Has anybody ever had luck with a prefit for a tikka or bighorn? Which one did you go with?

Don’t do it! Have it fit by a reputable smith, etc!
Too much can be wrong.

Never bought a prefit, have a few folks I know not happy with a prefit.

Take my comments as no personal experience, but I think having the smith fit it there’s no question.. which I have had more than 20 barrels done in my lifetime.

When I rebarrel my Tikka, it will be with a bugholes prefit.

The first one you do, it will cost the same in tools and fixtures as it would cost to have a smith set it up, but from that point on you have everything you need.

Shouldered prefit is different than a nut. Shouldered prefit would be alright if it was done right, I would have to ask some questions about their chambering setup and how they indicate a bore.

I don’t like nuts, they are a one size fits all and I’m a precision guy and that just isn’t anything I can wrap my head around. It’s part of my condition

I think he told you what you need to know.

Yup

The nut is getting a bad name I think. Judd I understand your obsession as well as others but you can get high quality prefit barrels that blow away factory stuff. I will say that the savage I built myself with a Proof barrel does not (yet) shoot as good as the Tikka I had built with an Obermyer. It does shoot damn good though. When I get some stock issues ironed out I think it’ll be up to speed. I fully acknowledge that I’ll never shoot on the level that you do, then again most on here never will. It’s just entertaining to me and the Savage nut helps me enjoy that.

Brother in-law has some standards that many of us are familiar with. The pre-fit barrel is a "maybe". The cut rifled barrel threaded and chambered for a specific action, by a guy that knows his business is a guarantee.

I plan on doing one soon on a Tikka from Prefferd Barrels. Gotta find some other parts first but the idea is to do a 6.5x47 to kinda learn and play with the caliber. I'm leaning towards the shouldered prefit even though I'm more familiar with savage barrel nut. For piece of mind, I plan on purchasing a set of go/no-go gauges.
Down the road I'd like a proper cut rifled barrel installed properly but this is a bridging solution.

Trigger warning for all the snowflakes, the following is just an opinion of a newb. I get what the so called "experts" say and it's not that I disagree. Just think there are other factors that make the decision not so cut-rifle and dry.

First of all like everything in the precision world, things have come a long way. I think on both the barrel and receiver making sides.
Secondly, sure when one is striving for supreme accuracy I understand there is only one road; cut-rifle barrel, Tony the gunsmith, in a gaymoor, nightforce blah, blah, blah. (That was supposed to be a bad joke.) Again get it. But some of us have a budget and there is some amount of diminishing return. I ain't the greatest shooter so why should I even spend $200 extra when I'll burn it out try to learn how to shoot and reload? Mostly arguing here that the return on accuracy per dollar, however one wishes to see that subject statement, is really good on pre-fits. Seems like a great price point and convenience level to learn things. My shilen prefit has taught me a lot.
Finally and most importantly for me, man do I love messing around in my shop and tinkering on things.

Btw, don't be fooled by the cost. Yes there is some in the initial tooling you'll need to buy to it gets much cheaper later. Because of my savage, I can do the next tikka easier. On the flip side, go actually price out the all out solution. It adds up quick. Not to mention the practical problem with finding a gunsmith. When you're a no one like me you're left with either a well known outfit with a huge wait time because you're not priority or just taking chances. Then again, I've been offered and used the apprentice more than once.
My main point, there's a place in the market for these, such as to pricks like me.

I have been perfectly happy with my prefit, it also has a nut. I completely believe that many of you expect and get more from the a rifle than I do as well.

KR prefits are available in cut rifling as well. Bartlein, Proof, and probably others. The bad news is they cost a premium. $600 all in for the Proof, I’m sure the others are similar. There’s always that, for a few dollars more issue.


Besides you have to remember to bring your ammo.

Nothing wrong with a buttoned barrel...I like cut and use cut primarily but I've had my donkey kicked more than once with a button barrel (Broughton and CBI come to mind first). The first two barrels off the lathe were button barrels that I got deals on and they both shoot, Wilson Arms. I'm sure I'll buy more button and cut...especially if availability suffers, we all might be buying what we can get versus what we want or prefer.

The nut works, don't take that wrong. I don't like a one size fit all approach to anything that I think precision, a rifle is one of those things. My first rifle was a Savage long action in a 30-06 with nut that I had rebarreled to a shouldered Gaymoor before it was cool to have one. It shot the 30-06 nut versus a gunsmith fitted shouldered McGowen replacement and both shot well, the shouldered was a little tighter but both plenty good enough to hunt with. Like JG said...it's about stacking the odds in your favor.

Here's a funny...I'd tried a bunch of different barrels and the only bad one I've gotten thus far, a Krieger of all things. They are known for being one of the best cut barrels you can get. I've also had some good ones but I don't buy them now as my first pick. Brux is what I've primarily used in the benchrest world and is typically my first choice in barrels.

KR - Don't buy a no go. Find the clear packing tape that is .003-.004 thick (measure with your calipers if needed) and make a piece of tape that fits on the bolt face side of the go gauge...use that as your no go. . Now every time you go to buy a no go...PayPal me $10 and look at it as a 75% savings I'm serious...the only no go's I have are used ones I've picked up as a set and it was cheap to buy the no go.

This just keeps on getting better. Captain Creedmoor (aka Judd) was an early adopter of the best cartridge ever developed.

Not really...the 30-06 kicks the dog [censored] out of me. I'd rather shoot a 28 Nosler or 7mag over a 30-06...just something about the combination of a case full of H4350 and my shoulder just doesn't like it. I won't argue the virtues of a 30-06 but best ever??? I don't know that I can agree with that.

Too son bro, too soon. Some wounds cut deep. haha, did I feel like a moron at that moment.

Judd, I was just buying them as a set because the tape trick just seemed too much like ghetto rigging but I might consider it.

I forgot my bolt one tournament...don't feel bad My dumb donkey had unpacked everything had flags out and rifle sitting in rest and couldn't find my bolt. It was a Borden drop port, no one had one like it or I would've just borrowed a bolt...no dice. I became range master at that time So dumb...I been there and feel your pain.

It's 100% ghetto...but most use that trick and if it's .003-.004 then that's all you need...saves $ and tooling is one of the biggest expenses.