Titanium Wrapped Barrels?

[LeadZeke]

There are now two companies making titanium wrapped barrels: Drake Associates and Northtech Defense. Drake does them for AR15s, AR10s, and bolt guns, whereas Northtech is just AR15s. No real reviews online for either even though the Drake has been out damn near two years. Although back in the beginning it was the same for Proof's CF barrels.

Plenty of marketing hype on both sites, but would there actually be any benefits to this vs. carbon fiber wraps from companies like Proof? The costs are similar, and they are all doing the same basic thing; wrapping a steel liner with a lighter but stiffer material to save weight but preserve accuracy. How would TI compare to CF for that application?

 

[phlegm]

Speculating here:

Titanium could be more robust, but could also be harder to join.

CF and it's accompanying epoxy could dampen vibration more, but could de-laminate (remotely possible, at least).

Each will have different heat characteristics, but I don't know enough to guess which would be preferable.

 

[THEIS]

Hi,

The Gunwright Technologies process being marketed by Drake Associates is not "wrapped"...it is sprayed.

US9695489B1 - Gun barrel manufacturing methods - Google Patents

A method of forming a gun barrel is disclosed that includes applying one or more coatings to the gun barrel such as just a top coating, or a bond coating and then a top coating. The method may also include (before applying one or more coatings): threading an outer surface of the gun barrel...

patents.google.com

Gunwright Technologies use to (a few years ago) have a very informative website with details and images but now it seems their website is purely a landing/contact page so I am not sure what that is all about.

The Northech Defense does indeed appear to be "sleeved" just as Lothar Walther has done with their aluminum sleeves for decades.

Sincerely,
Theis

 

[phlegm]

Hi,

The Gunwright Technologies process being marketed by Drake Associates is not "wrapped"...it is sprayed.

US9695489B1 - Gun barrel manufacturing methods - Google Patents

A method of forming a gun barrel is disclosed that includes applying one or more coatings to the gun barrel such as just a top coating, or a bond coating and then a top coating. The method may also include (before applying one or more coatings): threading an outer surface of the gun barrel...

patents.google.com

Gunwright Technologies use to (a few years ago) have a very informative website with details and images but now it seems their website is purely a landing/contact page so I am not sure what that is all about.

The Northech Defense does indeed appear to be "sleeved" just as Lothar Walther has done with their aluminum sleeves for decades.

Sincerely,
Theis

Perhaps they've licensed the process to the extent that it isn't advantageous to publish any more information about it.

 

[THEIS]

Perhaps they've licensed the process to the extent that it isn't advantageous to publish any more information about it.

Hi,

And yet one can get more information from that patent document than any image or website could ever pass on,

Sincerely,
Theis

 

[phlegm]

Hi,

And yet one can get more information from that patent document than any image or website could ever pass on,

Sincerely,
Theis

Agreed. That's why I love patents so much.

 

[LeadZeke]

Interesting info in the patent. Short of someone coming in this thread that has experience with the TI barrels, I guess my question as a layman is: "is there any reason to think that the TI wrap/spray will be more rigid (especially under heat) than CF?" And how does TI handle heat vs. CF?

 

[KTAK]

Considering how many suppressors contain TI components, I don't think the kind of heat you get off a barrel would have any detrimental effect... got no I idea if there would be a positive benefit on the barrel wrap/spray

 

[LeadZeke]

Yeah I'm thinking it might exhibit even less POI shift under heat than the CF wraps which is why I'm curious. But I'm not expert so I figured I'd ask. I'm sure it depends on the amount and type of TI used as well.

 

[AMGtuned]

StraightJacket barrel system. Been wrapping in SS, Aluminum, and Titanium for years.

 

[AMGtuned]

Descent Into Madness: Intro to Teludyne Tech and the “Straight Jacket” - The New Rifleman

Over the last few years, the quality in the A15 barrel market has improved substantially... even basic, free floated barrels have been shown capable of 1 MOA or better with quality ammunition. Not only has the quality improved, but so has the pricing. In spite of any advancements the market has...

www.thenewrifleman.com

 

[LeadZeke]

Yeah I like the Straight Jacket / Falkor Dracos barrels with their jacket filling. But they are heavier than light-medium/light contour barrels, not lighter like pure TI/CF. More in competition with heavy-medium/heavy barrels. They aren't exactly competition for Proof Research barrels by weight, which is kinda the point of the pure-TI-jacket barrels. At least as I understand it.

Would be very interesting to see them all tested against each other like they did with the Straight Jacket and the Proof barrels in the last Litz book.

 

[AMGtuned]

Pretty sure the Aluminum jacket might be lighter than the Ti. Dont quote me, it would depend length and gauge used.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

I'd be more concerned about stiffness and deformation/warping under heat. The Titanium would appear to me to be far superior to Aluminum in these respects.

The l-W barrel design is an excellent one, and I had a dialogue going with them back when they first came out. They were, unfortunately, priced out of my reach, but even that could not swerve my admiration for an elegant fix to a significant issue inherent in all barrels.

IMHO, the titanium approach is a further step up.

IMHO, issues might relate to thermal transfer between the two metals; with thermal conductive resins, etc., providing a big benefit here. They are employed in a big way within the electronics industry.

Greg