I just got word that the company I'm purchasing my 22lr upper from now has an upgrade from the standard 16" Shaw barrel to a Walther-Lothar barrel.

I believe the cost difference will be slightly north of $100.

Apparently, the W-L barrels are german engineered to super-tight tolerances, which will help with performance/accuracy. But, the company hasn't had a chance to field test the difference between the two barrels yet.

The shop believes there will be a significant upgrade in quality and said it's worth the upgrade.

I'd like some feedback in the meantime if anyone has experience with either barrel or general advice.

Thanks!

I have no idea, however I do know that to take advantage of a super accurate .22 barrel, you will need to always shoot the "expensive" ammo. Heck some of the cheap ammo wont even chamber or feed properly into the tight chambers of match quality barrels nor would you want to as it would probably ruin the barrel accuracy of lead match ammo later. None of the $9.99/500 wally world ammo need apply. In addition, unless you also will generally need match target sights, trigger, etc.

If you have everything else to take advantage of a more accurate barrel, then why not spend the extra cash. If you don't, then you will probably get a bigger bang out of your buck with stuff like adjustable diopter sights, trigger, etc.

Uh oh...Let me do some digging into this. But, that is not good news!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by Robanna:
Uh oh...Let me do some digging into this. But, that is not good news!!!!

It just depends on your application. If you are a pure accuracy target shooter, then you don't use cheap ammo, nor blast cheap ammo through your match barrel, regardless of whether the crap ammo feeds fine or not.

If you just want a fun gun, then a barrel blasting thousands of cheapo Wally World ammo does not need a match level tightness. Reliability with crap ammo is more important.

Either way, since you mentioned, "upper", you would be coming from a disadvantage from real dedicated match level .22 rifles anyway so I doubt you'd be at any competiion level anyway even if you make an upper/lower combination that is super accurate.

I cant speak for the WL bbls but I bought a Shaw 308 Rem 700 bbl for a project about 2 years ago and was very disappointed. I bought it b/c it was inexpensive. I wasn't sure if it was the bbl or if it was me until I replaced it with a Mike Rock bbl which made a huge difference. It could have been a one-off but that was my experience. 22lr bbls might be a different story though. Good luck.

Lothar Walther makes very high quality barrels, used by many custom riflesmiths. They're definitely worth the extra money.

Lothar Walther is (maybe was) one of the Accuracy International's supplier. Many builders also use them. I would not hesitate one bit.

It's old news. If you expect match accuracy from a match barrel, you cannot expect to shoot a surplus ammo and get 1/4 MOA.

The worst money you spend is money you spend on something that wasn't what you really wanted.

If you want a target grade barrel spend the extra 100 or so and get what you really want..................................DJ

quote:

Originally posted by Robanna:
Uh oh...Let me do some digging into this. But, that is not good news!!!!

Hmmm... Spike's Tactical? I have a 5.5" upper with the Shaw barrel. For anything I'm ever going to feed it, it is more accurate than myself and the ammo. I have shot CCI mini-mags through it that produced 1" groups at 50 yards. IMHO the Walter barrel is a waste of money. I don't think the ST-22 is meant to be a target rifle and therefore you don't need a target barrel. If you want a bench rifle get a bench rifle, if you want a fun plinker, get a plinker. Mixing the two will likely give a very expensive combination that will likely not give the performance of either one of the categories.

If you want a Ferrari, you're going to have to fuel it with expensive gas. If you want a daily driver, you can feed it whatever you want, it just may not be able to take advantage of the more expensive gas.

"Lothar, of the hill people"

quote:

Originally posted by Sig_Owner_P229:
Hmmm... Spike's Tactical?

Sig: Yep, it's Spikes. Actually, they have not billed this out as a match barrel, just a top-quality barrel with tight tolerances. I've asked Tom at Spikes about the ammo question. He's going to do a range report for the WL barrel and will post the results on the AR15 forum using a variety of ammo.

I'm really glad you're liking the Spikes .22. I would be plinking mostly and would want the benefit of using cheaper ammo. If that's not going to work in the WL barrel, then I'll probably get the Shaw.

Thanks all for the input guys.

quote:

Originally posted by Robanna:

quote:

Originally posted by Sig_Owner_P229:
Hmmm... Spike's Tactical?

Sig: Yep, it's Spikes. Actually, they have not billed this out as a match barrel, just a top-quality barrel with tight tolerances. I've asked Tom at Spikes about the ammo question. He's going to do a range report for the WL barrel and will post the results on the AR15 forum using a variety of ammo.

I'm really glad you're liking the Spikes .22. I would be plinking mostly and would want the benefit of using cheaper ammo. If that's not going to work in the WL barrel, then I'll probably get the Shaw.

Thanks all for the input guys.

The cheaper ammo may work in the Walther barrels, but accuracy won't be much better IMHO. You will have to feed it expensive ammo to see the difference. To me the shaw is good enough. I'd rather buy another gun than spend the money on a barrel that likely won't change a single thing with the ammo I'm feeding it. However, if money is no object, I'm sure the Walther barrel is slightly better. But if money is no object then you're also more likely to feed it ammo that will make a difference in the different barrels.

quote:

Originally posted by Cruiser133:
"Lothar, of the hill people"

Cruiser, I'm glad I'm not the only one to think of the old SNL skit.