Carbon Fiber barrels?

alberta tactical rifle said:
Unfortunately it is not quite that simple.
Even taking 2 identical barrels from the same maker, made 1 after the other you can have 2 wholly different experiences in accuracy, what load it likes and barrel life.

The only significant advantage I see to the CFW barrels is weight saving.
My experience with CFW barrels is that you can fire quite a few more rounds out of a barrel that has the CFW technology before the barrel deflects from heat. this is based on same cartridge and same barrel contour. The CFW barrel will get VERY hot as does the conventional barrel but will cool much faster.
Keep in mind that fire cracking will also be accelerated if a barrel is run hot, so barrel life will be decreased. This makes the increased cost of the CFW barrel even more exaggerated.

The guys at Proof are claiming that barrel life is better due to the better cooling of their barrels, this is partially due to their proprietary epoxy that is claimed to have significantly better thermal transfer than the other brands of CFW barrels, but in the real world I think 1 is splitting hairs here.

I guess the question YOU really need to address is what the rifles main purpose is going to be.
IF it is going to be primarily a target rifle where a high round count per year is the plan, a conventional stainless steel barrel would be my suggestion, partly for cost and partly as weight is not a huge issue. This is the reason 1 does not see many CFW barrels on the line at the competitions, serious competitors change barrels often and cost IS a factor.

Where I see the CFW barrels being an advantage is in a hybrid hunting rifle that is set up for long range work. To have the advantages of a heavy contour barrel but not the weight to have to hump around when hunting. Having 2 virtually identical rifles with a weight difference of 5 lbs makes a difference in my mind for a hunting application.
On a LR hunter optics such as the big NF or SBs tend to make for truly heavy rifles, coupled with a conventional heavy barrel you can end up with a 16 lb rifle which sucks when it comes to hiking around with it compared to the same rig that only weighs 11 lbs.
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Recent innovations by a few top tier barrel makers and the rise of PRS shooting is changing this discussion in a very positive way. New tooling to make barrel far more consistent then they have ever been. I test my new barrels with a known set up and over 10 barrels from 2 manfs with 2 contours, same barrel length, manf over 3 yrs, the loads are all within 0.3gr. Obviously, that is a sign of very consistent and good installation (thanks BARC) but it also goes to show that the wild variations that we have seen in the past is lessening.

PRS has grown alot in the US. This demands consistent cold bore shots and stable POI over longer strings of fire. With no sighters, you would be toast if your POI shifted over a course of fire cause you would have no idea what your true drop really was. Couldn't ask for a better environment for the attributes of CFB. Let's see if shooters adopt this tech in the coming year.

Barrel makers are testing new ideas to make their barrels more stable then ever before cause this sport is enhanced by light stable barrels. Running and gunning with the lightest possible rifle is going to help.

Someone who really competes, must practise and has more then 1 barrel on a rifle. So if the CFB barrel was superior, they would just play with their steel barrels and put on the CFB barrel on for matches. The cost isn't that big a deal when you are bringing home trophies and in the US/PRS series.... potentially big $$$ payday.

For US F class shooting, at the National level, trust me, money is no object for many shooters. String fire, very long relays, usually stupid hot conditions.... anything that will lead to a more stable platform is going to get tried. And if it works, it is going to dominate. This is the group that will bring multiple $8 to 10K rifles to a match.

I spent a little over $3k last year just getting to and from that match!!!!

Changes are being tried at the top levels of barrel making.... some will move the tech along... some will be dead ends. Carbon Wrapped or whatever the next idea is will be adopted IF there is a benefit to the competitor.

Let's get some feedback on how these barrels are shooting at LR...

Jerry
 
Brianma65 said:
The McGowan barrel from Fierce is listed at $675 U.S. The cheapest one , but may be a gamble.
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Do you mean McGowen Precision Barrels out of Montana?

If yes, give me a shout... I am sure I can get you anything you want for a fair price.

Thanks

Jerry

PS, I am unaware they made a CF barrel but that would be good news :)

Edit: just visited the Fierce site and see they do the wrapping in house... cool
 
Mystic Precision said:
Do you mean McGowen Precision Barrels out of Montana?

If yes, give me a shout... I am sure I can get you anything you want for a fair price.

Thanks

Jerry

PS, I am unaware they made a CF barrel but that would be good news :)

Edit: just visited the Fierce site and see they do the wrapping in house... cool
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If they are doing anything on site it should be the straight jacket, gives you 20 cold bore shots. Obviously would have to get an agreement with manufacturer, but worth so much more to heat transfer than carbon fibre wrapping.

I can't think of the company that designed it but it's relatively new tech
 
Fierce uses the Mcgowen blank but you have to deal with Fierce firearms Canada on Facebook.?Im not on Face book, so too bad as they are the cheapest. Core lane firearms in BC has Proof CFB barrels for $1500 and Christensen for $1000. Jerry if you can hook me up with something, I'm interested. I've dealt with you before and it was a pleasure.
 
Brianma65 said:
Fierce uses the Mcgowen blank but you have to deal with Fierce firearms Canada on Facebook.?Im not on Face book, so too bad as they are the cheapest. Core lane firearms in BC has Proof CFB barrels for $1500 and Christensen for $1000. Jerry if you can hook me up with something, I'm interested. I've dealt with you before and it was a pleasure.
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I can supply any barrel blank from Shilen, Krieger and McGowen but have nothing in CF wrapped at this time.

If/when it is proven to meet or beat the performance of conventional barrels, I will be all over that brand/product.

Good luck with your adventure and love to hear how you make out.

Love to hear how anybodies rig works out....

Jerry

PS Very happy to hear our past dealings were positive for you. Thanks for the business.
 
had a minute so googled various thermal conductive products. Very interesting science out there.

Didn't find a resin that conducted heat as well as steel but there are some really cool, new materials that blow the doors off Copper and other typical high heat conductive alloys.

I guess if we wanted to build F1 priced barrels, wowsa.

Jerry
 
Tagged for interest as I am also looking for a new barrel as well for my own hybrid LR/hunting rifle as well. Thought of going CF but cost and delay is quite an issue. Maybe could save the money and just buy a quad to lug a Bull barrel around. ha ha.

Newest thing I came across is this Straight Jacket barrel system by Teludyne Tech. Really looks like the science behind it is proving their claims true..wondering how to get it into Canada.
 
That's the stuff I was talking about
Father Hood said:
Tagged for interest as I am also looking for a new barrel as well for my own hybrid LR/hunting rifle as well. Thought of going CF but cost and delay is quite an issue. Maybe could save the money and just buy a quad to lug a Bull barrel around. ha ha.

Newest thing I came across is this Straight Jacket barrel system by Teludyne Tech. Really looks like the science behind it is proving their claims true..wondering how to get it into Canada.
Click to expand...
 
Father Hood said:
Tagged for interest as I am also looking for a new barrel as well for my own hybrid LR/hunting rifle as well. Thought of going CF but cost and delay is quite an issue. Maybe could save the money and just buy a quad to lug a Bull barrel around. ha ha.

Newest thing I came across is this Straight Jacket barrel system by Teludyne Tech. Really looks like the science behind it is proving their claims true..wondering how to get it into Canada.
Click to expand...
Corlane firearms has the Christenson CFB in stock, 24 inch barrel. ( I'm looking for a 20). Quoted $1000 .
 
Father Hood said:
Tagged for interest as I am also looking for a new barrel as well for my own hybrid LR/hunting rifle as well. Thought of going CF but cost and delay is quite an issue. Maybe could save the money and just buy a quad to lug a Bull barrel around. ha ha.

Newest thing I came across is this Straight Jacket barrel system by Teludyne Tech. Really looks like the science behind it is proving their claims true..wondering how to get it into Canada.
Click to expand...

I am sure you are aware many top tier barrels in sporter contours will put that cold bore shot into the group and follow that up with several more before anything "bad" might happen.

These would weigh less then a CF barrel.. certainly no more. A number of titantium actioned #2 and #1 contoured rifles built locally that will hammer those 3 to 4 rds into the group even at extended distances. At around 6lbs soaking wet, I think most can hoof them in the woods.

And in hunting situations, would you need more then 2rds? 5rds?

My PRS type rifle has a #4 contour chambered in a 6XC... shooting over a dozen rds, it put the last shot into the first group. This is a relatively small cartridge vs a 300WM or simlar but for hunting.... will you ever come close to need 3 or 4 mag changes?

Anyways, I will continue to look for new tech that will move the sport along. I hope that the makers of CF barrels continue to refine their art and that new materials get integrated.

Interesting stuff...

Jerry
 
Brianma65 said:
Yes 1 or 2 for hunting. But I put 135 rnds through last Saturday , in about 2 to 3 hrs.
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Shooting a rd a minute in typical fall temps isn't going to stress a quality barrel too much. Or shooting say 5 to 15rds in a few minutes, then letting it cool while you set up targets or whatever. All pretty typical.

Did you have issues with the rifle you were shooting?

Jerry

PS, when I was testing the Shilen barrel in 6XC, the point was to see if new techniques of manf were helping to keep the barrel stable. Shilen is making a big move into the PRS scene and this type of abuse is pretty typical. So I shot the rds as fast as I could cycle them including a mag change.

Monitored any changes in group size or point of impact shifting.

Barrel got to the point of burning my finger. Not good for bore life but sure puts the metal under alot of stress... shot great. I repeated the test 3 times so the barrel got beat up pretty good.

Repeated at LR and had no issue plopping the last rds on target at 965yds. Running bores this hot is not good for bore life regardless of how it is made, but it is moving the "art" of making barrels along.... and providing end users with competitive kit.

Also, doing this testing on heavy barrels in my FTR rifle. I stopped at 38rds fired in less then 15 minutes at 250yds this summer (ambient almost 30C). Last shot stayed in the group. Got a couple more barrels to install and abuse..... hopefully, the new methods work consistently over the production runs.

Fun, fun, fun....
 
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