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jhm
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RKS barrels
Aug 18th, 2026 at 8:48pm
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Has anyone done business with RKS as of late? I sent a barrel back several weeks ago and Gerald called me to discuss it. He said he would send a replacement but so far no barrel and I can't get anyone on the phone. I know they farm also but sure wish he would call me back.



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Gerald
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Re: RKS barrels
Reply #1 - Aug 19th, 2026 at 5:30am
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I too have not been able to contact them, I had a barrel that was up for a June production but so far I have not received a return call from a VM I left or replies to text messages on status so I am just waiting and hoping  all is well with Gerald.
  
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jhm
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Re: RKS barrels
Reply #2 - Sep 2nd, 2026 at 8:59pm
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A little update on my barrel. Talked with Gerald today and he has been busy with his farming which I can understand. He told me he fit my old barrel to an action (didn't say what kind) and really couldn't find anything wrong with it. Said he was getting half inch groups at 50 yards with black box Eley ammo. He asked me what was the problem? He asked what was I expecting and I told him I thought his barrels could generate quarter inch groups at 50 yards. Am I expecting too much? For a custom blank that cost 500 dollars plus shipping I would think it would do that. I have a Green Mountain that will do that and better if I do my part. Anyway he said he wanted his customers to be satisfied so he is going to make me up a new blank and promised it in a couple to three weeks. We will see with this one. It will be 1 in 16.5 gain twist. He also said if you couldn't get him on the phone to keep trying.


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Re: RKS barrels
Reply #3 - yesterday at 2:19am
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I have 16 or 17 of their barrels in 22rf and depending on which action, what twist, ammo, conditions, day of lunar cycle, etc. they shoot well.   My best shooter is a Turbo with a RKS barrel, next are probably a couple of Ballards with RKS, followed by a Remington 37 and I can go right on down the list, Winchesters, more Ballards, a couple of rollers, a pair of Hepburns, a Webley, Farrow, a Westley Richards, a Zettler and even a couple of Martini's but running neck and neck my worst shooters with RKS barrels on them is probably a Hepburn and a 1-1/2 roller.  They not terrible, but they're not 1/2 or 1/4 MOA rifles. Don't be surprised if a new barrel doesn't fix your problem, your action screwed on to that barrel is a Hepburn isn't it?  I've shot silhouettes with one of my Hepburns and ended up fairly well but at a 100 or 200 yard Schuetzen targets I can't generate scores much better than a 230 benched, I've been in the mid 240's several times at both distances with a Ballard, Peregrine and a High Wall. 
As for the dollars spent, the last 6 cut rifle RF blanks I've bought this year domestically, run between $450 and $600 depending on the name.  Except for one, the RKS didn't give up any in a performance comparison.
Just a nickle's worth of opinion.
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"The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right" M.T.
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jhm
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Re: RKS barrels
Reply #4 - yesterday at 9:05am
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I am coming to the end of my journey on this. Maybe I HAVE been expecting too much. If he is nice enough to send me another barrel then I will go with whatever I wind up with. It has been a lot of trouble on his end and mine. The last thing I wanted to do was cause trouble. I wanted to build this gun to shoot the 50 yard matches at my club and compete with the bolt guns. Not so much to win matches but just compete and maybe get their attention. I have a very nice CZ 452 bolt gun that will match most of those guys shot for shot but I didn't want that. He gave me some tips on fitting his barrels and I am going to follow them to the letter. He did mention shortening the barrel. Mr. Greg what barrel length would you recommend? What length barrel do your guns have?



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boats
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Re: RKS barrels
Reply #5 - yesterday at 9:28am
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I wouldn’t expect less than 1 MOA groups reliably from any 22 rimfire bench rest from bags outdoors. Some may achieve it at times. 

Machine rest indoors is the test, too many variables otherwise 

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Re: RKS barrels
Reply #6 - yesterday at 9:50am
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boats wrote yesterday at 9:28am:
I wouldn’t expect less than 1 MOA groups reliably from any 22 rimfire bench rest from bags outdoors. Some may achieve it at times. 

Machine rest indoors is the test, too many variables otherwise 

Boats


I felt the same until I started campaigning a BSA International. With Eley Tenex it is dead nuts reliable for at least 3/4MOA at 100 yards, and 1/2MOA enough times to win a few of our ASSRA matches. I would blush to claim better accuracy even though it does deliver it on occasion. At 50 yards it'll put 5 shots into a ragged little hole not much larger than a single hole.

All that dependent on the wind cooperating of course. (There's always a "but"!!) That's why I invariably shoot for score/group first thing in the morning before the wind picks up, and stop shooting when it does. Ditto when practicing at my home range.

Would that my primary falling block/hammer guns shot as well. The Ballard heavy barrel/set triggers will come mighty close to the International but not quite. Ditto the Walnut Hill.
  
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Re: RKS barrels
Reply #7 - yesterday at 9:54am
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Johnny,
The shortest RKS barrel I have on my 22's goes against what everyone says, 27.5" is my shortest.  The average barrel I cut at 30".  For indoors at 50' my bottle cap gun wears a 30" LH GT 1:16, for my outdoor 50 and 100 yd rifle, a 30" LH GT 1:14, for the 200 - 500 yard it's a 30" LH GT 1:12.  They are all octagon and most are a heavy contour.  I cut my chambers the same, using a Calfee I carbide reamer or a Kevin Nevius reamer and I have made burnishing tools that match the reamers that I finish with.   
I shoot exclusively Lapua CX with one rifle that does a tiny bit better with Polar.  I buy ammo either one or two cases at a time and I've had folks ask what if a lot I buy doesn't work? I work with a barrel until it does or I pick another barrel and make it work.  I have one rifle, a Low Wall that shot most CX well but not like I thought it should.  It shoots very well now with lot that didn't shoot very well in anything.  When I was done with it, the barrel went from 30.5" to 28" due to experiments.  There's a lot of time and energy spent in my shop chasing details, for that I'll never build for anyone else... maybe a grandkid it they learn to truly appreciate it?
Another nickle's worth of deets.
GT
  

"To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk"  T. A. Edison
"The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right" M.T.
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jhm
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Re: RKS barrels
Reply #8 - yesterday at 12:47pm
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You mention a "shorter" barrel. When I  was talking with Gerald he said I needed to cut the barrel to 20 inches. I'm like on a classic single shot like a Hepburn? That ain't going to happen. The one I sent back was 30 inches. I contemplated 28 just so the gun would be more balanced but I went with 30. If you were building a bolt gun maybe you would do 20. I don't know man this rabbit hole has gotten a little too deep. If the new one isn't any better I guess I can shoot squirrels with it...



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Re: RKS barrels
Reply #9 - yesterday at 8:51pm
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All the Winchester model 52, Remington 37 and so forth had 28 inch barrels and seemed to do quite well, never saw one with a 20 inch tube. I had a very early 52 that would print sub quarter inch groups at 100 yards regularly when the wind was down and I was up. Wish I had kept it as bought from a much older gentleman who held records at that time and told me stories of sharing rides to Camp Perry with John Redfield and Matt Canjar. Also wished I  had recorded some or all of his stories.
  

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Re: RKS barrels
Reply #10 - Today at 7:01am
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It’s possible to shoot small groups from positions or bench rest . I shot small bore  prone exclusively for 3 years when working out of the country. Club ran matches Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings 50 weeks a year,. Used a Anschutz 54  and Ely ammo. Coat Sling and Glove, iron sights. SOME of my 50 meter 10 shot groups were nearly 1/2 inch .

But to test a single component, Barrel or Ammunition have to isolate the component eliminating variables. Charlie Dell did his testing with a rail gun mounted on a concrete stand. Action bolted to the stand fired with a lanyard . Target was hung in a tunnel from his basement shop  that was fully covered.

Comparing one quality barrel to another any other way not likely to prove much 

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