How does the chamber in that new barrel look?

Now I'm curious about the place you bought the barrel and whether it's new or a take off.

There are more critical dimensions to look after than can be adjusted by the recoil lug thickness.  To do the barrel maker justice, this is more complicated than "screw 'er on" and hope it works out okay.  That's my view on the topic anyway.

I looked at Douglas Barrels' web site last night and couldn't find anything about pre machined and chambered barrels.

You probably should ask them the recoil lug thickness they machined for, the one that comes off your gun will be a few thousandths different.

When you get the barrel off the gun, take a good look at the face of the receiver.  This would be a good time to lap the bolt lugs, and you'll need a tool that screws into the action and puts a little preload on the bolt face.  But I don't know that I would do that with this pre-chambered barrel.


I found this just now:



Gotta say I agree.

Douglas recommends trimming the breech to fit the gun.  I'm not surprised.

I guess it's do it yourself if you have a lathe.  It's not a screw it on proposition without some more work, and there is still a possibility of work beyond that will be needed.

I'm relieved that you were receptive to advice given to prevent unnecessary headaches.

I have a 9 twist #3 contour Wilson barrel on a .22-250 Model 700 that I like a lot, it drills 75 grain AMAX bullets.  The takeoff barrel was a pitted piece of junk from the first year of factory manufacture for that cartridge.  I machined and chambered this barrel at the summer school at Trinidad State.

The diameter of the counterbore at the breech should be measured to insure clearance to the nose of the bolt.

The dimension from the end of the bolt to the bottom of the counterbore should be checked.  The clearance should be 0.005 inches minimum, up to about 0.010 for a gun that might see many rounds shot between cleaning.

Let us know if the gunsmith has to use a finish reamer to touch up headspace.  You ought to get the cost for a light tune up by truing the receiver face and lapping the recoil lugs.  You might be shocked to see the receiver face, it will most likely show swirls from a disc sander.