LW or Templar for new build?

[texasgrunt]

I have narrowed it down to 2 contestants. What I want is a 22" heavy vamint contour in stainless. LW is about $430 and Templar is about $600. LW comes standard in 1:8 and would take a "few extra months" to make in a 1:9, Templar comes in 1:8.75 which I think from a prior discussion here I would theoretically prefer. My current stick has the same barrel but from LW and it shoots well within the limits of my ability. I am about to push the button on LW, but want to see if there's anyone with a glaring reason to spend more for the Templar.

Grunt

[bwaites]

The LW barrels are button rifled, the Templar barrels are Bartlein cut rifled. Both make good barrels, but the chances of getting a bad Bartlein are lower than the chances of getting a bad LW, simply because the process Bartlein uses requires more QC checks.

I'd buy a Bartlein, but I did have a LW barrel that shot itty, bitty groups!

[Drifter]

Price difference is presumably because the LW is button-rifled, while the Templar is cut-rifled. There's no guarantee that the more expensive barrel will perform better, but it's likely more time-consuming (and more costly) to produce. Generally speaking, cut-rifled barrels are considered better, perhaps because the process is reportedly less stressful to the barrel versus button. Either process, when done right, can result in an accurate barrel, and not sure how much the end user can detect a difference in performance.

Regarding twist, I've shot several 18" to 20" barrels with twists from 7.5" to 9" without being able to notice a difference. But none were shot in excess of 600 yards, so not sure if longer distances would reveal a different perception. Personally, if the standard offering is anywhere between 8" and 9", I wouldn't wait months extra for a particular custom twist rate unless I had concrete evidence that I would be able to tell a difference.

In your particular case, I would probably opt to pay extra for the cut-rifled barrel in hopes of avoiding an excessive wait for the LW with custom twist, while possibly getting a barrel with better perceived quality at the same time. If you would rather save a little money and avoid the extra wait, go with the LW with their normal twist rate. I doubt that you would be disappointed either way.


Oh, just to throw a monkey wrench into the equation, one other thing to consider is potential chamber dimension differences between the two offerings.

[rkflorey]

I have had a LW for several years and have been very happy. Sub minute groups with a variety of bullet weights and powders.