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A1 6PPC rebarrel advice

Sako Collectors Club Discussion Forum

dgeesaman

Well-Known Member
I have two of these rifles. I've intentionally been shooting one of them much more than the other, and with nearly 2000 shots through it and accuracy getting more difficult to acheive, I figure it's time to get the replacement barrel on order.

Open to advice on any of these topics:

Accuflite: it's costly to get a rebarrelling, but you get testing and an accuracy guarantee. He talks up his product and his reputation is good, but I'm not sure it's worth the cost of two barrels.

Custom barrel: Lilja, Krieger, Shilen, Bartlein, Hart, etc, etc. If you see a Sako for sale with one of these barrels in stainless steel, do you discount the value?

Have you ever had a stainless barrel treated to be a closer match to the factory blued receiver? If so, what process do you recommend?

Thanks,

David
 
Typically, a fall off in accuracy is generally due to fouling. While the 2K round count is up there I wouldn't just leap to the conclusion that the barrel is shot out. Try doing a really thorough cleaning and then inspect the barrel to see if you can see additional crud in it. Unless you are really hot loading the rounds I have some doubts about the need to get a new tube installed.

Just my 2 cents worth.

rick
 
That was my first concern, so I bought a borescope. (I know, please hear me out). I could not find any fouling or carbon ring or other such stuff. I see a few spots of firecracking. I don't see any more fouling. I alternate bronze brushes and pro-shot patches with a bore guide and Hoppe's #9. Occasionally I run Sweets 7.62 for copper. My loads have been between 25.5 and 27 grains of LT-32 andor H-322.

At my current pace I'll hit 3k rounds in six months, so I don't think it's too early to put a custom barrel on order (with their 3 month lead time). I can always hang on to it until next year.
 
Any of the top tier barrels you mention are known for their quality. My choice is usually Hart. My gunsmith of choice is Bob Green in York, Pa. Bob does top notch work and is reasonable.
It has been my experience that with the number of rounds you mention the throat has probably moved a bit forward. Lengthening your loads a bit very well may restore accuracy for another couple of thousand rounds.
Good luck,
Rick
 
Last rebarrel I did I just sent the barrelled action to the barrel maker. Never heard of a six month order time before. Wow, things must have changed recently. I had them match the contour of my old barrel when they installed the new barrel, so it dropped in my factory stock. Took about 5 weeks, but turn around time varies from maker to maker & how busy they are at that time. Can't imagine a barrel blank bored to caliber would take six months to get to a smith to install & chamber. I used Pac-Nor on my last barrel job, but some of the others you mentioned will do custom contouring as well. I've done a lot of barrels over the years & at least for me, having the barrel maker install the barrel is the most efficient way from a time & cost standpoint. Plus they will stand behind their install. Good Luck!!
 
I agree with Rick and Paulson on this one - some targeted cleaning with a more agressive copper cleaner, combined with trying your loads with the projectiles edged out a little longer, might just do the trick.

I think you won't go wrong with a custom stainless barrel from any of the listed top makers - the market is so competitive they can't afford to make sub-standard barrels. I have a Pacnor on my .20-222 that shoots very well, and an Australian Tobler on my .223 that has shot somewhere in excess of 5000 rounds and still shoots well.

Marcus
 
Any of the top tier barrels you mention are known for their quality. My choice is usually Hart. My gunsmith of choice is Bob Green in York, Pa. Bob does top notch work and is reasonable.
It has been my experience that with the number of rounds you mention the throat has probably moved a bit forward. Lengthening your loads a bit very well may restore accuracy for another couple of thousand rounds.
Good luck,
Rick

Bob will probably be the smith in fact. He’s only an hour from me.

The throat on these starts long and of course it gets longer. At this point about the only target round I can sensibly get to touch is a 70SMK with 3/16” engagement. I’m shooting with jump in nearly all cases, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it limits my loading options.

I realize six months isn’t very soon. I have a custom rifle project in mind and will be ordering a barrel for that as well.

David
 
I have two of these rifles. I've intentionally been shooting one of them much more than the other, and with nearly 2000 shots through it and accuracy getting more difficult to acheive, I figure it's time to get the replacement barrel on order.

Open to advice on any of these topics:

Accuflite: it's costly to get a rebarrelling, but you get testing and an accuracy guarantee. He talks up his product and his reputation is good, but I'm not sure it's worth the cost of two barrels.

Custom barrel: Lilja, Krieger, Shilen, Bartlein, Hart, etc, etc. If you see a Sako for sale with one of these barrels in stainless steel, do you discount the value?

Have you ever had a stainless barrel treated to be a closer match to the factory blued receiver? If so, what process do you recommend?

Thanks,

David
There is a 6 PPC USA barrel just listed on eBay. You may want to explore if it is usable with ur rifle. $299.00
 
Kudos to Tomball for the Ebay alert. The barrel is new old stock and might just be plug and play on dgeesaman's rifle. One word of caution, Sako really puts their barrels on tight so I would suggest having a competent gunsmith that has the correct tools remove the old barrel. Also there is the possibility that the Ebay barrel won't fit but it just might be worth taking the risk to get a new tube. If it does fit it is possible that the rifle won't need to be headspaced.

rick
 
That eBay barrel is a great idea (and coincidence). It looks to be a hunter profile barrel. My A1's are varmint/target profile. A lighter profile is not suitable in my situation, so if someone else is thinking to buy it, please do so.
 
I just ordered a new barrel (plus one for my 6BRA custom project) and Krieger’s lead time for a custom is 3 to 3-1/2 months right now. It’s custom because I’m matching the Sako factory contour pretty closely. It pays to plan ahead with these lead times. So if I get this rifle shooting tight again great, but next year sometime I’ll have the new barrel installed.
 
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