I discovered a year ago that Hart Rifle Barrel Company is nearby and still open for business (I originally heard about them from a book published in 1971).
A quick e-mail got me an invitation to stop in to see the factory. Excellent people turning out a superior product from a small shop in my state. Whoooda thunk it? Family owned and operated since 1953.
If you don't know Hart, they produce stainless barrels of top quality for a reasonable price. The local law enforcement agencies have rifles made with Hart barrels, as does the US military. In fact their products are doing sniper service in Iraq.
While I was in the shop I saw a dozen or so barrels labeled with RCMP. That's right, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are using 30 cal sniper rifles with barrels by Hart.
The major ammo manufacturers also use Hart barrels to lot-test their ammo. These barrels are 2" dia monsters.
They turn out about 3500 barrels a year including some that are sold to end-users like us. They even have and in-house gunsmith (grandson of the original Clyde Hart) who will build you a custom gun from the ground up using Hart barrel, action and trigger of your choice (recommends cousins RW Hart of PA), and composite stocks. Michelle Hart says wood still looks great, but is an inferior performer to composites.
Michelle is married to Jack Sutton who heads up the company now. He has a host of BR titles under his belt, and his brother Bill shattered the IBS record in 2000 with a 300 yard aggregate of .1937.
I had to dig to find the info on the records. No one in the shop was willing to brag. I was VERY impressed that no one in the shop bashed any of the other top barrel makers. They spoke respectfully of Lilja, Shilen and Krieger.
At any rate, I just thought I would share. I am writing an article for my gunclub newsletter and thought I would spread the info around to a wider audience.
Kris in NY
