carbon fiber barrel or stainless

If your comparing large contour barrels, steel to carbon wrapped, yes there can be some meaningful weight difference, if your comparing contours smaller then say a #5, its really much less then you would think.

carbon wrapped barrels ARE NOT stiffer then all steel barrels in spite of the sales pitch given for years. pound for pound yes, carbon is stiffer then steel. a 4 pound cylinder of steel is a rifle barrel, a 4 pound cylinder of carbon is so large it has no use as a barrel…..

as far as heat goes, some will argue the carbon sucks heat out of the bore, others claim it will insulate heat and keep it in the bore……. I have no real opinion there

been fitting carbon wrapped barrels for over 15 years. Early ones were not good. Many still today are not good. Proof barrels have a habit of walking after the 5-6th shot from barrel heat. I know everyone will say they can out 20 rounds through their proof and impacts never change……. I test every rifle i build and ship, every proof i have tested would start ti walk after 5-6 firings. Generally not dramatically but they did. For a big game rifle this is really meaningless as the first 4-5 shots generally easily met my 1/2 moa accuracy at 800 yard requirements for my Carbon Stalker rifles.

I have since switched to Bartlein carbon wrapped and have yet to see any issues. Sorry to hear some have had bad results and even more sorry to hear no help from the company. That really surprises me the situation was handled that way. Not what i have seen from Bartlein but i also have never had to try to get a barrel replaced to be fair. I have used close to 50 bartlein carbon wrapped barrels to date and they have all met my accuracy standards easily and none have walked like the proof after heating up….. take it for what you will. Barrels like any machined item can leave the shops with issues. Its rare but we have testimony it happens. I have horor stories from most of the major US barrel makers over the years. No one produces a perfect product every time but when those issues happen, they should stand behind their products and customers. Not knowing every detail of the even i stay neutral.

hate christensen arms carbon barrels. Replaced more of them then i care to mention, crap. I hear they are better now but still would NEVER recommend a CA rifle or barrel. Any horor stories i can share on them……

for me, building rifles for over 20 years now professionally, i do not own a carbon wrapped barrel and never have. that should speak volumes. Not that i am against them, just that i can buy two stainless barrels for the price of one carbon wrapped barrel and in the end, all steel is stiffer in a rifle barrel contour……. Just not worth the added cost to me for my personal use.
 
It will be a varmint contour the hs precision stock is for a heavy varmint I want to get it a little lighter but it sounds like I may just stick with stainless
 
It will be a varmint contour the hs precision stock is for a heavy varmint I want to get it a little lighter but it sounds like I may just stick with stainless
I have varmint savage contour and proofs on my shelf if you want a weight. I have a pile of barrels on the shelf for comparison. If I recall it's quite a bit of difference. Let me know and I'll weigh them for you. I don't have a hunter without a carbon these days. For me it just doesn't make sense to not go carbon.
 
I don't have a hunter without a carbon these days. For me it just doesn't make sense to not go carbon.
I've transitioned to all carbon barrels on my hunting rigs as well. I just like them better... they seem to shoot better than skinny steel barrels with all of my suppressors, and I never go without a suppressor. Skinny steel barrels can get downright crabby to tune with a can on the end.

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Ok took some photos here is a 22" proof vs a 24" savage 116 fluted varmint. I have others I can post too
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I have a 28" proof here as well, for a way out there comparison. It's not threaded.

28" proof vs a 24" pencil weight savage.
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