The 2021 TBH/APR Special VOTING Thread

[Stick1]

Is a 20" barrel an option for #1 ?

If so, then put me down for #1

Yep!

[Buzzsaw]

These are cut-rifled. I was asked not to name the maker as it is a small shop that really doesn't want/need anymore demand. That said, it's not very hard to figure it out if you saw any of my posts the last couple years when we were developing it. Lol. The only thing that has changed is who is doing the wrapping. For those that can't or haven't figured it out yet, just know they are some of the best blanks on the planet, made by guys who focus a lot more on quality than quantity. We here, and a bunch of our customers run these barrels on our comp rigs and have done very well over the past several years with them. Personally, they are always my first choice on anything under 30 cal.

Here's a 100 yd and a 500 yd group from a customer's Dasher built on one of these blanks. Gun just went out last week!

i want this gun

[Stick1]

i want this gun

I tried to build you that EXACT gun! LOL

[Fordnandez]

Any idea what the cost might be around? I wouldnt feel right voting unless I could seriously consider buying one and cost is the biggest factor.

[Txhuntr2]

The core contour on this barrel has been optimized to work better with the heavier stuff. As a result, it is a few ounces heavier. I would caution that it is still a carbon fiber barrel. The nodes will still be a little farther apart and narrower than a steel barrel of the same contour. Accuracy potential will be the same, but load tuning could sometimes be more demanding on the CF versions. Something to always keep in mind if limited to factory ammo.

Robert, would you please flesh this out a little more of what to expect? As someone who doesn’t want to have to reload, would you advise against this rifle in 300wm? I have been very happy with my 2019 6.5PRC APR build using Hornady factory ammo and I was hoping to be able to use it with this build too.

[150class]

Updated total:

#1: 89 99

#2: 33 39

Questions: 4 8ish

Whichever: 1

[Slick8]

#1

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

[Reaper]

#1

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

[Stick1]

Robert, would you please flesh this out a little more of what to expect? As someone who doesn’t want to have to reload, would you advise against this rifle in 300wm? I have been very happy with my 2019 6.5PRC APR build using Hornady factory ammo and I was hoping to be able to use it with this build too.

I'll try to make this short, but probably won't succeed. Haha. Accuracy is a product of several factors, but we'll focus on harmonics mostly as that is the heart of this question.

Part 1 - Think of a barrel as a tuning fork, and ammo being the tool that changes it's resonance. Almost any ammo can have a high potential for accuracy, as long as it is fairly concentric, consistent in seating depth, neck tension and charge weights. Unfortunately, a bunch of factory ammo is not. But then again, a bunch of it is. It's very easy to see the difference by weight sorting, measuring the base to ogive or simply rolling some loaded factory ammo on a dead-flat surface looking for runout. The good stuff will reveal itself quickly. When you find that, your half way there. (You can greatly increase your odds of finding the "good stuff" easily by choosing modern cartridges that were brought to market as "precision" designs from the start....like the 6.5CM, PRC's, etc.)

Part 2 - The other half of the equation is getting that ammo to match up with a harmonic node or frequency in your barrel. It's basically an exit timing thing with your bullet. You can have the most consistent ammo in the world, but it will never shoot to it's potential in your rifle if it does not fall into a harmonic node your barrel likes. With handloads, you simply make adjustments until things come together. But factory ammo is what it is. You have zero control over quality, consistency or harmonic timing. Your barrel either likes it or you move onto another option.........if you have one. And if it does like it, you hope that the next lot you buy will be the same as the last.

Part 3 - Steel vs Carbon fiber. Zero difference in accuracy potential. Good examples of both will flat out shoot tiny bugholes when in tune. Steel barrels of the same diameter will always be stiffer than carbon fiber. Harmonically, they will appear to be more "stable". There are several reasons for this, but the end result is that a CF barrel will move more pushing the "nodes" further apart, and the lighter mass will make the nodes narrower or less "forgiving". That said, today's CF barrels are a huge step up from just a couple years ago and are much more forgiving or tolerant of ammo variations.........but still not on the level of a steel barrel of similar diameter. An example would be if you took one of each material and 5 different factory ammo variants in say 260 Rem, it would be reasonable to expect the steel barrel to like 2-3 of them while the CF might only like 1 or 2. However if you picked a round with great factory ammo support as a rule like a 6.5CM, you might expect the CF to like just as many as the steel. Which is why I always tell folks to hedge their bets with cartridge selection if factory ammo is on the menu. And the more powder capacity it has, the smaller your chances of landing in a "node" start to become.

Part 4 - You can have your cake and eat it too. You obviously can't tune the ammo when running factory options. However, with the resurgence in popularity of barrel tuners on the market now, you can have some control over tuning your barrel to work with the ammo you want to shoot. There are several dedicated tuners, tuners built into brakes and who knows what else coming down the pipeline right now. None are "pretty"(although the EC tuner brake isn't bad) but they all work very well from rimfires up to the bigger magnums. We have a version now that is set up for sporter-weight barrels and runs on your existing muzzle threads. That gives you a "plan B" if you can't find something your barrel likes, or you just want to shoot a specific ammo and it doesn't seem to be working out in your barrel.

That's about as short as I can make it giving a simple Cliff's notes explanation without going into the weeds on the technical details.

[kck]

But, but, but Robert...Everyone knows that barrel harmonics is a lie and Proof barrels are the best! (Sorry, I couldn't help myself) I'll discontinue my trolling now Extremely well written post by the way, hopefully people will listen

[Wild-billwjs]

#1

[acc05R1]

#1

[mdb0531]

1

[topshot]

Numbah 2!

[Metzger]

1