ABS Carbon Fiber wrapped Barrels

[Silverbullet2]

Guys,

I am considering rebarreling my wifes Rem 700 in 6MM (featherweight 20") to a ABS Carbon wrapped tube in 6.5-08. The weight will be the same, and I can get 24+ inches and the right twist for some of the better long range pills. Her current tube is a stock barrel and a twist for lighter bullets.

Anyone used one care to comment?

Thanks, JPG

 

[RemingtonSPS]

Re: ABS Carbon Fiber wrapped Barrels

There is a custom gun builder that uses them exclusively. He likes them. If i remember right he uses Saturn cut rifled blanks. I considered that route but i ended up doing 12 flutes on a varmit contour and finished and chambered at 22" it weighed about 3 lbs even. I personaly would do a fluted #5 contour if i was going for light weight and precision. Not knocking the ABS but to spend $900 to save 8oz was not worth it to me.

The Mcmillan Lite Tactical hunter uses a #5 Krieger contoured barrel and the accuracy test for 5 shots was .217" i believe. My buddy has a #5 that regularly does .3's for 5 shots.

Just food for thought.

 

[jbell]

Re: ABS Carbon Fiber wrapped Barrels

I am currently having some work done by Mike at ABS and cant say enough good things about Mike and his customer service. I think the rifle is going to be shipped out to me this week, and when I get it back Ill post my thoughts on it and how it shoots. Its a 26" 1-9 rock chambered for .243 win. Mike says he has gets excellant barrel life from his carbon wraped barrels b/c of the heat transfer. He told me his son has a .243 that has over 4000 rounds and shows no throat errosion like you would expect and accuracy is still as good as ever. I dont have any 1st hand knowledge on this but cant wait to find out. So if mikes products are as good as his customer service then they should be good to go. As far as the cost if I can get 2-3 time barrel life from the hotter calibers then its a good value IMO.

 

[jrob300]

Re: ABS Carbon Fiber wrapped Barrels

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: MuleHunter</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Not knocking the ABS but to spend $900 to save 8oz was not worth it to me.
</div></div>

MuleHunter,

I don't own one of these barrels, but lusted after one for awhile. The cost was the issue for me also.

But to be fair to them, the carbon-fiber wrap does more than cut weight. It provides significantly better heat dissipation than steel which leads to better barrel life for rounds that heat up throats really fast like my 300WM.

Just trying to make sure they get a fair representation.

John

 

[AK10mm]

Re: ABS Carbon Fiber wrapped Barrels

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jbell</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I am currently having some work done by Mike at ABS and cant say enough good things about Mike and his customer service. I think the rifle is going to be shipped out to me this week, and when I get it back Ill post my thoughts on it and how it shoots. Its a 26" 1-9 rock chambered for .243 win. Mike says he has gets excellant barrel life from his carbon wraped barrels b/c of the heat transfer. He told me his son has a .243 that has over 4000 rounds and shows no throat errosion like you would expect and accuracy is still as good as ever. I dont have any 1st hand knowledge on this but cant wait to find out. So if mikes products are as good as his customer service then they should be good to go. As far as the cost if I can get 2-3 time barrel life from the hotter calibers then its a good value IMO. </div></div>

2 to 3 times the barrel life? All because of being wrapped in carbon fiber? Calling BS on this.The ABS barrels are very nice and I'm even considering a Christensen Arms for a hunting rifle and they are all ABS barrels.I just don't buy the " 2 to 3 times the barrel life" BS.I do not disagree that you will get better barrel life,and they look pretty snazzy too.

 

[jrob300]

Re: ABS Carbon Fiber wrapped Barrels

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SANDRAT</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jbell</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I am currently having some work done by Mike at ABS and cant say enough good things about Mike and his customer service. I think the rifle is going to be shipped out to me this week, and when I get it back Ill post my thoughts on it and how it shoots. Its a 26" 1-9 rock chambered for .243 win. Mike says he has gets excellant barrel life from his carbon wraped barrels b/c of the heat transfer. He told me his son has a .243 that has over 4000 rounds and shows no throat errosion like you would expect and accuracy is still as good as ever. I dont have any 1st hand knowledge on this but cant wait to find out. So if mikes products are as good as his customer service then they should be good to go. As far as the cost if I can get 2-3 time barrel life from the hotter calibers then its a good value IMO. </div></div>

2 to 3 times the barrel life? All because of being wrapped in carbon fiber? Calling BS on this.The ABS barrels are very nice and I'm even considering a Christensen Arms for a hunting rifle and they are all ABS barrels.I just don't buy the " 2 to 3 times the barrel life" BS.I do not disagree that you will get better barrel life,and they look pretty snazzy too. </div></div>

Yeah,

This is what I was pointing out to MuleHunter. If it hadn't been for the high upfront investment, I would have tried one.

There is another guy on this site that's shooting one also, and I believe that he's getting high round count.

Heat buildup in the throat is what kills barrels. They start to heat check and then wear quickly just in front of the chamber. Most of us don't wait for the throat to cool between shots, thus shortening barrel life. The carbon material allegedly dissipates the heat much more quickly, allowing faster followup shots without the damage.

I will try to find the link to a writeup done about them. It was very intriguing.

John

 

[jrob300]

Re: ABS Carbon Fiber wrapped Barrels

Link:

http://www.shootingtimes.com/gunsmithing/ST_carbonsnext_200901/

John

 

[jrob300]

Re: ABS Carbon Fiber wrapped Barrels

Link to LRH forum page with IR and thermocouple testing comparing steel 300WM barrel to carbon wrapped:

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f19/abs-carbon-barrel-heat-dissipation-17423/index2.html

John

 

[jrob300]

Re: ABS Carbon Fiber wrapped Barrels

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SANDRAT</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I just don't buy the " 2 to 3 times the barrel life" BS.</div></div>

IIRC, the number I saw floated, was more like 25-30%.

John

 

[AK10mm]

Re: ABS Carbon Fiber wrapped Barrels

If it could actually double the accurate life of the barrel,the cost is still less,not to mention time factor on a custom barrel.

 

[Glen Seekins]

Re: ABS Carbon Fiber wrapped Barrels

I dont think Christian arms uses ABS barres, i believe they do their own unless something has changed...

We currently have or have had a 300wm, 7wsm and a couple others that shoot great. We have but haven't shot yet (still building) and 18" 7 twist for my AR, a 338 blank that will be a 338-408 and a .260. All rock barrels ABS wrapped.

For weight, a heavily fluted #5 contour will weigh very very close to the same as a ABS big contour barrel.

As far as heat goes, my 300wm didn't get hot and if it did warm up it cooled very fast. Heat is a huge barrel killer..

 

[jwp475]

Re: ABS Carbon Fiber wrapped Barrels



I have 4 ABS wrapped barrels and mine are Rock Creek. The ABS wrapped barrels disapate heat very fast.

 

[ranger1183]

Re: ABS Carbon Fiber wrapped Barrels

Hey Guys,

I have owned over a dozen ABS barrels. I have never had a bad ABS barrel.

In short, the pro's:

Very lightweight
Extremely rapid heat dissipation
Long barrel life due to heat being dissipated so quickly

The con's:
In very high demand, thus -
Expensive (running $900 and up these days)
Extreme waiting time (often +12 months) unless you can find one in stock.
Tiny percentage of gunsmiths are experienced with ABS barrels. (my ¢2 - use someone who has worked with ABS barrels)


Commonsense consequences of using ABS barrels:

An ABS barrel conducts heat away from the steel barrel core at such a high rate that you will see this heat mirage through your medium to high power rifle scope. The extremely rapid heat dissipation means I highly recommend the use of a mirage band on an ABS barreled rifle. Roedale Precision Mirage bands

Exceptions to this are lightweight hunting rifles that you are only going to fire a few rounds in a row.

- or -

an AR that uses iron sights, non-magnifying sights or very low power scopes (Eotech, Aimpoint, Acog) that are designed for "run and gun" type work. My favorite ever AR was an extremely lightweight AR that I mounted a 4x Acog on. I hardly noticed the weight of that rifle even when I carried it all day long.

Also:
Extremely light weight barrels mean that that your fundamentals of marksmanship become much more critical. Think about this. You are switching from a 14 - 20 pound purposely-made-heavy tactical rifle, to as light-weight rifle as possible. Your bad habits that you have been able to compensate for with that heavy beast will become very apparent with your ABS barreled rifle.


My advice? find an ABS barrel/rifle for sale or have Jense precision build you a rifle from the ground up.

Good shooting!

 

[RemingtonSPS]

Re: ABS Carbon Fiber wrapped Barrels

I'm definetly not knocking ABS. Like Glen said you can get really close in weight with a #5. A fluted #5 Melonited barrel would give you 50-100% better barrel life over a non-treated one and the cost of that blank would be $484 (Melonited and return shipped). I decided to go with Melonite for better barrel life and cost. I like the idea of the ABS barrels still and will eventually get one.

I want to try Melonite on the barrel then send it in to be wrapped. That would give a really durable throat WITH good heat dissipation. It would cost close to $1,000 just for the blank though and i can't afford that right now. I haven't talked to Mike about it yet either and am not sure if the ABS would work on a Melonited barrel.

 

[RemingtonSPS]

Re: ABS Carbon Fiber wrapped Barrels

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: MuleHunter</div><div class="ubbcode-body">There is a custom gun builder that uses them exclusively. He likes them. If i remember right he uses Saturn cut rifled blanks.</div></div>

Found him

http://jenseprecision.com/abs-barrels.html

I talked to this guy for a while when i was initially doing the research on using the ABS barrel. The wait time was a huge factor for me also, some guys are waiting 1 yr to get them. He is worth calling. He has had real good success with them out to 1,000 yds.

 

[jrob300]

Re: ABS Carbon Fiber wrapped Barrels

I realize that ABS is mentioned in the thread title, but it should be mentioned that not *all* carbon fiber wrapped barrels are created equal.

As far as I could tell during my internet travels, ABS's research was a lengthy journey to find a barrel that was light, strong AND dissipated heat effectively. Their original goal *was* heat dissipation, not necessarily light weight.

Just pointing this out in case someone see these claims and thinks XYZ Carbon Barrels is going to get them there. Not necessarily.

.02

John

ETA: Mulehunter, the Melonite/carbon wrapped idea is fascinating. A substantial investment, but if it shot, it'd be awesome.

 

[jbell]

Re: ABS Carbon Fiber wrapped Barrels

I dont want to start a pissing contest , as that seems to be common place here, but from talking to Mike at ABS his sons .243 has around 4000 rounds and still as good as new. I have seen .243 shot hot that had to be set back and rechambered before 2000 rounds. Now all that being said I dont have first hand experiance with the ABS yet, mines on the way. The other big thing I learned from talking to Mike is that most other carbon wraped barrels actually insulate the heat compounding the throat errosion and heat checking associated w/ hot rounds. The point I realy wanted to make with my original posting is how impressed I was with Mike in dealing with him. I will start a thread and let everyone know my impressions with the ABS barrels. I would love to hear from someone with extensive experiance using the ABS and their findings on actual throat errosion.

 

[jrob300]

Re: ABS Carbon Fiber wrapped Barrels

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jbell</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I dont want to start a pissing contest , as that seems to be common place here...</div></div>

If you read through a lot of the threads that spiral downward on this site, you'll typically find about three things in common:

Somebody makes a statement that doesn't hold water and won't humbly accept it.

Or

Somebody calls somebody else out.

Or

It's a thread about XYZ and some shit disturber has to come in and start touting the benefits of ABC.

That's not to say that there aren't guys on this site that seem to love to start a shitstorm, but for the most part if you're well informed, polite (well, at least fairly) quote your sources and take correction well, there shouldn't be a pissing contest.

Just the way I've watched it go down.

I don't see any of those things happening here (unless I missed something), so I think we're piss free.

John

 

[Tangodown911]

Re: ABS Carbon Fiber wrapped Barrels

I really regret reading all that. I was hoping for something worth wild.