U.S.A. -(AmmoLand.com)- Last week, I had a chance to travel out to New Mexico to the NRA’s Whittington Center to get some trigger time behind a few new firearms during Lucid Optic’s 2021 Ballistic Summit. And while at the event, I ran into one of the oldest barrel makers in America – Shaw Barrels – AKA ER Shaw.
The precision barrel maker has been busily churning out high-quality barrels for decades but has recently begun to offer custom barrels and even complete rifles direct to consumers. (Though if you’re looking for a company to make 10,000 barrels, they are more than equipped for that too!)
But we primarily focused on the newest addition to their product lineup – fully custom rifles.
Based on the Savage action, Shaw offers these rifles in any caliber a shooter could imagine, with any twist rate, barrel length, or barrel profile. Basically, if you can dream it, these guys can build it. The most surprising part is that a basic bolt gun capable of match precision can be had for just a hair over $1,000. Which really lowers the cost of entry on high-end PRS weapons to something anyone can afford.
Shaw Barrels
Shaw Barrels began its history as a nut and bolt manufacturer that heavily supported the railroad industry. As the likelihood of the United States entering WWI became more and more likely the country’s resources were diverted to wartime efforts. Factories of all kinds were converted to making implements of war. Small shops all the way to large automakers were given the task of tooling up for the impending entrance to the first global war. With the experience and know-how, it was only natural that our efforts were allocated to manufacturing all types of small arms barrels. At the conclusion of WWI our sister company, Small Arms Manufacturing was born. Small Arms Manufacturing would go on to be the leading supplier of OEM gun barrels, providing premium gun barrels to small shops and large manufactures alike.
Over the years we have expanded to three plants, all with the ability to produce premium grade gun barrels in all varieties.
About Jim Grant
Jim is a freelance writer, editor, and videographer for dozens of publications who loves anything and everything guns. While partial to modern military firearms and their civilian counterparts, he holds a special place in his heart for the greatest battle implement ever devised and other WW2 rifles. When he’s not reviewing guns or shooting for fun and competition, Jim can be found hiking and hunting with his wife Kimberly, and their dog Peanut in the South Carolina low country.
I had a nice Mauser 98 action that I sent in to Shaw (somewhere around 2015). They did a very nice job. They forged and polished the bolt, reblued the action/floorplate, and put a barrel on it in 6.5×55 per my request. The metal work was a fantastic job. I put it in a richards microfit AA walnut stock. Gorgeous rifle all around. Only problem was I couldn’t get it to shoot any better than 1.5 inches at 100yards. I tried all sorts of factory loads and hundreds of different reloads. I probably put ~800 rounds down it trying to… Read more »