A dangerous question, I know. There are a gazillion opinions out here.

There are lots of choices so I'm curious is there maybe a ranking of 1-5 of the makers you would consider?

This will be for a CPA .38-55 on a Stevens 44.5 action. My CSA 40-70 SS has a Badger and my .38-55 Remington Rolling Block has a Green Mountain.

I saw one name, Bartlein, that I've not heard of before. CPA offers Shilen and Douglas but are open to alternates.

Thanks!

Tom

All the barrels you have mentioned are good quality barrels. I have shot Badger, Green Mountain, Douglas, Shilen, Hart and a few unnamed ones over the years and all the name brand mentioned are good barrels. Accuracy has a lot to do with how you load for them. It is hard to really rank them because of the quality you have now. Don't think you could go wrong with any of them.



JMH

RKS precision machined with single point cutter (40 passes per groove) in stainless steel or moly with straight or gain twist with continuous choked taper from chamber to muzzle in calibers from .22 to .50 caliber with 1 to 8 grooves at your discretion with right hand or left hand twist.

Jeff,

The question....."is there maybe a ranking of 1-5 of the makers you would consider?"

Tom

Depends on the caliber, twist, and rifling style you want, as well as Cro-Moly or Stainless.

In general, Here's where I'd put the top 5 barrel makers today (not in order of recommendation, they're all good), without consideration of caliber/twist/style:

Bartlein
Kreiger
Benchmark
Lilja
Hart

From there, the good makers, with commentary:

RKS - good option if you're in Canada.  In US, not so much so; shipping, cost, difficulty to buy.  Well recommended frequently by Schuetzendave here.
Green Mountain - good for in stock stuff, economical, dependable.  Caters to Cowboy action and BPCR somewhat with their stock.  Some of their stuff is economy grade, some premium.  Not really defined in their catalog which is which, but price give you a good clue.
McGowen - good barrels, somewhat hit and miss on quality and service, depending on who you talk to.  I've had good luck with them.
BRC - More oriented to Schuetzen, up and coming, well liked here on ASSRA.
Shilen - Old Standby.  Excellent barrels within their usual range of operation.
Douglas - Old Standby.  Excellent barrels within their usual range of operation.
Pac-Nor - Excellent barrels in my experience, somewhat limited in offerings since they're recovering from a major fire that wiped them out a while back.  
Mark Chanlynn- highly recommended by some builders, less market exposure.
Broughton - well respected in benchrest, less market exposure
Brux - well respected in benchrest, less market exposure 
Lothar Walther - well respected eurpopean, pain the rear to buy in US.

I don't think you could go wrong with any of the above makers, if you bought a barrel within their normal production expertise.  It really all depends on what you want, and pick a maker that can supply it at a price you can afford.

The responses here border on phenomenal…..thank you to all who offered their opinions and experiences!

Since I live under a rock, my barrel experiences are radically limited, compared to what I’m learning here. I have/had guns with only (6) after-market barrels, all shooting cast lead bullets. But I’ve never tested and compared different barrels on the same gun, like some of you have.
A custom revolver---Douglas
An XP-100, various chamberings---Shilen, Lilja, Benchmark
Rem Rolling Block---Green Mountain
A CSA Sharps Model 74---Badger

Now to decide which brand from the potential, new to me candidates above, that I need to ask CPA to provide on the rifle that I order.

Tom

Speaking of TKS. I talked with Ron this morning.  He said he is still putting some time in the shop. He also said that he gets 3 meals a day and 1/2 bed so what more could you ask for.

Guys, is there more than one RKS barrel maker? I contacted the one I found and they only get involved with AR-15 barrels.

Thanks!

Tom