Short Story about a Douglas 9 Twist 17 Barrel

[20VarTarg]

Thought I would share a little story about this particular barrel. Some may enjoy the story and some others may think it's no big deal. Last year I purchased a Douglas 9 twist 17 caliber barrel from Todd Kindler. It was chambered in what he called a 17 Slammer. Basically it was a 222 case necked down to 17 caliber and blown out to a 40 degree shoulder. On paper it looked pretty sweet. The barrel was set up for a Cooper Model 21. After months and months of looking for a donor gun I found one. Took everything to my smith and upon looking at the barrel and taking some measurements he wasn't real confident about spinning the barrel onto the donor rifle. He claimed that the chamber was really over spec for a 222 Remington case. So I searched out a 17 TAC Reamer and told him to go to work on it. He had to cut about 1/2" off and re-chambered it to a 17 TAC. I located some 30 grain Kindler Gold Bullets. I used 25 grain Hornady HP's to fire form about 10 cases and then worked up some loads with the 30 grain Kindler Gold. OMG!!!!! Every group I have shot so far has measured .436" or under. My best being right at .326". This is with very very limited load work up. I couldn't be any happier with the finished product. I've played around with lots of 17's and none have shot this good. Now I just need to get my hands on about 200 more of those Kindler Golds. I only purchased 176 of them and if I hit the fields hard they won't last very long.

[JDHasty]

I bought three Douglas Ultra Rifled 17 Remington barrels for Harrington & Richardson Ultra Wildcat rifles from Gun Parts Corp in ~1990. A friend with connections tipped me off to those barrels when H&R liquidated everything that wasn’t needed and they were trying to fend off bankruptcy. That’s the kind of accuracy I have gotten from them. I have one brand new and one half used up left.

[ben lurkin]

I have this same spec Douglas barrel on a Remington Seven in 17 fireball. Great barrel so far.

[B23]

He hasn't used one for awhile but for years all my dad ever used on his Pre64 Model 70's and Rem 700 semi customs were Douglas barrels and they all seemed to shoot extremely well.

Back in the day Douglas barrels were a common name you heard frequently but you don't seem to hear of them being used as much anymore. I can't recall ever hearing anyone complain about them but they don't seem to be used as much as they once were. Maybe it's a regional thing and it seems there's been a shift to more people wanting single point cut barrels, although, I have used plenty of single point cut and button rifled barrels and can't say one has been any better than the other.

[JDHasty]

They aren't the "current thing."

I was an AA Class trap shooter and shot a couple more or less off the rack Beretta A303s well enough to win a couple State shoot Champion buckles. The time the AA Class shooters spent pumping the latest & greatest was time well invested indeed. So long as we could keep guys buying something, changing their guns and chasing their tail instead of developing the skills needed to break an average 97.5% of registered targets that came out in all kinds of conditions we didn't have to worry about shooting against them.

I listen to the guys at the shops who are all invested in the latest thing. There are bargains to be had on xyz when they decide that xyz is out and abc is in.

I've gotten some real nice Geisele triggers and Leupold scopes for from ten to fifty cents on the dollar.

But some of the stuff just leaves me shaking my head. I lost track of the number of like new tactical hammocks they paid north of $700 for that were being offered for $50. Who in their right mind would ever get the notion that it is a good idea to hang yourself out in the weather in the middle of sub zero air currents during hunting season is beyond me.

[Danny]

Hmmmm,
Sounds like a Todd Kindler barrel to me (based on a Douglas blank).