Accuracy the H barrel Lithgows are capable of?

[granitebeltian]

Hey fellas, how's it going?

So I'm in a bit of a conundrum. I was all ready to save up and set aside some cash for a new .223 20" fluted varmint Howa and load up with 70/73 grain Bergers to replace my previous .308 Howa for F class, until I got thinking about the heavy barreled Lithgows that almost always seem to be on the used guns websites...

but what sort of accuracy are these old girls capable of? Are they more often than not fussy with boat tails/flatbase bullets? Is there a particular barrel brand to look for?

It's tempting me because I'd be getting a rifle for both my weekend long range shooting, and adding another milsurp to my 'collection' (so far it only consists of an M91/31 Carcano and m1903 8x57 Turkish Mauser).

But I also feel like I could be opening a can of tin worms that needs lots of tweaking when I could just buy a Howa that will shoot great out of the box. Any help and thoughts appreciated!

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[tbonesmith]

Hey fellas, how's it going?

So I'm in a bit of a conundrum. I was all ready to save up and set aside some cash for a new .223 20" fluted varmint Howa and load up with 70/73 grain Bergers to replace my previous .308 Howa for F class, until I got thinking about the heavy barreled Lithgows that almost always seem to be on the used guns websites...

but what sort of accuracy are these old girls capable of? Are they more often than not fussy with boat tails/flatbase bullets? Is there a particular barrel brand to look for?

It's tempting me because I'd be getting a rifle for both my weekend long range shooting, and adding another milsurp to my 'collection' (so far it only consists of an M91/31 Carcano and m1903 8x57 Turkish Mauser).

But I also feel like I could be opening a can of tin worms that needs lots of tweaking when I could just buy a Howa that will shoot great out of the box. Any help and thoughts appreciated!

You should be able to achieve about 2moa with a well tuned no1 with a H barrel. And yes the setup is very fussy, but relatively permanent/long term once established. Some will shoot better and some worse but 2moa is a typical good result.
Plenty of people get great results with the Sierra and Hornady 174 grainers.

[henry r]

tom, have you found the walthar lothar or armalon barrels the same or better than a new Lithgow H?

[tbonesmith]

The Lothar Walther and Armalon barrels are both excellent, as are new old stock Lithgow H barrels. The Lothar Walther H profile SMLE barrels i have are every bit as good as the originals and probably better with tighter chambering. Also being button broached means they will last longer than the cut originals.