Prefit barrels...I will need a new barrel for my 243 soon(ish), I was thinking of a prefit remage barrel.
Who’s a good company?
What else should I get with it?
Is a gunsmith just installing a new barrel just as good?

I shoot about 300-500 rounds thru my R700 243 for target...haven’t hunted in 5years or so....so this will be a barrel that may last five to six years or more before the throat burns out....but prices aren’t getting lower and I was thinking of buying one now.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: MikeinNC,

I looked into it before I ended up getting a short chamber prefit for my 308 on clearance. I swapped that out and cut the chamber myself by hand using a reamer and handle from 4D Rentals (rented the action wrench and go/no go gauges too). Total cost including the barrel was somewhere in the low $400's.

How pricey do you want to get?

Criterion makes the barrels for the Northland kits. Criterion makes some damned good barrels.

Crown Ridge makes a pretty good one too, I'm told. The guy who talked me into my competition rifle had a .260 Remington barrel from them and liked it, but it wasn't as good as a proper shouldered barrel in a custom action (in his case, he landed on a Defiance action with a Hart barrel I believe).

What range are you shooting at? We're shooting mostly at 600-1000+ yards.

Alternatively, if you're not going balls-to-the-wall performance wise, Midway has a 25" stainless Shilen 243 barrel in a standard contour for $389. ETA is July, though.

I only compete in USPSA-pistols....I have about 1800 rounds thru this factory barrel and I know they only go 2000-2500 with the 243 due to the caliber. I only use it for target at the range out to 500.

I have been toying with the thought of changing it to 6mmBR but then I have heard they don’t feed well thru magazines...and I have my rifle in a element chassis that uses ASICS mags. With that in mind I’ll probably leave it 243. So I don’t need the best of the best, of the best, SIR! With honors.

I don’t have a barrel wrench either, but I figured to take off the old barrel I could use some wood blocks in the vise and hold 5e receiver and just wrench off the old barrel-doesn’t matter if it gets jacked up. And I’d likely buy a spammer for the remage barrel nut. Already have a 308 go & no go gages.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
I only compete in USPSA-pistols....I have about 1800 rounds thru this factory barrel and I know they only go 2000-2500 with the 243 due to the caliber. I only use it for target at the range out to 500.

I have been toying with the thought of changing it to 6mmBR but then I have heard they don’t feed well thru magazines...and I have my rifle in a element chassis that uses ASICS mags. With that in mind I’ll probably leave it 243. So I don’t need the best of the best, of the best, SIR! With honors.

I don’t have a barrel wrench either, but I figured to take off the old barrel I could use some wood blocks in the vise and hold 5e receiver and just wrench off the old barrel-doesn’t matter if it gets jacked up. And I’d likely buy a spammer for the remage barrel nut. Already have a 308 go & no go gages.

My method is to use a barrel until the group blows up to unacceptable and is often much longer than a lot of stated barrel life commentary
A bit different I know, but had a match conditioned M1 years ago that would swallow a bore erosion gauge the little angled handle would literally bounce of the receiver when you put it in, and that rifle still showed groups capable of a clean 600 yard score for a couple years ( at around 200 rounds a month) before it finally gave up