Satern vs Odin

[otter]

I'm building a 20" HBAR for hunting and target shooting. I don't really want to go shorter, becase I want to use a rifle length gas system. I am debating between getting a satern HBAR or an Odin for ~$200 less. How much better should the satern be compared with the Odin? Odin guarantees <1moa.

Any thoughts on if it'll be worth the difference in price?

[rabiddawg]

Do a search of satern and if you still want one go for it.

My money will only go to Alexander Arms or Precision Firearms.

[VASCAR2]

Satern/Liberty is using what they call a Grendel II chamber which is not a SAAMI chamber. There was a group buy several years ago where there were short chambers and the way Satern dealt with the issue has not set well with the 6.5 Grendel community. I believe the Grendel II chamber is quicker/cheaper/easier to manufacture than the compound throat used in the SAAMI 6.5 Grendel chamber. After being around a few of the Satern/Liberty barrels I will not buy them because of the non SAAMI chamber. Everything I've read on Odin has been positive but if your looking at a cut rifle Satern barrel to a Odin button rifled barrel your comparing apples to oranges. A better comparison would be an Odin barrel compared to a button rifled Liberty barrel made by Satern. Comparing an Odin to Liberty I'd buy an Odin barrel as everything I've read indicates Odin is selling 1:8 twist SAAMI 6.5 Grendel chambered barrels.

[LRRPF52]

Some of the most accurate barrels I've shot ever have been Satern with the SAAMI chamber, and that includes all the bolt guns I've shot.

bwaites has at least 2 Satern barrels with the Grendel chamber that are frighteningly accurate, like 8rds in the .2's.

I have not put my hands on an Odin or seen one in the wild, so I can't say either way.

[otter]

yeah, I want to make it clear that I'm talking about the Satern 5r, not Satern/Liberty. I've heard enough about satern/liberty that I think I would avoid those barrels.

Basically, I'm trying to figure out how much to spend on a barrel and how much of an improvement i can get per $$. Assume ~$80 for bcg. It has to be an HBAR or heavier style. Assume ~70-100 for bolt

JSE Surplus: 275
Odin: 325
McGowen (264LBC): $265.00 + ~$70 bolt = 340
Black Hole: $305+$70 bolt = 375
Criterion: 400
Satern: 450
Shilen: 450

Kreiger, Bartlein, Lilja are just too far above what I want to spend on a barrel since i'm not a serious competitor. The shilens seem nice, but satern is the same price, and it's a completely custom barrel.

[terrywick4]

I have a older satern and with factory amax I had 5 in a 1" circle at 200yds. All would have been in 1/2 inch except for one called flyer . . have shot coyotes in the 400-450 yd range with confidence.

[bwaites]

Satern cut barrels can be incredibly accurate. These are hand cut and lapped barrels produced in relatively low volumes. I have had 4 of them, done before Satern and Alexander Arms quit doing business. They all shot sub 1/2 MOA with more than one load, and shot in the .2s with their favorites.

All of mine were cut with the SAAMI chamber, using reamers specc'd by Bill Alexander.

I would only buy a gas gun cut with that chamber. I have heard rumors that Satern has SAAMI reamers and will cut that chamber if requested, but I have no confirmation of this.

As with any barrel, I would have my gunsmith check concentricity of barrel and chamber BEFORE I built the rifle. If you can't have this done, there is the possibility, like any barrel, that you will not get the accuracy you are paying for!

[otter]

Just pulled the trigger on a 20" Satern HBAR with SAAMI chamber and 5/8" thread. Now the wait begins.

[A5BLASTER]

Where did you buy the barrel from.

[otter]

I ordered it from Satern's website.

[VASCAR2]

Good to see Satern will chamber with SAAMI reamer, I bet it'll be a shooter.

[mongoosesnipe]

Just pulled the trigger on a 20" Satern HBAR with SAAMI chamber and 5/8" thread. Now the wait begins.

i ordered a saturn barrel when i was first getting into the grendel game, i was told 6 months and waited 31 months at which point i was offered a barrel completely different profile to my order which would be available within 6-8 weeks if i wanted it when i asked if said barrel could be turned so my specs i was told no

if i wanted a barrel to my specs there would have been a minimum 6 months of waiting, they turn their barrels in batches and if you want something outside of there normal you go to the bottom of the list..... i canceled my order at that point as i already had a barrel and was done waiting for them to get around to me

[otter]

i ordered a saturn barrel when i was first getting into the grendel game, i was told 6 months and waited 31 months at which point i was offered a barrel completely different profile to my order which would be available within 6-8 weeks if i wanted it when i asked if said barrel could be turned so my specs i was told no

if i wanted a barrel to my specs there would have been a minimum 6 months of waiting, they turn their barrels in batches and if you want something outside of there normal you go to the bottom of the list..... i canceled my order at that point as i already had a barrel and was done waiting for them to get around to me

I should have listened to you. I am very frustrated with Satern. I told myself that I would stay in contact with them and if the timeline slipped too much, I'd cancel the order. What I didn't expect was getting the runaround from them constantly. Every time I tried to talk to them, they'd say (or email) some version of "We will check with the shop manager and get back to you". And then I wouldn't hear anything. Finally, I had enough and told them that I had gotten the runaround, and discovered that they estimate 2-4 months more. I'm not frustrated that the timeline is so long, but rather that they didn't communicate.

So are there any options for top quality barrels fairly quickly? Satern does have some 20" fluted barrels but I really don't want to patronize them. PF has the 20" bartlein barrels, but that would mean waiting another three months.

I'm tempted to just go for this one:

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/833900/shilen-drop-in-match-barrel-with-bolt-ar-15-65-grendel-service-rifle-hbar-contour-1-in-9-twist-20-stainless-steel

or this one:

http://www.jsesurplus.com/wilsonarms2065grendelhbarssflutedstr.aspx

But I really wanted something higher quality.

[rabiddawg]

I think guys are getting JP barrels very timely and they are definitely shooters.

Nope, not gonna say it.

[A5BLASTER]

JP rifles will more then likely have the highest quality with the fastest ship time.

I ordered mine on a Monday and had it wensday of the following week.