Carbon fiber wrapped barrels

[Buano]

I'm building a new rifle. I'm leaning towards a bartlein carbon fiber barrel for weight. This will be a 80-20 hunting vs target build. What are the cons and disadvantages of carbon fiber barrels?
I like the weight of the carbon but when I'm at the range how many rounds can I put down range before it heats up and isn't as accurate?
This is my first build with carbon barrel and from what I understand once the stock is built around a carbon barrel you cannot really go back to a steel barrel.
Is the barrel life that much lower then a steel barrel?
Any input on carbon vs steel would be appreciated

Carbon is a better conductor of heat than is steel. Because of this, carbon barrels dissipate heat and maintain their accuracy better than steel barrels. You should expect less point of impact change with carbon fiber than with steel as you fire consecutive rounds.

The disadvantages of a quality carbon fiber wrapped barrel are the extra dollars to buy one and the loss of mass to absorb recoil.

 

[preventec47]

A CF barrel is NOT stiffer than the same cross section metal barrel. However a CF barrel IS stiffer than a same weight metal barrel partly because the CF cross section would be much bigger. I am curious, on the rifles using CF wrapped around a steel inner core, are they usually wrapped to larger diameters than the solid steel barrels ? In other words do the CF barrels look like TARGET barrel rifles ? My concern with CF barrels is that there is no CF technology that does not involve an adhesive matrix and right now the best matrix is hi temp epoxy. BUT it is not very high temp compared to glowing red metal. I believe that it would
be pretty easy to damage a CF barrel by shooting it to the temp at which the epoxy matrix suffers damage. I would say shoot it till hot to touch and then no more until the barrel cools.

 

[Mram10us]

We had Kampfeld customs flute a bunch of Remington varmint contour barrels. The spiral fluted saved 8 ounces. The straight flutes saved 6 ounces. The wrought iron saved more than both but cant remember the exact number. Regarding fluted #5, I'll get the weight of a blank when i get home. Sorry OP if we are taking this away from your intent.

 

[Mc Fraser]

I went with an HCA Heavy Hunter barrel for my 300 PRC built. In my research, I discovered that HCA uses a different technique to wrap the barrels which give the barrel much-needed stiffness. They also use less resin which helps with heat dissipation. I noticed by reading this forum ppl that complain about carbon wrapped barrels heating up fast have Proof barrels. If it's a hunting rifle it doest makes a difference, you only need one shoot, two at the most. HCA uses benchmark barrels, as a mech engineer I could not pass this opportunity. They use different techniques to relieve stress and their manufacturing process is also pretty darn good.
I'm sure there are many other good barrels out there, but not all of them are willing to share technical information, so I had to pass. To me is very important to understand the manufacturing and QC process to make my own decision if the barrel will "shoot lights out" as many other barrel makers like using fancy words to market their products. Unfortunately for them, I specialize in CNC and industrial robots, so when they talk about very tight tolerances they better be ready to back that up. Industrial robots can easily hold tolerances in the range of microns ...
In a nutshell that's how I shop around, I need technical data to draw my own conclusions.

 

[112Savage]

I recently purchased a CF barrel from carbon six but have yet to receive it. The main determinant in my purchasing that barrel was weight. Here is why:

This is for a hunting rifle in a hunting weight 280AI
I use suppressors (necessitates using a muzzle diameter of at least 0.735" and my suppressors weigh between 12oz and 16oz.)

To get a muzzle diameter of 0.735 you have to go to a bartlein #4 contour or similar.
a CF sendero contour barrel with standard 2.5 shank and 1" muzzle shank weighs about 3.1 pounds on a 26" barrel
A non-fluted #4 contour steel barrel weighs 4.5 pounds at 26"

All together with a carbonfiber barrel and the suppressor my rig will weigh about the same as it would if I had a steel barrel with no suppressor.

There is no way that spiral fluting is going to reduce barrel weight by 1.4 pounds.
If I were a target shooter and/or did not plan to shoot suppressed I would go with a steel barrel due to cost alone.

 

[Skimbleshanks]

Carbon is a better conductor of heat than is steel. Because of this, carbon barrels dissipate heat and maintain their accuracy better than steel barrels.

Carbon fiber is NOT a better conductor of heat than steel. In fact it is used as insulation in the soles of some mountaineering boots.

 

[Ron Milby]

My personal experience is CF have great cold bore shots and they will walk with a long shot string. I have personally burned through a few 28 Nosler Proof barrels. I now baby them and do not shot more than 5 shots.

For 80% of your shooting, hunting, you are going to like it. For the other 20% of your shooting, target, you may be disappointed.

I have steering away from them and going to thin steel barrels for my light weight hinting rifles. So far, they are very accurate. I still try to limit the long strings. For the long strings, I use my heavy steel barrel rifles.

Good luck on your build!

 

[SSG Graybush]

What I want in all my rifles is reliable accuracy, and for me, a Carbon Fiber barrel was a great discovery. For my first hunting rifle build (+ some range shooting), I wanted a lighter rifle. After a lot of research, I decided to go with a Proof Research CF barrel and a AG Composites CF stock to reduce weight. The 8.2# gun is a 300 PRC with a Fat B gen 3 muzzle brake. Following Proof's recommended break in, I shot two 3-shot groups and two 5-shot groups at 100 yards. Each group was in the 0.4MOA range. The main pros of CF barrels are weight and stiffness. I believe it.
I do have a custom Bartlein ss barrel in my unbraked Remington 700 BDL 7mm mag rifle, and it also is a sub 0.5MOA hunting rifle. My bench rifle is a 15# MPA 6.5PRC with an M24 ss barrel. This rifle exceeds its 0.3MOA guarantee and is incredibly accurate. IMO, the answers to all of your CF questions are positive, and my next hunting rifle build will also have a CF barrel

I have a OMR CF 26" 7 RM 8T barrel on a LR hunting rig. It shoots .4 to .5 inch groups at 100 and does very good at 1000 yards with a 180 vld-h also.
The only knock I have on CF barrels is the mirage off the barrel after 5 or 6 shots when its hot out. For a hunting rig, this is a non issue but I wouldnt put a CF barrel on a match rifle. My scope is as tight to the barrel as possible and has only just enough room for the caps to close.
My next hunting rig will be a OMR CF 22" inch 270 wsm or 7 saum. Or maybe save money and buy the new model 70 Tungsten in 300 wsm.

 

[coyotezapper]

In Bryan Litz's book, Modern Advancements in Long Range Shooting I came away with the following info on the comparisons between steel and CF barrels.

1. CF barrels heat up slower but cools down slower.
2. CF is not stiffer than equal diameter steel. Both steel and CF of equal diameters were compared and when a weight is placed at one end of each, CF has more deflection. But this does not mean that CF is less accurate. Consistent vibration wave length is the important factor.

 

[JAM07Sport]

I was torn when I built my 300 win mag on a model 70 action trying to keep it light. I ended up with a Bartlein 2b finished at 26in. will shoot one hole 3 shot groups at 100yds. Shoots sub minute out to 700 which is the farthest I have shot it. Hang the 16oz suppressor on it and it has a -1.75 MOA shift with no windage shift. At a #5 you are going to have a lot more stiffness then the 2b. For me it always comes down to bang for my buck. You can buy 2 stainless barrels for for every carbon and accuracy will be the same in a cold bore to 3 shot group.

 

[Pacecount]

I have a proof carbon fiber barrel on my 6.5 CM that shoots one ragged hole. I had someone build me a 7mm w a carbon barrel but we could never get < .7 MOA. I built another 7mm w a carbon barrel and it shot but was inconsistent after the first group.

Where am I going?... base on my personal experience I like a carbon barrels except on belted magnums.

pull out the popcorn!

 

[preventec47]

Carbon fiber is NOT a better conductor of heat than steel. In fact it is used as insulation in the soles of some mountaineering boots.

Just plain wrong. A diamond has the highest thermoconductivity rating in the universe.
It is pure carbon tightly compacted. CF as manufactured is not nearly so dense but still the same material. Google will easily show you are wrong.

 

[Warbird2006]

I think they are great for hunting applications. But if you go to F-Calls or FTR shoots, no one shoots carbon. Few try PR matches. Just saying...

 

[Ranger Rick]

I have a OMR CF 26" 7 RM 8T barrel on a LR hunting rig. It shoots .4 to .5 inch groups at 100 and does very good at 1000 yards with a 180 vld-h also.
The only knock I have on CF barrels is the mirage off the barrel after 5 or 6 shots when its hot out. For a hunting rig, this is a non issue but I wouldnt put a CF barrel on a match rifle. My scope is as tight to the barrel as possible and has only just enough room for the caps to close.
My next hunting rig will be a OMR CF 22" inch 270 wsm or 7 saum. Or maybe save money and buy the new model 70 Tungsten in 300 wsm.

Right on, and I like your plans for your next hunting, especially going with a 7 SAUM