Re: Palma counour vs. Varmint
Hi all, we normally don't have much time here to respond to threads on internet forums, but this thread was brout to our attention by several customers and they though some of the quotes here needed to be addressed by us.
We have never said that our light contours WON'T shoot accurately, in fact many people with simple hunting rifles with our #0 Featherweight contour on their rifle have reported superb accuracy. It is certainly more dificult to find a load or fine tune one to work accurately in a light barrel as the harmonics of firing a cartridge will affect a light barrel more so than a heavy one. Our statement has always been that it is easier to get smaller groups from a heavier barrel. The customer simply has to weigh the pro's and con's of a heavy rigid barrel vs. a light portable one. "Light" and "Heavy" are relative terms when it comes to a barrel. I consider a #2 sporter a 'light' contour, where someone building a mountain rifle would still consider that too heavy. A 'Heavy' barrel for NRA High-Power where a shooter has to fire the rifle off hand or from sling positions with no support other than his arm, may not be heavy at all for an F-Class rifle shooting fron a front and rear rest.
To answer some of the quotes by the representitive from Bartlein Barrels...
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Frank Green</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Krieger recommending they're #5 as a min. for accuracy is a new one? When did that start? Not when we worked there.
If that where the case than the #5 sporter is only a tad lighter than a Rem. varmint. So what is the difference. </div></div>
We do not recomend a #5 as a 'Minimum' to get accuracy out of. It IS a minimum listed contour that we will produce for .30 cal and 7mm in stainless steel. This has been the minimum contour for these calibers in SS since long before and since you worked here Frank.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Frank Green</div><div class="ubbcode-body">It just hit me as to why. Krieger is charging extra for turning in lighter weight contours. They could be charging extra because it does take a little longer (we didn't charge extra for a regular sporter contour when we worked there)or....read the next line.
My initial guess is they are having a higher reject rate due to bows and the difficulty of contouring a smaller barrel.
This would explain why just recently they made smaller contours an up charge now.
If this is the reason why it could be a couple of things. The steel or problems in finish turning.
Later, Frank</div></div>
Up until this year we had never charged for the smaller sporter contours. We also had not changed our barrel prices for most calibers in over 5 years. John Krieger felt the need to add a nominal extra fee ($20.00) to make a barrel contour smaller than a #3 for a couple reasons. There is more time invested in turning a #2 than there is in turning a #17 Heavy Varmint. We make both of these blanks from the same piece of 1.312" stock. Removing more material simply takes more time. We could have certainly charged $1.00 more for every contour step we went down if we were going to be 'fair' about the extra time involved with removing more material, but John felt we only needed to do this on the very light sporters. Ask any barrel maker, they will tell you it is more dificult and more time consuming to make a light barrel out of a heavy blank. If they tell you otherwise, they are not telling the truth.
If we are having a higher reject rate due to bows on the smaller contours, it is not a perceptable percentage. Any contour or size barrel has the potential to bow in turning, even an 1.250" straight blank, but we just do not have a high percentage of these.
There is NO problem with our steel. We have been buying our steel from the same mill's for years and years. They make a melt to our proprietary specifications whenever we order because we have the ability to order large quantities of steel at one time. Several local barrel makers buy steel <span style="text-decoration: underline">from us</span>for this very reason, they just cannot get exactly what they want straight from the mill without burdening themselves with extreme amounts of inventory. If I remember correctly, our steel was certainly good enough for you to want to purchase it from us.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Frank Green</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I'll bust his chops at Shot Show next week!
Later, Frank </div></div>
No need to discuss any of this with me at the S.H.O.T. show next week Frank. Our policies on quality and recomendations to customers will not change because of it. If any customers or potential customers would like to follow up on this thread with any questions, please feel free to call us directly. You can ask any of the tech's in our office your questions and will get the same answers from all of us.
Arguing on the internet is mostly a hopless act. I simply wanted to clear up some of the talk that was being posted on our behalf that was incorrect or misleading.
Thank you for your time and Happy Shooting!
Mike Hinrichs
Tech Support
262-628-8558
Krieger Barrels