.6. I have about 2000 rounds of supers through multiple guns now not one issue. If you want more info I can post up a lot of pics and load data. We’ve shot over 36 white tails with super loads now in 12” guns.
 
#25
rothgyr said:
Regarding PBB's barrels, I can say that I know several people running their barrel blanks chambered by a local guy and they are stellar. A lot of PRS regional matches have been won by them, and no one's sponsored by them. My .223 barrel cut from a PBB was incredibly accurate and consistent. I'm getting my next barrel cut from one of their blanks as soon as it arrives at the smith.

As to prefits... I don't trust anyone's prefits. I've known too many people who've had out of center chambers, dasher chambers finished by a BR finished reamer, conservative loaded bartleins cut on a CNC crapping out at ~900 rounds, etc., and these are coming from reputable smiths, and from Proof Research itself. I'm sticking with traditional lathe cut chambers from a smith who'll stand by his work.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the insight. I suspect it's probably the gauges that are wrong and then I will have to deal with
buckleboy said:
@ShowMeMile2024 that sucks to learn that. Please keep us advised.

Fwiw, when I was checking the 30-06AI barrel mentioned above, the bolt also closed on a PT&G no-go gauge (which was a standard 30-06 go gauge, being it was an AI chamber).
Long story short, the 30-06 go (aka 30-06AI no go) was out of spec. I discovered this, spoke to PT&G, who was suspicious, and sent the gauge back to them. Weeks later, they sent me a good gauge, a tacit acknowldgement that they F’d up.
But PT&G didn’t bother to reimburse the shipping charges I incurred to send one of their bad products back to them.

Sorry this is long winded. All that is to say, check your gauges with a comparator, too. And kudos to PBB for offering to reimburse you if the fault is theirs.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the insight! I’m guessing the issue is with the gauges, so I’ll probably have to go through PT&G like you did. PBB has been fantastic, though, and PBB's service has been really responsive.
 
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#27
ShowMeMile2024 said:
I recently bought a 26" full bull 7mm PRC barrel from Preferred Barrel Blanks and installed it on a Kelbly Prometheus action. After testing it with Go and No-Go gauges from Pacific Tool and Gauge, the bolt closed easily. However, the bolt wouldn't close with the Field Gauge, which suggests there might be too much slop in the headspace. So far, PBB has been great with communication and has asked me to send both the barrel and action back to them. They mentioned that if they find any issues, they'd reimburse me for the shipping costs. just waiting to see what they find at the moment. Has anyone else had this issue?
Click to expand...
PT&G was the issue, the no-go gauge was 10 thousandth off of the stated correct size

20 FEB 2025 Update - Throughout this process, PBB has been fantastic. We discovered that the No-Go Gauge was misaligned with the state's dimensions by over 0.005 inches. I received the barrel and action back yesterday and completed the build. Now, it's time to contact PT&G about the gauge discrepancy and see their response. Here are a few pictures of the build. For anyone reading this, PBB has been excellent throughout this entire process, maintaining great communication.
 

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#28
ShowMeMile2024 said:
PT&G was the issue, the no-go gauge was 10 thousandth off of the stated correct size
Click to expand...
Now that’s not encouraging.

I have a few of their Go-No Go sets that I’ve been relying on for years.
I guess I’ll be looking up the proper SAAMI dimensions and confirming that they are all correct.

To be honest I rarely use the No-Go. I typically use the go and 2 layers of Kapton tape which puts my No Go at 0.0024” above the Go gauge.
 
#31
Ordered a 280AI 22 inch prefit barrel the other day for a Kelbly Prometheus. The guy I talked to on the phone was a great help and led me in a different direction to try a taperless barrel. Looking forward to working it out in 10-12 weeks.
 
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#34
Screach said:
I love their barrels and am about to place another order with them for a short 8.6 build. Good quality, great communication, and the barrel is dead to nuts.

They do a pretty sick spiral flute if you’re into it as well.

Overall, no complaints from here. 🤙🏼

6CM Terminus QC. Sub MOA with hand loads and no POI shift on barrel swaps.
View attachment 8582125
Click to expand...
Barrel contour?
 
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