Pac Nor Barrels

[Pointman308]

I've been looking into Pac Nor prefit barrels for my Savage. Does anyone have experience with the these barrels? I want to put one on my Savage .308 in HS Precision flavor. I want the contour to be as close to the m24/m40 contour as possible. Any feedback is appreciated.

 

[millbastard]

I dont own one but any good after market barrel from a reputable maker that's shorter and fatter; should give better accuracy results (less harmonics).

 

[shoot4fun]

I have owned and shot several and can honestly say PacNor makes and sells high quality barrels. You would be happy with the purchase.

 

[Beyschaefer]

Our local Hunter Benchrest group was using mostly Pac Nor barrels to win national titles a decade ago... (then they all got bored and moved on to other sports).
I was lucky enough to tour their shop when I picked up a barrel I ordered in person. Nice folks, certainly seem to know what they're doin'!
I haven't gotten top-notch accuracy out of the rifle I put the Pac-Nor barrel on, but it has other problems not related to the barrel.... (bedding, mostly... and can't afford to have it redone right now.)

 

[ertlonggun]

I have had two rifles built in the last 2 years using Pac-Nor barrels, a 6.5x55 Swede and a 338 Lapua. The 6.5 is a soild .25 MOA shooter, and still playing with the 338 loads currently between .50 and .75 MOA. Both are 30" long and I love them.
I am having another 6.5 Swede done in 22" long for hunting/packing

 

[Temp9]

Honestly, I'd take a good hard look at Criterion barrels for the price. I'd go that route if I had to do it over again.

Remember that the barrel cylinder (widest point near the recoil lug) on a Savage is 1.05" vs 1.20" or something for a Remington. This means many heavier barreled Savage barrels pretty much look like straight cylinders. For example, my #7 Pac-Nor contour hardly tapers at all because it starts significantly thinner to begin with. You won't be able to really match an M40 contour while using the barrel nut. Picture of the #7 with a barrel nut:

 

[MarinePMI]

Have a Pac-Nor 3 groove 6.5 Creedmoor barrel here. Top notch (>.5 MOA) accuracy and easy to clean...

 

[Pointman308]

So a 1.20 cannot be installed on a Savage? This was one of my concerns as I'm considering replacing my barrel.

 

[lte82]

Honestly, I'd take a good hard look at Criterion barrels for the price. I'd go that route if I had to do it over again.

Remember that the barrel cylinder (widest point near the recoil lug) on a Savage is 1.05" vs 1.20" or something for a Remington. This means many heavier barreled Savage barrels pretty much look like straight cylinders. For example, my #7 Pac-Nor contour hardly tapers at all because it starts significantly thinner to begin with. You won't be able to really match an M40 contour while using the barrel nut. Picture of the #7 with a barrel nut:

Nice rifle!

Savage small shanks are 1.05 but the large shanks on the target actions are 1.2 or so. I have a Criterion barrel in my safe in 6.5 creedmoor for my savage 12 lrp by the way. Is it just price that would make you pick the cbi barrel or quality as well? I havent shot mine yet so Im just curious.

 

[Temp9]

Pointman308,

Like LTE82 said, the small shank actions using barrel nuts are limited to 1.05", large shank are limited to 1.12". I'm not positive if it's possible to find a large shank short action, or how easy it is to find a large shank in general. Your other options is to have a full sized (1.2") barrel installed similar to a Remington, bypassing the barrel nut altogether. At that point, I would say just get a Remington to begin with.

LTE82,

Thanks! It's a combination of price and certain issues that could have been avoided, which delayed my project significantly. I'm hesitant to get into too much detail, because I don't want to bash Pac-Nor. I will say that they didn't charge me for the fix and paid shipping both ways when I had to send the barrel back, but the 3 month delay on the entire project for what should've been a simple fix, along with the manner in which certain things were handled, left a bit of a sour taste for me. The barrel shoots on par with any other high quality button barreled rifle (~.5MOA), but I personally have been turned off to Pac-Nor. I still think they're a great company, and would have no qualms about buying a pre-made Pac-Nor, but I will avoid ordering direct from them from here on out. Just a single case bad experience, I guess, as most people rave about their customer service.

I'm sure your barrel will shoot great.

 

[Hawk45]

Good barrels and lots of options. Have had a few and worked very well. I just hit them up the other day and they are currently at 12-14 week lead times.

 

[BoilerUP]

You can run an M40 contour on your Savage...if you run it shouldered without a nut, like a Remington.

Which means gunsmith fees to install/chamber the barrel, which defeats the whole purpose of a Savage rifle in the first place.

Not sure what a M40 contour gives one that a Savage Bull contour does not, other than a slightly fatter tenon area.

 

[Pointman308]

I'm just a little bit worried about weight cause I do pack the rifle around a bit in my eberlestock.

 

[Temp9]

You do realize that the M40/M24 contour is one of the heaviest commonly used contours, right? Far heavier than pretty much any factory target contour. In fact, a Savage bull/straight cylinder would be lighter than the M40 contour.

 

[Pointman308]

I do realize it's heavier than my factory barrel but it will be lighter than a bull barrel from say Shilen barrels

 

[BoilerUP]

Savage Bull contour is the heaviest you can run with a barrel nut...and it is lighter than M24/M40 contour.

 

[Pointman308]

okay thank you boiler you've answered me on a couple of different forums and you're making sense to me now I think I will go the bull route

 

[Pointman308]

hey boiler would you go stainless steel or chrome moly

 

[BoilerUP]

I would spend my money on stainless.