carbon fiber barrel or stainless

[koathmann]

It will be on a winchester heavy varmint so should not need inletting. What brand smiths have yall used I would like to save some weight

 

[Mike Matteson]

Interesting! I wasn't aware of this. First time here as of late I had a reamer purchased to work over the barrel. You have me wondering now. My new rifle is very heavy in the front end, but I knew that going in. Hard not when using a 30" barrel. Exterior barrel fluting is a lost of metal that controls the movement of the barrel. Looks good, but that may add to barrel movement. It's only money!

 

[338 dude]

It will be on a winchester heavy varmint so should not need inletting. What brand smiths have yall used I would like to save some weight

At least in my area I would HIGHLY recommend bug holes a.k.a. Southern precision rifle's!

 

[7.62 Gunner]

I have a push feed Winchester heavy varmint I want to turn into a 22 Creedmoor. I have been thinking carbon fiber to reduce weight but have been having trouble finding one. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Next are they worth the extra cost over stainless,

I'd get a deep fluted #5 over CF any day, that should put you around 3.5 lbs at 24"
I also had a bad experience with a CF barrel, the wrapping process induced enough stress to actually warp the barrel.
It shot all over the place and my smith confirmed it was one of the crookedest bores he'd seen.
Well apparently it still met the specs so I was SOL.

 

[Rick Richard]

Unless you are willing to Inlet your barrel channel etc then stick with steel. Me, I've never had a carbon not perform very well so I'm a fan. They look good to me, balance the rifle for hunting better, and perform as good as any other brand of steel barrel I've had. Only negative I've found is cost but that's subjective. Some dudes claim their 4000.00 scope is superior to a 3000.00 scope. So guys claim their 3000.00 scope is better. Arguements never end. My determination is that you will be happy whichever you go but if you've never had a carbon, why not find out for yourself.

By the time you purchase a steel barrel and then have it fluted assuming that is what you would do, then there is not a whole lot of difference in the price between the two. Just saying.

 

[JakeC]

I love the way my heavy stainless 24" barrel shoots and I don't mind the weight necessarily, just where the weight is. Because it's a walking around gun I wish I had gone carbon. I was scared of recoil because of neck injuries but it's a non-issue. I also thought I was going to do a lot more target shooting but I got into archery instead. It's incredibly imbalanced, it wants to flip over when I'm carrying on a sling and even if I drop it into a shooting aid in the wrong spot. Living just outside the gates of Hades this time of year I also wish I had less thermal mass, but I wouldn't trade that for the downsides of a thin barrel which I'm guessing is the boat you're in.

So, two sides to the coin: with a mild brake I can spot my hits reasonably well from a 180g bullet doing 2700. But it's deeply aggravating to handle in some situations. All depends on what you're using it for, as other have said. If you want a fat barrel and you're carrying it, go carbon. Wish I had. Not that recoil is an issue for a 22 creed, just an example of prioritizing.

more machining= more variables is an excellent observation made above, but that certainly applies to fluting too.

 

[338 dude]

I love the way my heavy stainless 24" barrel shoots and I don't mind the weight necessarily, just where the weight is. Because it's a walking around gun I wish I had gone carbon. I was scared of recoil because of neck injuries but it's a non-issue. I also thought I was going to do a lot more target shooting but I got into archery instead. It's incredibly imbalanced, it wants to flip over when I'm carrying on a sling and even if I drop it into a shooting aid in the wrong spot. Living just outside the gates of Hades this time of year I also wish I had less thermal mass, but I wouldn't trade that for the downsides of a thin barrel which I'm guessing is the boat you're in.

So, two sides to the coin: with a mild brake I can spot my hits reasonably well from a 180g bullet doing 2700. But it's deeply aggravating to handle in some situations. All depends on what you're using it for, as other have said. If you want a fat barrel and you're carrying it, go carbon. Wish I had.

more machining= more variables is an excellent observation made above, but that certainly applies to fluting too.

Why not take two more inches off your 24 inch barrel make it a 22 it would improve the balance probably only lose 50 ft./s if that

 

[JakeC]

Why not take two more inches off your 24 inch barrel make it a 22 it would improve the balance probably only lose 50 ft./s if that

I'm thinking of that, or maybe down to 20, but 1) if I'm going to pay someone to cut and rethread it I could just sell the very accurate barrel with 100 rounds in it then buy a carbon instead 2) it didn't handle that great when it was a 20" creedmoor 3) it's a 7 saum so I suspect that I'd be losing more than the average fps/in. Maybe not.

It's a good idea, that's just where I'm at today.

Edit, 1b) if I went short I might still want to go carbon to run a can without losing balance.

 

[338 dude]

I'm thinking of that, or maybe down to 20, but 1) if I'm going to pay someone to cut and rethread it I could just sell the very accurate barrel with 100 rounds in it then buy a carbon instead 2) it didn't handle that great when it was a 20" creedmoor 3) it's a 7 saum so I suspect that I'd be losing more than the average fps/in. Maybe not.

It's a good idea, that's just where I'm at today.

Edit, 1b) if I went short I might still want to go carbon to run a can without losing balance.

That's exactly what I'm doing in my 65x284 I've gone from 26 to 22 carbon bartlein.

 

[JakeC]

It will be on a winchester heavy varmint so should not need inletting. What brand smiths have yall used I would like to save some weight

I'm a prefit fan and I had a great experience with crown ridge barrels. Anthony's the total package and he lists 3 different 22 creed reamers. I have no idea about winchester threads and I've never heard of anyone prefitting one, but he offers a ship-in traditional fitting service and he has carbons around, can get more too. He's my only smith experience and it was outstanding.

 

[RockyMtnMT]

I'm thinking of that, or maybe down to 20, but 1) if I'm going to pay someone to cut and rethread it I could just sell the very accurate barrel with 100 rounds in it then buy a carbon instead 2) it didn't handle that great when it was a 20" creedmoor 3) it's a 7 saum so I suspect that I'd be losing more than the average fps/in. Maybe not.

It's a good idea, that's just where I'm at today.

Edit, 1b) if I went short I might still want to go carbon to run a can without losing balance.

You could add a little weight to the butt of the rifle. Probably wouldn't take much.

 

[BrentM]

By the time you purchase a steel barrel and then have it fluted assuming that is what you would do, then there is not a whole lot of difference in the price between the two. Just saying.

Having a smith inlet a stock adds cost. I do all my own so it's just my time but also some people don't want to modify stocks. There is a pile of personal opinion and preferences in builds that are endless. I have fluted ss barrels that perform and look good. Still prefer carbon

 

[JakeC]

You could add a little weight to the butt of the rifle. Probably wouldn't take much.

Yeah it's on the to do list. Shot it today and it's just irritating. Shot your bullets actually, just sat down to put the data in the thread.

 

[Stevenstl86]

Going carbon is roughly 1/2 lb is weight savings and a possible headache. I have a 22" proof sendero on a AG composite all terrain stock. I love it because of how light and balanced it is after I worked out the barrel issues out. The gun would group but not with a suppressor no matter what I did. Proof cs was really helpful. After this ordeal my latest build was with a bartlein ss barrel.

I don't have any experience with bartleins carbon barrels yet but I will try one soon. I'm wanting to do another short 16" .308