Phoenix Barrels

02/03/2026

A quick snapshot of the new mill in action — now fully wired and officially up and running.

We’re excited to bring barrel fluting in-house, giving us even more control over precision, finish, and turnaround times.

We now offer three fluting options:
• Straight
• Spiral
• Intermittent

Whether you’re building your dream custom rifle or upgrading your current setup, just ask your RFD about fluting options when ordering your barrel.

22/12/2025

Following on with our customer series of Instagram posts, next in line is Steve Kershaw fi****ms.

Steve Kershaw Fi****ms
Location: Howden, East Yorkshire
Established: 1994

Steve Kershaw is a specialist gun dealer and custom rifle builder serving customers across the full hunting and sporting spectrum. With over three decades of experience, the company has built a strong reputation for producing high-accuracy custom rifles for both hunting and competition, while also catering to a wide range of budgets to ensure accessibility for every customer.

All rifles are built to consistent, exacting standards, using proven components and methods to deliver reliable, repeatable accuracy. In addition to bespoke builds, Steve maintains an ongoing selection of nearly-new custom rifles, all of which are fully serviced and test-fired to confirm representative accuracy at 100 yards.

The company also provides professional rifle-smithing services to the trade, including sound moderator fitting for gun shops throughout the UK and Ireland. Thanks to comprehensive in-house machining capability, all work is completed without the delays associated with outsourcing.

In-house services include re-barrelling using a wide selection of popular reamers, muzzle threading (UNF, UNEF, and Metric), composite stock fitting with pillar bedding and adjustments, walnut stock alterations including casting for height and alignment, and general rifle-smith work on all factory-produced rifles.

Customer satisfaction remains central to the business philosophy. Clients are offered honest, practical advice and the opportunity to test prospective rifles on the company’s range, ensuring each rifle is correctly matched to the shooter. Steve prides itself on personal service, technical expertise, and a continual drive to improve both products and customer experience.

The company trades directly with its customer base and does not list prices online. Customers are encouraged to phone to discuss rifles and reloading accessories, where factory-direct best pricing will be offered wherever possible.

06/11/2025

Phoenix Barrels - Customer Series

Over the next few months we are going to shine a spotlight on some of our great customers and the fantastic work that they do in fitting our high quality products onto high quality actions to create competition winning equipment.

In no particular order we’re starting with JR fi****ms.

JR Fi****ms
Contact: info@jrfi****ms.co.uk
Contact Name: Jack Rollings

JR Fi****ms is a custom rifle builder specialising in all sporting and hunting disciplines. Established over ten years ago, the company has developed a strong nationwide customer base, serving both retail and trade clients.

With significant investment in both manual and CNC machinery, JR Fi****ms is able to offer a complete range of services entirely in-house. The company uses only high-quality components and trusted suppliers that have been thoroughly tested over time, ensuring each customer receives exceptional service and timely delivery.

JR Fi****ms prides itself on outstanding customer service and a commitment to building rifles that deliver the highest levels of accuracy, tailored to each customer’s specific needs. Their rifles have been built for some of the finest shooters and are actively competing at elite levels across multiple disciplines in the UK, throughout Europe, and in the USA.

****ms

02/10/2025

We’re incredibly lucky to have one of these in our workshop — a Sunnen barrel hone! 🔧✨

While a few barrel makers in the U.S. have invested in this technology, it’s still a rare sight here in Europe — if there are any others at all.

This precision machine uses super-abrasive stones that expand and contract to achieve exact bore sizes, offering far more flexibility than a traditional solid carbide reamer, which is limited to just one fixed size.

We mainly use the hone for military contracts and large-batch orders, where custom bore dimensions are required to suit specific climates, pressures, or end-user needs.

And the surface finish it leaves? Unmatched — making the final lapping process smoother and more consistent than ever. 🧼🎯

22/09/2025

We’re always looking for ways to improve — and we’ve made a solid upgrade to our cutter box coating: moving from TiN to Tufftride.

This matte black coating isn’t just for looks — it offers superior wear resistance and a deeper surface hardness than TiN, giving our tools longer life and more consistent performance.

Tufftride is the trademarked name for a salt bath nitrocarburizing process — a heat treatment that diffuses nitrogen and carbon into the surface of ferrous materials, making them tougher and more durable.

We don’t make changes lightly — this has been tested for 6 months on a single tool before rolling it out across all calibres. Safe to say: it’s a serious upgrade for us, and a better result for you.

23/07/2024

23/07/2024

Matching the rifling hook “back angle” to the cutter box is essential for smooth operation.

To do this, we use a Jones & Shipman surface grinder, armed with a diamond wheel that can cut through the tough carbide block which is brazed onto the hook base.

The hook is placed within two precision vices and set using calibrated angle blocks. A few minutes grinding then gives us that perfect angle we need!

27/06/2024

As rifle barrel makers we do a lot of “patching out”…….and I mean a lot. Every process needs inspection and that means cleaning the internal bore.

We could use fancy cleaning products that cost a premium but instead we use a simple alternative that works pretty well.

Kitchen towel, by the bucket load!

You cut it in half and depending on calibre, tear it to the correct length and patch out with a brass jag.

A little “Swiss Family Robinson” but works a treat and saves us a fair chunk of money.

Give it a go if you ever run out of the cloth patches.

23/05/2024

16/05/2024

Just casting the final laps for our prize barrels going to the “Phoenix Barrel Burner” PRS match.

This is being held on the 24th and 25th of August at Pro Shoot ranges. There will be 6 in total up for grabs in 6.5 and 6mm calibres. They are contoured in our unique PRS profile, which helped us design and produce.

Hopefully this will be a great weekend to remember and Phoenix are proud to sponsor such a dynamic and cool shooting discipline!

24/04/2024

As barrel makers, we are constantly looking for ways to improve our product, no matter how small the gain is.

When we transitioned from Sassen to Phoenix barrels, the directors wanted to invest in up to date, modern tooling to try and get ahead of our rivals.

One way we attempted this, was by upgrading our “single” carbide gun-drills to “double” carbide.

As you can see from the photos, these “double” carbide drills are considerably longer. The main reason for this is the “back bore pilot/burnisher” that follows the freshly cut hole the front “working” section produces.

Simply put, it ensures the gun-drill cuts extremely straight holes, to the extent of being 30%-50% greater than the single carbide type (calibre dependant).

As mentioned in a previous post, every other operation in barrel production then datum’s off this drilled hole!

Machining it as accurately as possible, ensures the transcending “tolerance stack” is as small as possible.

We believe this is showing real world results, most recently with the success Phoenix had at the South African World Championships, with barrels exceeding 34 inches in length.