Checking Out The Criterion

Pre-Fit Barrels For Savages
Checking Out The Criterion
~Glenn Burroughs
I
t’s been a few years since Savage rifles came on the scene as
a serious contender for the accuracy
minded shooter. At first I was a little
skeptical but gave them a try and now I
have four … three custom rifles built on
Savage actions and a factory class Model
12 Long Range Precision Varminter
chambered in 22-250 Remington. This
one has a fast twist barrel and enjoys the
medium heavy bullets. When there is a
factory class at the matches I attend the
Savages usually outnumber the other
brands; it seems Savage has won the
respect of other shooters besides myself.
In addition to good accuracy the Savage
models also have another nice feature …
the simplicity of replacing a barrel. So
much so that several barrel makers offer
pre-fit barrels for the do-it-yourselfers.
All of this came to mind when my shooting buddy Pat made the comment that
he was considering a new barrel for one
of his Savage rifles.
The rifle under consideration was
a Model 12 LRPV chambered in 6mm
BR, a very accurate shooter with a
14-twist barrel. Pat wanted to stay with
a 6mm but wanted a faster twist barrel,
something that could handle heavier
bullets for long distance shooting. He
had his mind set on a 6x47 Lapua wildcat. When asked what range he intended
to shoot the new barrel, he replied,
“Well, I’m already a member of the
Varmint Hunters Association 500 Yard
Downrange Club. I really would like
to up my membership to the 1000 Yard
Page 34
91_2.indd 34
Summer 2014
Club. If the replacement barrel turns out
to be real accurate, that’s one of the rifles
I would use on a trip out West.”
Pat’s need for a new barrel certainly grabbed my attention, for I had been
curious to find out how easy it would be
to change barrels on a Savage rifle. After
checking some of the shooting sites on
the Internet it seemed that a mechanically inclined person could install a barrel in thirty minutes to an hour … with
little or no trouble. So I volunteered to
do some research on pre-fit barrels and
provide Pat with the results. He agreed
it was a good idea so I went to work and
in short time had located three sources,
and all three had good reputations. We
thought choosing among three options
should be sufficient so the search was
narrowed to settle on one of the three.
Since all the barrel makers had a
good standing with the shooting crowd,
a most important factor would be cost,
and the Criterion barrel turned out to
be less expensive than the other two, so
more information was located regarding
the company. The first stop was Criterion’s website, where a brief history is
provided. “Criterion Barrels, Inc. was
started in 1999 from Krieger Barrels, Inc.
in response to demands of rifle builders
and firearms manufacturers for quality
match grade barrels at a lower cost.
Initially begun as a division of Krieger,
Criterion is now a sister company – independent, yet sharing resources and
continual support. More than 30 years of
experience and expertise go into every
Criterion barrel. This experience combined with gun barrel quality steels, our
stringent inspections at every process,
and Criterion employees’ commitment
to quality make a Criterion barrel the
best choice for your next barrel.”
Another interesting comment on
the website was related to barrel accuracy and how they can offer a lower
price: “Criterion rifle barrels are match
grade. Our 30-plus years of experience
and shared history with Krieger have
given us a true understanding of what
match grade means. Uniformity of the
bore dimension, groove dimension, and
twist, along with the finish produced
by hand lapping, are essential for the
ultimate accuracy of the barrel. With our
expertise we are able to control these factors and deliver an unbelievably accurate match grade barrel at a reasonable
price.” Of course, many readers might
consider these words to be no more than
advertising, so the next course of action
was to locate a shooter or two who had
experience with a Criterion barrel. A
quick way to accomplish this sort of task
is to access the Internet, and the search
showed there were quite a few shooters
who had installed Criterion barrels, and
their experiences were all positive.
It was by chance that Pat and I
were at the range one afternoon and
noticed someone setting up one of the
high-end Savage rifles, so we moseyed
over to take a look. The owner was W.A.
Cox, known locally to be an excellent
marksman. It turned out his rifle had a
Copyright© 2014 — The VARMINT HUNTER Magazine®
5/30/2014 2:25:12 PM
1
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1:8-twist Criterion barrel chambered in
6mm BR. When asked if he had installed
the barrel himself he commented that a
gunsmith friend had done the work and
it took only about fifteen minutes. Then
we posed the critical question: How
does the Criterion barrel shoot? W.A.
looked at us and with a big grin replied,
“Like a house afire. On a good day it will
shoot half-inch groups at 300 yards. In
fact, I’m not going to shoot it anymore
except at matches. I don’t want to wear
out the barrel just plinking.” That was
the icing on the cake. Pat decided to get
a Criterion barrel.
The retail outlet for Criterion
Barrels is Northland Shooters Supply
located in Buffalo, Minnesota, so I gave
them a call. Jim Briggs answered the
phone and I told him my friend was
interested in a Criterion pre-fit barrel
for a Savage. He replied, “Be happy to
help you. We are offering the Criterion
barrels in both Savage small and large
shanks and in the sporter, heavy sporter,
light varmint, regular varmint, bull,
and Palma contours. All of the initial
Criterion stocking inventory is the stainless, hand-lapped, match grade Savage
pre-fit barrels. We do offer chrome moly
barrels on request and these are sold ‘in
the white.’ We make every effort to keep
a viable inventory of Criterion barrels in
stock and we feel they are reasonably
priced.” In our conversation Jim related
several stories about other shooters who
had purchased a Criterion barrel and
said the reports coming back indicated
the customers were very pleased with
the accuracy.
Jim commented further, “We
have another product you may be interested in, our ‘Rem/Age’ pre-fit barrels for Remington 700 rifles. They are
chambered like the Savage barrels, and
Northland offers a barrel nut that allows
the barrel to be installed on a Remington
700 similar to a Savage.”
When asked if he had a website
with this information he replied, “We do
not have a website but information on
our products can be found on the Savage Shooters website (savageshooters.
com) in the ‘Forum - Vendor Classified’
section. You can email us but I strongly
recommend a phone call as experience
has shown that this usually will take
care of inquiries quickly … whereas
email correspondence tends to be slow
and seems to be never ending.” The
Pat firing the 6x47 Lapua at 300 yards.
Rem/Age barrel caught my interest
for a possible project for fun sometime
in the future, but for now a 30-inch,
1:8-inch twist stainless barrel, tapered
from 1.112 inches to 1.007 inches at the
muzzle, and chambered in 6x47 Lapua
was what was needed.
The 6x47 Lapua wildcat (sometimes referred to as the 6-6.5x47 Lapua,
which is more difficult to pronounce)
is based on the 6.5x47 Lapua case, a
beautiful piece of brass with a small
Copyright© 2014 — The VARMINT HUNTER Magazine®
91_2.indd 35
primer pocket. When the 6.5x47 Lapua
was put on the market it was not long
before the wildcatters had necked it
down to 6mm and found it to be a
very accurate cartridge. Records show
that it has performed well at 600- and
1,000-yard matches and in the varmint
fields. With a slower twist barrel and
70-grain bullets, velocities in the 3,600
fps range can be achieved. With a fast
twist barrel and high BC bullets in the
100-grain area, velocities of 3,000 fps can
Installing the Criterion barrel.
www.varminthunter.org
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5/30/2014 2:25:20 PM
be reached and exceptional performance
at 600 yards or more can be realized.
The 6x47 Lapua not only provides great
velocity performance, but has garnered
a reputation for inherent accuracy. Plus,
many note that it is not as picky to load
as some cartridges.
Once the barrel was on order the
next step was to obtain a set of loading
dies, and a popular source for custom
dies is Hornady Manufacturing in
Grand Island, Nebraska. They are noted
for making precision dies for just about
any firearm, and they are the first place
to check for out-of-the-ordinary, custom
dies. They can make a set of dies for any
cartridge a wildcatter can imagine. A
phone call was all that was needed to
have a set of Hornady Custom dies for
the 6x47 Lapua placed on order. Since
these dies are not a shelf item it would
be awhile before they would be manufactured and delivered.
Before the barrel arrived Pat had
checked with a couple of friends and located a barrel vise, go/no-go gages and
a barrel nut wrench. By having some
well-equipped shooting buddies who
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Summer
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were willing to lend some equipment,
Pat was able to enjoy a nice savings on
his project. When the barrel arrived Pat
contacted his friend with the barrel vise
and made arrangements to drop by for
a visit. With anticipation, he gathered
the gages and wrench and headed for
his friend’s place. Once the amenities
were covered they proceeded to the
shop to have some fun. Pat had already
read up on installing a Savage barrel,
so with little ado he started to work. In
order for the go and no-go gages to fit
in the chamber the extractor had to be
removed from the bolt, and this turned
out to be the most difficult part of the
project. It actually ended up taking more
time to remove the extractor than to
install the barrel.
With the extractor removed the
next task was to remove the factory
barrel from the action. With the action
wrench and barrel vise this was a simple
task. Then the Criterion barrel, with the
threaded end where it could be worked
on, was placed in the wood block in the
barrel vise and tightened. The barrel nut
was then screwed all the way forward
on the barrel shank. Next the recoil lug
was positioned. The Savage receiver
was screwed onto the barrel about a
half inch, the go gage was placed in the
chamber and the bolt closed. With the
go gage in the chamber the barrel was
screwed down onto the go gage until
the barrel was hand tight and snug.
The bolt was then opened and the go
gage removed. The no-go gage was
then inserted into the chamber and an
attempt was made to close the bolt. As
expected, the bolt handle would not
drop into position … it was a “no-go.”
The no-go gage was removed and the go
gage returned to the chamber and the
bolt closed. The barrel nut was screwed
toward the receiver face, making sure
the key on the lug went into the slot in
the receiver bottom, then snugged up
using the wrench. Once assembled, the
gages were tried again to ensure the
tightening process did not move the barrel. The extractor was re-installed in the
bolt and several empty cases cycled to
ensure they would eject properly from
the chamber. Total time for the conversion was about forty-five minutes.
With the rifle ready to go, it was
time to load up some rounds for testing. The only problem was Pat and his
rifle were ready to go, but he had no
2014 — The VARMINT HUNTER Magazine®
5/30/2014 2:25:27 PM
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dies for making up the ammo. Being a
good friend, I loaned him mine, along
with a minor difficulty … my sizing die
contained a .271-inch bushing. Although
this bushing did a nice job for me, it was
too large for Pat’s brass cases. It seems
the neck thickness of his brass was less
than my lot of brass. He needed to find
out what size bushing he needed so
he could order the correct size from
Sinclair. To settle on the dimension, he
necked-sized a 6.5x47 Lapua case down
to 6mm and seated a bullet. With the
bullet in the case the diameter of the
neck measured .270 inch, suggesting a
.268-inch bushing would be what the
doctor ordered, so one was ordered
from Sinclair. In the meanwhile, the
closest size in my bushing collection to
what Pat needed was a .270 inch, and it
sized the necks tight enough to hold the
bullets in place.
With the minor snags out of the
way, loading for the 6x47 Lapua began
… and loading for this wildcat is a snap.
All that is needed to convert the 6.5x47
Lapua brass is to run a case into the
Hornady 6x47 Lapua sizing die. Once
the neck has been sized to 6mm, the
loading process is no different from a
similar factory round. To determine the
bullet seating depth, Pat used a snug
fitting case and pushed a bullet into the
neck. He then chambered it and slowly
closed the bolt. The lands pushed the
bullet down into the case, providing Pat
with a case that had the bullet seated on
the lands. The result was measured and
the die adjusted so that bullets would be
seated .005-inch off the lands.
Pat had already obtained a hundred rounds of Lapua brass and had
been given a very accurate load, although from another rifle. Pat would
cut the powder weight somewhat for the
starting load. Excellent success had been
experienced with Hornady bullets so
Pat decided to use the 100-grain Match
and the 105-grain A-Max in the new
barrel. Sitting at his reloading bench, he
began creating the rounds for the barrel
break-in. The first would be 36 grains of
H-4350, then 36.5, and if the loads gave
normal indications the standard load of
37.0 grains would be used. Once the dies
had been adjusted properly, enough
ammo was loaded for testing.
The goal for the first trip to the
range would be to start breaking in the
barrel and to adjust the 36x Sightron
scope. After bore sighting at 50 yards
the first shot at a hundred yards hit
the paper about six inches high and
four inches to the right. There were no
indications of pressure so the scope was
adjusted and by the third shot the rifle
was hitting the bullseye. The first group
after scope adjustment was at a hundred
yards using the 36.5-grain load – the
group measured .598-inch. No signs of
pressure, so the next group was fired
using the 37.0-grain load. It measured
.458-inch. Things were looking good
and Pat decided to put up a groundhog
target. (Pat loves groundhog matches.)
The large groundhog target was hung
and Pat fired at the groundhog’s head
on the silhouette. The bullet hit dead
center so Pat used that bullet hole as the
aim point for two more shots. The result
was a small cloverleaf that measured
.194-inch. Pat had a big smile on his
face when he turned around, looked at
me, and said, “I believe it’s going to be
a shooter.” Pat concentrated on 100-yard
groups and in short time the rifle was
consistently providing results measuring less than half an inch. At this range
the Criterion barrel proved to be quite
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accurate, with the Hornady 105-grain
A-Max bullets achieving slightly better
groups than the 100-grain Match bullets. Pat left the range a happy man and
smiled all the way home.
Now that Pat was satisfied with
the half minute of angle accuracy at a
hundred yards, he started working on
his 300-yard goal. After all, the 1:8-twist
barrel was selected for shooting the
heavier 6mm bullets at distances of
300 yards or more. His first attempts
at 300 yards were disappointing, to
say the least. Three, three-shot groups
were fired and the average group size
was running about three inches. He
was hoping for groups at least half that
size. Disappointed, he returned home
to regroup and try to figure things out.
Sitting at the reloading bench, he picked
up a case, placed it in the press and
seated a bullet. He then measured the
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91_2.indd 37
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Page 37
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One of the first groups at 100 yards, measuring .194 inch.
seating depth of the bullet. Somehow
the seating die had been changed and
bullets were being seated much farther
off the lands than intended. The die was
readjusted for the proper seating depth
and some rounds using the Hornady
A-Max bullets were loaded up for the
next trip to the range. A couple of days
later Pat gave me a call and invited me
to go shooting. Of course I accepted. I
was curious to see how much improvement the bullet seating depth change
would make.
Although there was quite a breeze
at the range, it was a beautiful fall day.
The temperature was around 70 de-
grees and there was little or no mirage.
After placing a target at 300 yards, Pat
returned to the bench. He had brought
several rifles to the range but the first
one to be placed in the rest was the 6x47
Lapua. In no time a loud boom was
heard coming from the bench next to
me. Then another, and another. Pat sat
up, then looked at me with a big smile
and said, “Looks like the first group is
about an inch.” I thought he was joking
and gave out a chuckle. His rifle was
hitting a little to the right so he made
a scope adjustment and went back to
shooting. Three more shots were fired
and he turned, looked at me, and said,
“The problem was with the seating
depth. The second group is about as
good as the first.” Proof was needed
and the target was retrieved. I could
not believe my eyes so I got out the
micrometer and measured both groups.
The first was .509-inch and the second
measured .660-inch. The groups were
somewhat horizontal, indicating the effect of the wind. That’s mighty fine 300yard shooting and I suspect this will be
the rifle that gets Pat his membership in
The Varmint Hunters Association 1000
Yard Downrange Club. Needless to say,
Pat is happy with his Criterion barrel.
CONTACTS
First groups at 300 yards after correct bullet seating.
Page 38
91_2.indd 38
Summer 2014
Criterion Barrels
2024 Mayfield Rd.
Richfield, WI 53076
Phone: 262-628-8749
[email protected]
www.criterionbarrels.com
Hornady Manufacturing Co.
3625 West Old Potash Hwy.
Grand Island, NE 68803
Phone: 800-338-3220
www.hornady.com
Northland Shooters Supply
2013 Hawk Trail
Buffalo, MN 55313
Phone: 763-682-4296
[email protected]
www.savageshooters.com/forumdisplay.php?43-Northland-ShootersSupply
Sinclair International, Inc.
200 South Front Street
Montezuma, Iowa 50171
Phone - U.S. Customers: 800-717-8211
Phone - International: 260-482-3670
[email protected]
www.sinclairintl.com
Copyright© 2014 — The VARMINT HUNTER Magazine®
5/30/2014 2:25:42 PM