Carbon Fiber AR-15 Barrels.... Yay or Nay?

[OfcrFek 21]

A coworker just showed me a site where he purchased a carbon fiber AR15 barrel for an ultralight build. While it looked nice, it was about $500-$600! Anyone ever used one of these in their builds? I'm really curious on just how much lighter the front end of the rifle feels and how durable they are....

[tj462nj 32]

I have one on my Magnum Research .22 rifle, definetly much lighter

[302w 83]

I googled it and it seems like a terrible idea. What sounds the worst is how steel and carbon fiber don't like to expand the same when heated.

 

Try a pencil barrel.

[fishnut 2,358]

^ yup carbon fiber can also be brittle in the cold. Back when I used to play lacrosse at the beginning of the season when it was still cold out carbon fiber sticks would shatter when hit hard by an aluminum stick. Once the weather warmed up though it was never an issue.  

[n4p226r 105]

The guy from the army marksmanship unit just won a national natch using one

[Vlad G 345]

The guy from the army marksmanship unit just won a national natch using one

 

Keep in mind those guys experiment with LOTS of things and they change parts and stuff all the time. The parts also don't cost them any money. You may be able to win a match anything if you have the talent and training they do, but that is different then paying your own money for something and living with it for a long enough time.

[raz-0 1,259]

There's really only one maker of them left that sells directly to end users.

 

For a bolt action, they can be a net positive letting you get what would be an 11-13lb gun without optics down to 6-7lbs, and the usage pattern doesn't work against the material.

 

With an ar barrel, they take off less metal, and rapid fire is more common. Carbon fiber conducts heat well. Carbon fiber in epoxy sucks at the job. Between heat and uv, I wouldn't expect great durability. Historically with previous makers (one of which was bougt to form the current maker), the main issue was delamination.

 

I did a lot of research on them when I was considering one for a build. My take away was that they were no more accurate than normal construction, and you had to be prepared for bench rest type economics. I.e. Be prepared to shell out $700+ for a barrel you shouldn't expect more than 3-4k rounds for a lifespan from.

 

It's an expensive option, and that price isn't just what's on the price tag.

 

If a $4k ar sounds like chump change to you, why not. If a $2k at sounds expensive to you, spend that cash on something other than a cf wrapped barrel.