SmallCaliberCentral

Bead blasted, 11 degree crown with a 60 degree "brush-entry" crown cut for good crown life. I have all mine cut this way per the advice of the guru of such matters, Darrell Holland, and it has served me well on rifles that get shot and cleaned alot.

I have to say that I am very interested in hearing a report on your rifle. I have been considering buying a Remmy VLS .204 and switching out the barrel for a 1 in 10 twist.

Can't wait to see the range report and pics.

Right now, I'm in the 'anxiously waiting' stage. Just ordered some more Bergers, including some 50 gr bullets, though I expect my emphasis will be on the 40 grainers. I will be sure to post pics and a range reports later.

How goes border issues?

I am in Canada as well so while I may not follow all of the technical aspects in this thread I am curious as to how the cross border dealings work.

With a long wait time on a Savage prefit from Shilen from a local guy ($425 Cdn) I have been considering buying one so that when I do shoot out my factory tube I don't have to wait 6-8 months to get a replacement. (The prefit Shilen barrels would be SAMMI spec chambers)

I like the idea of the custom chamber, how much extra did this cost you, and do you use regular go and no-go headspace gauges with this setup???

Ideally I would like to have a match grade heavy barrel with a tighter chamber waiting and ready to install, and it being a Savage I wouldn't need any machine work, just headspace and go.

Personally I feel that if I am spending the extra money on a match grade barrel it would be unwise to not pay a little extra and get a tighter chamber so as to make full use of the accuracy potential of a match grade barrel.

Did you local gunsmith handle the import/export paperwork and fees or are you familiar with what needs to be done??

Surfclod: As a former Canadian familiar with dealing with cross border issues as recently as this year with friends there, a barrel can be shipped up there by simply having the sender list the 'material' as "steel tubing". It will get across without any fuss, as a certain barrel maker here does it on a regular basis.

As for the tight chamber, you'll have to rent or buy a reamer with tight tolerances compared to the sloppy SAMMI chamber. I had Pacific Tool & Gage grind mine with all tolerances tightened up with a .230" "no-turn" neck. Some other forum members have duplicated my reamer with very good success, so you may opt to go that route for your Savage.

You're on the right track by having a custom barrel in the wings for when you shoot out your factory tube to avoid the long wait. Good luck with the endeavor.