Carbon Six Barrel Review

[Shooter264]

If you do any searches on the internet on these barrels, very little information is available. I happened to come across one of these barrels for a very good price so I thought I'd give it a shot. I put together a 6.5 Creedmoor for my son for his 14th birthday using the Carbon Six barrel as well as some other parts I had laying around. The build consisted of a blueprinted 700 Remington, timney trigger, McMillian varmint edge stock, leupold VX5, and The Carbon Six barrel. Rifle came in right at 7lbs 10 ounces complete. I still need to Bush the bolt so I can run the lapua srp brass so until then I figured I'd just shoot some factory ammo through it to get the bbl broke in and see how it would group. I fired one round and cleaned for 3 rounds. After the third round, I was no longer getting any copper out of the bbl. The breakin on this bbl was on par with any Proof barrel I have owned. I then took it to the range using Hornady Precision Hunter 143 Eldx to get it on paper and to see how it would group. To be completely honest, I was expecting it to be a .75-1moa gun. I was completely shocked to find out that every group I shot was well under a .5 moa. After shooting 3 groups of 3 and 1 round to get it on paper, the biggest group measured .385" center to center. The smallest was .280". I took the rifle home and cleaned it after 10 rounds and the rifle showed no signs of copper. Although this review may be a little premature since the rifle only has 13 rounds fired through it, I am impressed with these barrels for the money. Will I quit buying Proofs and switch to Carbon Six? Probably not, but for the budget minded builder that wants a carbon barrel, I think this is a very viable option. I will probably update this thread as time goes on after I get the bolt bushed and start loading for this gun.

 

[BEEMAN]

Nice gun and good review. You may not need to Bush the bolt/firing pin. No problems with my last 6.5x47 built off a 700 action. Shoots the 130 Accubond at 2900 fps with Lapua brass. I was worried it may be a problem but so far so good.

 

[Crowe284]

Tagging in. Have been looking at these for a while. Good looking rifle and a lefty to boot! If your son just hates light weight tack drivers, I'll take it off your hands! Nice job.

 

[Country Bumpkin]

Would you like to adopt me?

 

[huntaxhunta]

I've only been around two of Christensen's Carbons. Both were adapted to Model 70 Winchesters, a 300 Win Mag and a 7mm Rem Mag.

1) Both guns shot sub MOA angles where before they were terrible (hence the barrel changes)
2) Shaved gun weight noticably
3) Ugly (but I used to think synthetic stocks were ugly, too, and I got over it)

 

[Rich Coyle]

3) Ugly (but I used to think synthetic stocks were ugly, too, and I got over it)

Is a fluted barrel ugly? How about brakes larger diameter than the barrel?

 

[martinakl]

CarbonSix is offering a lot of customization and fast twist rates that I don't see Proof or Christensen offering.

For example, I just ordered a CarbonSix in 30 Cal, 1:8 twist, 1.350" shank, 1" muzzle, 27" length. Building a 300 Norma.

I'm hoping for similar, sub .5 MOA, groups.

 

[Crowe284]

CarbonSix is offering a lot of customization and fast twist rates that I don't see Proof or Christensen offering.

For example, I just ordered a CarbonSix in 30 Cal, 1:8 twist, 1.350" shank, 1" muzzle, 27" length. Building a 300 Norma.

I'm hoping for similar, sub .5 MOA, groups.

Report back!

 

[martinakl]

Report back!

So far, so good. CarbonSix has been good to work with. Quick responses to emails. Their website is easy to order from. They said up to 16 weeks lead time. I put something on the calendar 16 weeks out. I'll send barrel and action to S.A.C., once I get it. I don't expect to have the rifle completed until September, at the earliest. Likely October or November.

I originally tried to order a 1:8 twist from Christensen Arms (They offer it on their 300 Norma). Multiple ignored emails and the one email they replied to, they didn't answer a single one of my questions.

I didn't reach out to Proof with the same request, mostly due to their pricing.

 

[Crowe284]

Site says they start with a Mcgowen stainless blank. Does anybody have any experience with McGowen? I have never owned one. From the review above by CPGfan, looks like they produce a very good barrel!

 

[Shooter264]

Site says they start with a Mcgowen stainless blank. Does anybody have any experience with McGowen? I have never owned one. From the review above by CPGfan, looks like they produce a very good barrel!

All the other Mcgowen bbls I've been around were sub par and that's why I was hesitant to try this carbon barrel. The price was right and I really had nothing to lose. I've heard from a few other people that the carbon six bbls were shooters but really couldn't find much on the net to back up the claims.
Took the kid out yesterday and he managed a 7 shot group that was just over 5/8" shooting prone off a bipod and a rear bag. I tried some 140 eldm factory ammo and they landed Just a hair over 3/8". We shot 16 rounds yesterday and the barrel cleaned up great with very little effort.

 

[cjl2010]

With the recent drop in proof barrel prices, would you still go carbon6?

 

[Shooter264]

With the recent drop in proof barrel prices, would you still go carbon6?

I currently have 5 Proof barrels and all shoot phenomenal so I will stick with proof until something better is available. This carbon six does not shoot any better than any of my proof bbls but it shoots pretty darn well so far. I just got a great deal on this bbl so thought I'd give it a whirl. I had a proof on the shelf in case this one didn't shoot up to my standards. Still a lot of proving to do with this bbl. a couple groups at 100 yards doesn't tell a heck of a lot.

 

[cjl2010]

That makes sense. Nothing wrong with having more options!