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| Peace through superior firepower  |
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| Peace through superior firepower |
Don't tell me no one here has heard of Gene Barnett. | |||
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I have, but, with all my searching last night I found nothing that brings his status. Depressingly I did find an obit, that I hope is not him. Since I only know his name by reputation I did not have a conclusive answer and did not want to post skewed information. | |||
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I have heard his name mentioned in connection with rifling work he did for the military but thats all I know. End of Earth: 2 Miles Upper Peninsula: 4 Miles | |||
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secure the Blessings of Liberty |
Bat Masterson?  | |||
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It's been a long time since I've heard that name. I think he was associated with Douglas Barrels. Could be wrong. | |||
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| Peace through superior firepower |
Well, that's why I ask. In 2000, I had Gene turn a Douglas barrel for me- M14, medium weight, twisted 1:11. The late Hook Boutin was going to assemble a rifle for me, but back then, I couldn't get a proper receiver to use (Boutin refused to work on Chinese M14 receivers, the Smith receivers were unobtanium, and the SA, Inc receivers were out of spec.) The barrel has been sitting unused for nearly 22 years. Never mounted, pristine. I'm just trying to get an idea of what it's worth. I have all the paperwork from Douglas and from Barnett showing the work done and showing the barrel was shipped directly from Douglas to Barnett. I know Krieger barrels are supposed to be top-notch for the M-14, but if Gene is no longer working, this would be the barrel for some nostalgic M-14 owner. I hear that Gene's later barrels were left in the white, but when I bought this barrel, he was still bluing them. This thing needs a good home, and not sitting in a parts bin in my closet. BTW, when Hook Boutin asked me the twist rate and I told him, he said "One in eleven!" For some reason, he really liked that. I told him I chose 1:11 because it split the difference between the 1:10 Kriegers and the 1:12 GI barrels. | |||
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always with a hat or sunscreen |
Why not reach out to benny6 for an answer as he is our resident M1A / M14 expert? Certifiable member of the gun toting, septuagenarian, bucket list workin', crazed retiree, bald is beautiful club! USN (RET), COTEP #192 | |||
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| Peace through superior firepower |
Yeah, I talked to him a while back about it. The thing is, since it's a vintage barrel and Barnett seems to be working no longer, it's difficult to place a value on the barrel. | |||
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| always with a hat or sunscreen |
Looks like he's been retired in Tenessee for quite some time. Wish I could be of more help on valuation Mike. Found this from a Shotgun News 2015 article. https://www.thefreelibrary.com...+Part+2.-a0434412417 "Back before the era of the black rifle in NRA High-power competition when .30 caliber service rifles were the only game in town, top competitors relied on barrels turned out by Gene Barnett from Douglas air-gauged blanks. Mr. Barnett was a Tennessee Air Guardsman who worked full time at the National Guard Marksmanship Training Unit when it was based outside Nashville. I have a memory from 30 years ago of Gene laboring over a lathe in the machine shop at the NGMTU producing award-winning M14 match barrels. In his own shop at home he also produced .30-06 and .308 Garand barrels which were marketed through Brownell's for a time. It has been said by people much more knowledgeable than myself that he knew more about Ml and M14 barrels than any other man alive. But, alas, Mr. Barnett has retired and due to my chronic lack of foresight I never bought a pile of his barrels for future contingencies." Certifiable member of the gun toting, septuagenarian, bucket list workin', crazed retiree, bald is beautiful club! USN (RET), COTEP #192 | |||
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Thanks for confirming. My memory isn't as bad as I feared. (Youth is wasted on the young.) When I was shooting High Power with a .308 target rifle, the twist I used was 1:11.25. When I switched over to F-Class in 2006, my F-TR rifle had a 1:11.25 Bartlein. It shot the 180 JLKs very well at 32 inches. When I built my current rifle, the first barrel was 1:10, the subsequent barrels have a faster twist for the longer bullets. | |||
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| Peace through superior firepower |
Yeah, I figured 1:11 would be a fast enough twist, but perhaps offer slightly less barrel wear than 1:10, and I had no intention of shooting heavier bullets with it. I don't know if a faster twist rate correlates to faster barrel wear. That may just be an old wives' tale, but I believed it at the time I ordered this barrel. What do you think on value? It seems to me that this barrel, being vintage unused, by someone with the reputation of Gene Barnett, might have a value on par with the similar, current Krieger offerings today, though not all potential buyers would appreciate it for what it is. | |||
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You are correct, 1:11 is perfect for your needs. The M14 doesn't like longer (heavier) bullets than 175gr or so. The op-rod is not geared for heavier bullets. When I buy a Krieger, they cost me about $400-$450 a piece. (I buy in pairs.) You are totally correct with your last statement, not everyone would appreciate it for what it is. So value is going to be in the eye of the buyer. I would think that between $400 and $500 may be something. Douglas barrels are not on par with Krieger and similar, and if the buyer doesn't know about Barnett... You might want to look at the competition forums and see what they think. usrifleteams.com thecmp.org I'm sure you know of those and others. Sorry I can't be of more help, that world is far in my past. | |||
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| Peace through superior firepower |
Thanks for your input. I won't be asking members of other forums, as this would require me to join, and therefore, I would be doing exactly what I tell members I do not wish to see in this forum. I think I have enough information now to price the barrel appropriately. Your estimate coincides with one I received previously from someone quite knowledgeable about the M14. | |||
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| You have cow? I lift cow! |
I'm no authority on this, but my Krieger was mid 400s. I think what you have would be desirable for a number of different reasons to the M14 guys. Builds with Gene's name on them seem to command a premium. I'd agree with Nikon, the mid 4s up to 500 wouldn't be out of line for this. Especially with the paperwork you can provide. I'd imagine it would sell fast if the right guys from the M14 world see it. On the extreme end they might get into a bidding war over it. | |||
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Understood. I don't think you would get any better information there anyway. It was fun waking up some old neurons about this stuff. Wow, it's been a long time. I just found a program for a big match I went to a year after I started competing. It's dated 1982. | |||
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| Peace through superior firepower |
Music to my ears, Pete! Well, if you don't mind, spread the word to anyone you know who might want it and have them contact me if they're interested in buying. ____________________________________________________ "I am your retribution." - Donald Trump, speech at CPAC, March 4, 2023 | |||
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| You have cow? I lift cow! |
I'm curious to see what Tony has to say, too. He's forgotten more about the M14 than I'll ever know. But I have a feeling it will have no trouble finding a new home. | |||
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| Peace through superior firepower |
His assessment was the same as NikonUser's. And then, there's this, which will probably go, too:  I'm thinking that's 3K worth of rifle. What do you think, Pete? ____________________________________________________ "I am your retribution." - Donald Trump, speech at CPAC, March 4, 2023 | |||
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| You have cow? I lift cow! |
I've seen you post that in the past. Beauty. Not knowing all the particulars, but assuming from your taste it's all high quality, 3K should be no problem. That sucker will drop some jaws. In this crazy market/world I'm sure you could list it higher, and for all I know it would go. I'm not exactly sure of the rarity of that stock and the shorter barrel config you have it in. But I rarely ever see it. This rifle has that same rarity factor as the barrel so it has that X factor for collectors and/or nostalgia. The flash hider reminds me of something off a LaFrance gun. | |||
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