It Works! It Works! At least I think it worked.
I finally made it to the shooting range today. My friend with the truck that needed fixing wasn't able to make it again this week so I was a free man.
Fortunately I had already loaded up a box full of ammo I'd put together for load-workup meant to be shot with my previous Spiral-Fluted bull barrel. I also had some medium power loads I'd made up for fire forming purposes that I used as sighters just to get me on paper.
I had no illusions of going to the range and stacking bullets at a hundred yards right off the bat. I'm generally not that lucky. It takes me two or three range sessions to get dialed in. My first 15 or 20 fire forming loads were four to six inches off the mark. I kept over clicking my 1/4 MOA turrets so that rookie move made me end up shooting just as far off to the opposite side of my aim point. I finally got that centered so I moved out to 100 yards.
With the rifle now being as light as it is I had a hard time keeping the cross-hairs on the bullseye. I couldn't believe what a difference that lighter weight made in steadying my aim. The fire forming rounds were made up of some left over 55 grain Dog-Town factory blemished bullets I had in my storage closet for God knows how long. Those were my medium power loads and they were all still in the 223 Remington brass case configuration. I had twenty-five 50-grain soft points and 20 rounds of 45-grain soft point all on top of Benchmark powder.
Even as unsteady as that light rifle was I managed to get a couple of MOA groups out of the 50 grain bullets. It wasn't until I'd just about fired all my ammo that I finally figured out how to best mount and hold the rifle to get some better accuracy. I had to shoot it like it was a pellet gun to get tighter groups. The 45 grain soft points gave me the best groups of the day; and, they did so at the highest charge weight I'd loaded up. For me this means that they would also be the highest velocity of the bunch too.
I had my Film-Through-Scope TactaCam camera with me and I did get some video of it but my 16 power scope and the poor quality of the video this camera delivers made for some not so impressive video captures. Still, I did get some video that I'll be uploading. I just have to split it up and edit it down to one minute snippets in order to be able to uploaded for your viewing. I also took photos of my targets before I took them down. When I got home to take a look at them they were no where to be found. I did keep those targets for future reference so I'll have to just snap some pics of them to show you.
Initial cold-bore temperature of my Carbon Fiber barrel before firing any shots was 50.9 degree Fahrenheit. I'd fire three of those fire forming cartridges and then take temperature readings at the chamber end, at the muzzle and through one of the small oblong breather holes in the Carbon fiber Tube. After each three shots I'd measure in the same locations. After the first three shots the temperature went up to 53.2 degrees. I noticed that at each location that I put the laser thermometer on the temperatures were different from one another so I then started just recording only the highest measurement.
After nine rounds fired the temperature climbed to 72 degrees. Then after firing the last fire forming round -number 15- the temperature measured 84 degrees. Each three shots in succession were spaced no more than about 30 seconds apart or however long it takes to cycle the action. It took slightly longer to load three more rounds into the magazine then insert it into the reciever for the next three shot volley.
Ambient temperatures were what this native Arizonan considers to be a cold morning. This most likely contributed to the barrel not heating up as much as it might have if I were conducting this test in the dead of summer. At any rate, after firing that last fire forming round the firing line went cold to give shooters the chance to run out and change their targets or do whatever they needed to do before the next session started up. By then my rifle barrel had cooled down to a measured 65 degrees Fahrenheit. After the sixth round of the new shooting session it was back up to 83 degrees. After the ninth round it was 94 degrees; 12th round it went to 100 degrees. After twenty rounds fired my laser thermometer never registered anything hotter than 105 degree Fahrenheit. It kind of left me wondering because I thought surely it should have gotten hotter than this by now but, I don't really know. I've never shot a Carbon Fiber wrapped barrel before today.
The only points of reference I have are those YouTube videos I watched of guys rattling off thirty round magazine full's in under a minute. Their measured temperatures only went into the 150s even after that. It wasn't until the third or fourth magazine full that they started to climb into the 200 degree mark.
So, what am I to deduce from this particular range session shooting my DIY Carbon Fiber wrapped rifle barrel??? Right now I'm inclined to call it a cold weather success because I got no signs of delamination, weakening or deformity from the Carbon Fiber Tube itself. In fact, only if I put my hand on the metal parts at the muzzle and the chamber end could I feel anything resembling high heat.
Again; If I was running this test during the Arizona summer I may have gotten a different outcome. I'm going to keep the barrel in place until then and make a few more treks to the shooting range in the upcoming weeks just to confirm that this wasn't a weather related fluke.
Those 45 grain soft points showed signs of real promise when I shot those latter rounds. The fifty grainers also gave me some MOA groups so I'm not ruling those out either. They just need a bit more work. Next time I'll take my chronograph so I can get some velocity readings. I also want to see if I get any points-of-impact changes when I put my suppressor on.
This is an addition to what I've already described above. I thought of this after I'd already posted this comment. As crazy as this may sound, I'm thinking about next time I'll also take along a Kitchen-Thermometer so that I can slip it into the bore at the muzzle and the chamber end. Hopefully it won't explode inside my bore. They a appear to be rated up to 520 degrees and the probe looks like it's a small enough diameter but I'll have to do some checking before I actually do this.
I'll be back.
HollowPoint
I'll upload those pics and those short clips of video once I get them edited down.
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Preliminary Carbon Fiber Tube Testing
I'm still working on those video clips. I got one of them edited down to an uploadable size but the other two; the ones I took with the FTS Tactacam camera came out so washed out at the center of the image that I can't repair them with the video editing software I have to work with.
I was in the shade filming through the scope at a target that was reflecting sunlight right back at the Tactacam camera and the inbedded software adjustmenets that came with this camera are so rudimentary that there was no adjustment I could make that would make these video clips any more visible.
I haven't given up on them just yet. I have another video editing software that I downloaded some time ago that has many more editing features but I'm going to have to learn how to use that software before I can use it to try to fix these washed out video clips.
The photos I took of the two targets from this same range session came out a whole lot clearer. That's because I used my SLR camera to photograph them. You can find those below. I tried to include explanitory text along with the photos so I hope they don't end up being more confusing that clarifying.
I went to the range with a batch of 55 grain Dog-Town fire-forming loads on top of some 3031 powder that were still in the shape of common 223 remington brass. I also had 25 rounds of previously fire-formed 50 grain soft points and 20 rounds of 45 grain soft points that were loaded with varying charge weights of Benchmark powder.
As I already mentioned in my previous post, the 45 grain soft points showed great promise and the 50 grain soft points gave me a couple of MOA groups but nothing any tighter than that. I was just happy to get what I got out of them; and extremely happy that my Carbon Fiber wrapped barrel ended this testing session none the worse for wear. I did have to shoot most of my ammo before finally setting down to where I was then able to get some decent accuracy.
I still have a bit more editing to do before I upload any of this stuff onto my Instagram account but for now, here are those target photos.
HollowPoint
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Spare DIY Extended Magazines
It looks like I'll have another chance to get to the shooting range again next week some time. I've been chomping at the bit to get back out there to do some more testing.
While I've been waiting for that opportunity I've spent a little time Tweaking my 3D printed Extended Magazine models so as to get them to work with both the 223 Remington configuration cartridges and the 223 Ackley Improved cartridges. When I modified my existing DIY Magazine by using a metal insert to facilitate reliable cycling, although it did make it work reliably, it also made it alot heavier too. I figured that an all ABS-plastic mag would be much lighter. I had to print out a total of three magazines before I finally got the dimensions just right so they feed reliably. I know that doesn't sound like much but when you figure that each magazine takes eleven and a half hours to print (not including the base-plate, the follower and the spring-follower, that's alot of printing hours. But, I just started each print at about 7:30 or eight-O-clock at night and they were ready when I woke up the next morning.
The magazine design was originally meant to hold 9 rounds but all I had on hand was some .055" Music-Wire which was a bit on the thick side for this application. I had run out of the .047" Music-Wire and my local hardware store was out of the thinner wire as well so my magazines will only accept a total of 8 rounds; and even then I have to cram that 8th round into the magazine. I don't really like doing that because I feel like I'm crushing to spring to much. For now I'm only loading seven rounds into them. Once I get my hands on some more .047" spring-wire I'll make up a new set of springs so I can load the full nine rounds into these DIY Extended magazines.
I uploaded my only image of these 3D printed magazines onto my Instagram account; along with a short video clip showing that they actually work. The link is as follows:
https://youtu.be/Jw-9KSglaPY
I'll be back with updates when I've had a chance to finish up that second round of testing.
HollowPoint
Good News/Bad News/Frustrating News
I got a chance to conduct my second round of range tests on my DIY Carbon Fiber Barrel this morning. I'm going to start out with the Frustrating news first and try to work my way toward some sense of happiness and accomplishment.
Have you ever gone hunting or to the shooting range or on a fishing trip in anticipation of good things, only to find out you had forgotten your fishing rod or your tackle box; or your bullets or your hunting license? I had set everything I planned to take with me to the range right by the back door so I wouldn't forget any of it. This time around it was that new Kitchen Thermometer that I had purchased just so I could get more precise temperature readings by sticking the probe of that thermometer into the bore of my Carbon Fiber wrapped barrel rather than trying to take temperature readings on the outside surface of the barrel. I did still have the laser thermometer in my range bag but that thermometer was just not giving me accurate readings.
Another frustration was that I had been hoping to get my DIY Film-Through-My-Rifle-Scope attachment finished by now so that I could document these things I'm sharing with you here. With the internet being rife with liars and exaggerators I wanted to be able to show you, not just tell you how things went for me this time out. My existing TactaCam camera with it's FTS attachement has failed each time out to give me anything I would consider to be decent footage of my outings. ( an expensive P-O-S) With my DIY attachment I believe I'll be able to get far clearer documentation when I attempt to film through my scope. These were the frustrations I faced on this morning's shooting range outing.
The bad news had to do with the 4-inch shifts of my Points of Impact on target when I put my suppressor on. Granted, I got the same results when this same rifle was in it's factory configuration with a 22" pencil thin barrel but, I was really hoping that with the larger diameter of the barrel as it was now at only 18" long and with the Carbon Fiber tube in place it would have displayed a bit more rigidity than with it's skinny factory barrel on. With the factory barrel on this rifle my points of impact only dropped about two-and-a-half inches and a bit to the right. This morning when I aimed for the center of the bullseyes my bullets were hitting 4" low; both the 45 grain soft points and the 50 grain soft points.
In addition to these lower impact points I found that my groups opened up from the MOA and Sub-MOA groups I got before with my 50 Grain loads and the 45 Grain loads respectively. That surprised me because usually when I've mounted my suppressor it tended to tighten my groups just a bit. Not this time. They were still in five shot clusters of about an inch and a quarter or so with a pesky flyer that would open the group up a bit more but they were no longer MOA or Sub-MOA groups. My suppressor is a stainless steel mono-core baffle design with a titanium outer tube so it is on the heavy side but still, 4" was a bit much in my opinion.
The Good News? I loaded up 15 fresh rounds in the same 45 and 50 grain soft points I went out with in my first testing session. I started with the charge weights that showed the most promise in my previous outing. I got pretty close to the same group sizes with the promising loads so that was a good sign. It showed me that the first outing may not have been a fluke. At five rounds for each charge weights I loaded the promising loads and then two more charge weights that I increased by .3 grain increments. I should tell you here that I've been using load data for the 223 Remington to work up loads for this 223 Ackley improved so I felt safe increasing the charge weights by a bit over the 223 Remington maximum charge weights; and in point of fact I got no pressure signs with any of my loads.
With the 45 grain soft points at the same promising charge weight of 27.6 grains I managed to pull off another Sub-MOA group. I also got a Sub-MOA group with this same bullet and 27.3 grains so I think that this may be a sweet spot. Incidentally, one of the pieces of equipment that I didn't forget to take with me was my barrel mounted chronograph. At 27.3 grains of Benchmark powder I was getting an average of 3338 FPS and with the 27.6 grain charge weight I got an average of 3346 FPS. I also fired five rounds with a charge weight of 27.9 grains of Benchmark powder but my group opened up to four within an inch and a flyer that opened the group up to a good two inches. It turns out that my concerns about going to a shorter barrel and loosing some velocity may have been unfounded. For me this is good news.
The 50 grain soft points on top of Benchmark powder Still managed to give me a couple of MOA groups similar to my last outing's results so, here too I'm thinking that this DIY Carbon Fiber wrapped barrel is holding it's points of impact as long as I hold my aim as steady as I can.
At 26.5 grains of powder I was getting an average velocity of 3170 FPS from that 18" Carbon Fiber barrel. At 26.8 grains of powder I got an average of 3200 FPS. 26.8 grains was one of the promising loads from my previous trip to the range. It gave me similar results. I say "Similar" only because I managed to screw it up by shooting a flyer that opened up an otherwise promising repeat of the last group I shot with this particular load. It opened the group up to about 1 1/4". At 27.1 grains I got an average velocity of 3230 FPS with the 50 grain soft points; and this was my tightest group yet with the 50 grainers. It measured just under an inch at a hundred yards.
These groups and velocities were all good news for me. So long as I didn't mount the suppressor my groups seemed to fall in line with my previous range testing groups. Further good news was the fact that the Carbon Fiber tube itself showed no ill effects from this range session either; and this time around I really did fire with less of an eye for keeping the barrel as cool as possible. Each five round charge weight was fired in under a minute; give or take a few second here and there. I put my laser thermometer on my suppressor at one point and I got a temperature reading of 172 degree Fahrenheit. At the same time, readings on the barrel itself were only registering no more than 76 degrees Fahrenheit. I knew these readings weren't even close to reality. Oh well, I plan on doing one more range test then I'm calling this project completed. I'm also calling it a success. I would still much prefer a Carbon Fiber tube with more heat resistance though. Something along the lines of maybe 400 degrees Fahrenheit of heat resistance. I can't help but think that with more heat resistance perhaps my points of impact would not have dropped by four inches. I don't know if this line of reasoning is correct or not but it just sticks in my mind. The higher the heat resistance of the Carbon Fiber composite the better, I think.
I did take my Cheap action cam camera with me and I did get some sporadic and short video shots. I also got some still photographs of my groups but I have yet to edit them down to a small enough file size so I can upload them to my Instagram account or my YouTube account. I'll try to get that done this weekend some time.
I believe that one more range session is in order. I want to make sure that my previous two sessions were not a psychological or placebo-type of anomally. I can say with complete confidence now that my DIY Carbon Fiber Wrapped barrel project is really a viable choice for anyone who would like a Carbon Fiber wrapped barrel but have shied away from them because of the price. If you have a metal lathe and the know-how to use it, this may be a doable alternative for you. Even better still would be to just save up your nickels and dimes for as long as it takes and just buy one premade. Nothing wrong with that.
I'll be back with those pics I mentioned a little later. Thanks for sticking around everyone.
HollowPoint
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I'm All Ready For My Last Range Testing Session
I got my next batch of ammo all loaded up. I'll be testing to confirm my previous sub-MOA loads were/are the real deal. I found in that last testing session that My Carbon Fiber barrel seemed to be holding up well with the slightly faster back to back firing of my load workup loads.
This time around I've made sure to bring along both my thermometers; the laser thermometer and the newer kitchen-thermometer. I'm really hoping to get some more accurate temperature readings with that kitchen-thermometer. I'm looking at sometime next week for my next foray to the range. The timing is good cause the weather here in Arizona is starting to get a bit warmer compared to the last two times I went out. I'm curious to see if the warmer ambient temperatures will translate to a hotter barrel.
Another thing too is the fact that I finally got my 3D printed SmartPhone scope mounts done. I've tested them on my air guns in the back yard and they seem to work just fine but, my air guns have no recoil to speak of so I have yet to see how these 3D printed scope attachments hold up to the recoil of a 223. They should be alright but I won't know for sure till I try them.
I figure that documented video proof is probably better than me just making written claims about the suitability of the type of Carbon Fiber tubes I've used for this DIY Carbon Fiber Barrel project. The same goes for my claims of accuracy and my marksmanship. (or lack thereof)
Anyway, I thought you all might like to see what I was talking about with respect to that 3D Printed scope mount setup for my smartphones. I happen to have three old no longer in service smart phones so I made some dedicated adapters for each model. One Android phone, one iPhone 5s and an old HTC smart phone. All came with on board video cameras so I thought I'd put them to use. The HTC cell phone adapter is not yet printed cause I ran out of print filament. I ordered some more so once it gets here I'll print out that last adapter.
One other thing I should mention about my 3D printed smartphone scope mounts is that I made one as a side mount unit that allows me to still be able to sight through the scope in typical fashion and the other is made to sit on the back end of my scopes and sight via the live feed of the cell phone's video camera. The main bodies of my scope attachments are sized to be able to use the same plastic sleeves that came with my Tactacam Camera's FTS unit. I could have printed my own but since I already had these factory made Tactacam sleeves I just used those instead.
Here is my CAD rendering of the 3D printed units I've already printed out. I'll be back once I've finished up that last range session.
HollowPoint
My Last Shooting Range Tests
I finally got a chance to get to the shooting range today after being rained out twice and then being Corona'd into staying put for a time.
It amazes me how psychotic some people have gotten over this virus thing. Even on the shooting range it was a completely different atmosphere. I guess I'm lucky cause my life really hasn't been altered to much other than having to deal with scared people.
All of that aside, I'm happy to report that my Carbon Fiber Barrel project is still holding it's previous accuracy potential. I got the same or similar points of impact. I got several MOA groups and I would have gotten the same or similar sub-MOA groups if my marksman wasn't so inconsistent. I've had very little range time or trigger time lately.
With nearly every five shot group I sent down range I managed to pull flyers. I knew they were going to fly away from the group the moment I squeezed the trigger; I just knew it. I'd get a ragged hole group started then I'd pull the next shot or the next two shots.
My excuse for these flyers is the lighter weight of my rifle now that it wears the lighter Carbon Fiber wrapped barrel. Yea, I'm sure that if I still had my heavy spiral fluted bull barrel on I'd still be able to come up with an excuse for my lousy shooting technique but still, I'm happy with the overall results I got all three time I've been at the shooting range. An accurate rifle is what I was hoping for with this project. It's to bad my marksmanship couldn't have equaled the accuracy potential of this Home-Smithed Tikka T3 light.
This time out the 50 grain soft points were wanting to give me ragged hole groups before I screwed them up with flyers. The 45 grain soft points were still giving me MOA groups but just barely.
I also loaded up some of the 55 grain Dog-Town bullets I bought a few years back but they didn't do well at all.
Next time I'm out shooting it will be to hunt coyotes. Now that I know what this Carbon Fiber barrel can do I'm confident that if I get a clear shot at a coyote I'll be able to put him down out to three hundred yards with the fifty-grain pills.
I did take some photos and some video but I have yet to edit those video clips. I'll try to get them done by the end of the week and post them with my final thoughts.
I'm seriously thinking about re-doing my Tikka Hunter rifle now. I rebarreled that particular rifle about a year and a half ago and it too was made nose heavy by that re-barreling job. If I can get the components together over the summer I may just go ahead and lighten that rifle up with another home-smithed Carbon Fiber wrapped barrel.
I know how to do it now; and I know it will work.
Incidentally, I took that long-nosed kitchen thermometer with me to the range today. I could'nt figure out why it was giving me such low numbers. Both at the muzzle and at the chamber end it was reading in the high 30s and low to mid 40 degrees. (ambient temps were 67-68 degrees) I thought that this themometer too was just a useless piece of excrement like the digital thermometer I had used prevously. Then I realized I had it set for Celsius instead of Fahrenheit. What an idiot.
Anyway, I wasn't exactly taking it easy on the barrel. I was shooting my loaded cartridges five rounds a session in under a minute and then as soon as I reloaded the magazine I did the same with very little time for the barrel to cool. The thermometer never read more than 140 to 142 degrees Fahrenheit. I'm thinking it had to have gotten a bit hotter than that but even then it never reached the stated 250 degree tolerance level of the Carbon Fiber composite tube I used in this project.
I'm not to concerned about what anyone thinks about my Carbon Fiber wrapped barrel project at this point. I'm calling it a success. My points of impact have remained the same or nearly the same over about 90 rounds of different weights from 45, 50 and 55 grains. It was only my marksmanship or lack thereof that has caused variations. I'll be back after I've had a chance to edit those video clips.
For those of you who have been following this thread, Thanks for sticking around this long. Sorry it took so long to get this final range session done.
One last thing I want to mention to any of you Arizona shooters. I just found out this morning at the shooting range that they raised the price of shooting at that range from ten bucks to fifteen bucks so now this hobby just got a bit more expensive. I don't know if this only applies to the Usery Pass shooting range or if it applies to all shooting ranges across the state. Just thought I'd let you know. That price hike to effect today.
HollowPoint
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Not Impressive At First Glance
I thought I'd upload a pic of the latest targets I shot during my last time out to the shooting range. At first glance they don't look very impressive but when you consider that I was there to test the effects of a more rapid shooting pace to see how the heat generated would affect my home made Carbon Fiber barrel, I'd say the barrel and the Carbon Fiber tube it wears passed with flying colors.
What impressed me the most was that I got very similar groups, points of impact and velocities when compared to the last two times I did these range tests. I only wish I had taken my time between shots. This may have mitigated alot of the ugly flyers I was getting. No matter now.
As I mentioned before, the three topmost bullseyes of the top page were shot with the 45 grain Speer Soft-Points. I kept the charge weights the same as the charge weights from the last two range sessions that gave me the best results. Except for the last five rounds, which I had increased the charge weights of, those five rounds threw my point of impact farther to the left and made them more disbursed.
The lower two bullseyes of the top page and the upper left bullseye of the lower page were shot with the Speer 50 grain Soft-Points. Here I started out with very tight clusters only to be opened up by my inability to hold steady enough. I should have taken my mechanical rest with the remote trigger. Then I might have been able to take my human error out of the equation but I just didn't think of doing that at the time. Maybe then I could have stacked those 50 grainers one on top of another at a hundred yards. Oh well, maybe next time.
The three lower-most bullseyes of the bottom page were shot with the 55 grain Dog-Town bullets I got from MidwayUSA several years ago. I still have a bunch on the shelf so I thought I'd try them to see if they would shoot for me. Those 55 grainers weren't quite as cooperative as the lighter Soft-Points. I've basically been using them for fireforming my 223 Remington brass to 223 AI brass.
I hope to go coyote hunting within the next couple of weeks. I think I've proven to myself everything I needed to know regarding my home made Carbon Fiber wrapped barrel project. I still have to edit those short video clips I took during this range session. It's just three 3-minute clips but it's a total of nine minutes of footage I have to whittle it down to one minute in order to upload it to my Instagram page. I can make it a bit longer for my YouTube page but it takes my antiquated computer equipment a long time to upload even a five or six minute snippet of video.
I'll be back when I get that done.
HollowPoint
I Finally Got Those Video Clips Whittled Down
I make my videos on antiquated computer equipment. It takes me two to three hours to edit them. Then I have to wait about a half hour to fourty-five minutes more for my computer to struggle through the file saving process. Then I have to wait another half hour for this same Windows-7 laptop computer to convert the movie from a Windows Movie Maker file to an MP4 file so I can upload it to my YouTube account.
All of my videos are short, choppy and poorly made but they're good enough to show that my projects eventually end up successful; if I don't give up on them.
Here's my short choppy video of the last range testing session of the DIY Carbon Fiber wrapped rifle barrel that is the topic of this long winded thread.
I hope to be doing one more of these DIY Carbon Fiber wrapped rifle barrels before the summer is over. Now that I know how to do them it shouldn't take me nearly as long.
I know I said in my previous post that this would most likely be my last comment on this thread but, I want to take this same Tikka rifle out on a coyote hunt. If I have a successful hunt I may resurrect this thread just to show off a bit; then I can call that post, "The last post."
I think this topic of Carbon Fiber wrapped rifle barrels might have gotten a bit more interest if I had posted it on the "Special Projects" section of this forum but at the time I started it I thought it had more to do with gunsmithing than anything else. I did attempt to contact the powers that be here via an email to ask if they could move this thread over to the "Special Projects" section but I never got a response and I just didn't do any followup on it.
Thanks alot for sticking around everyone.
HollowPoint
https://youtu.be/cD4huqlSc2k