I have re-barreled a High Wall in .38-72 for Creedmoor events with a top notch barrel maker(?), and was extremely disappointed in the results.(long story) 
I have heard over the years of Ron Smith barrels, especially from the Schuetzen  contingent. Are his gain-twist barrels cut or button rifled? Is gain-twist the way to go, or is it an outmoded art? Do they incorporate a choked muzzle end? Any information you might have would be appreciated before I contact him. I am looking for references rather than sale pitches. Thanks........JimK

I have a gain-twist  33 caliber Ron Smith barrel  that I have been shooting for a few years. I am very happy with the barrel and could not ask for a better barrel. I'm not totally convinced that there is any advantage to the gain-twist in a breech-loader so I bought a straight twist barrel from him but have not used it yet.

Bob,
Trust me, I have put 1K rounds down this barrel with three custom bullets, different alloys, powders, etc. I know when you have a bad barrel. BTW, it was barreled by a top smith in the BPCR game. I do not believe a barrel will change over night with no change in load. Like I said, the barrel is supporting tomatoes in the garden and I am interested in any info on Ron Smith barrels. Thank you for your reply and concern..........JimK

Another thing that might be of interest, I know of a 38-72 H.M. Pope barrel and it is straight twist, not gain.   

You might get a barrel from Pope faster than Boots Obermeyer 

Dave, 
  Id like to explore this a bit if you'll allow me. First I'm not trying to dispute the quality of the barrels, nor would I sugest anybody without pro expierience to lapp their own barrel but a couple questions. First, a barrel is a manufactured product and lke any has certain production variences. I'd wonder about ANYBODY being abe to consistanty make cuts to 1/tenthousanth. That being said , how does he measure those dimensions and what gets measured? The reason I ask is that you have 2 ways only to do do this, one precise one not. You can either use pins to measure the groove diameter, which then leaves an open question on your bore diameter-which is probably where most of that taper is, or you can slug the bore which is far less precise but will give you some sense of dimension and taper. That process requires a heck of a lot of slugging, reversing the slugs, bumping them up, etc.etc. 
  So in the end while they may very well be exceptional barrels, the claims make about the extremely precise dimensional charactoristics may be a bit more elusive. I have spent the last couple years learning and working with a gentleman that recently passed away that was a master at fitting, lapping, and shooting some rimfire match barrels and most of that knowledge died with him. As an example, however, Chet lapped and fitted six different barrels that , to this day, are the only ones ever to shoot perfect 250-25x targets on an IR50 rimfire benchrest target. They do not stand as world records because they were not shot in registered matches but they were all shot and witnessed in front of some of the sport's most accomplished shhoters, most of which sit in the hall of fame in that discipline. His works actually is practiced by a couple of the best barrel makers in the USA that serve both the rimfire and centerfire shooters so I'm not trying to just "blow smoke" here.

Thanks again Dave. Again, nobody's trying to dispute the quality of the product, but also nobody in the entire barrel world, and it's big, can keep tolerances to a tenth, or even a few tenths.

Without getting into other aspects of this conversation (I'll play "fly on the wall" for most of it, even though I have my own opinions...).

There is a third way to measure bore dimensions, but it's not one that any barrel maker I'm aware of uses.  Laser bore-gage.  Read about it on a professional machinist site, and naturally my very first thought was "hey, you could measure rifle barrels with one of those!".  Accurate to 50 millionths (in a temperture controlled environment, of course). That's half a ten-thousandth.
The discussion also mentioned the price; several hundred thousand dollars... which is why it's unlikely any barrel maker is going to be running one in a temperture controlled metrology room any time soon.

Be darn nice to borrow some time on one, in that metrology lab though!   

Sorry for the interruption.... please continue

Paul F.

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This is hard to argue!  Maybe if I pay to entrance fees both halves can shoot their own matches.

Brent