I've played with 3 of them owned by buddies. All shot very well and were a lot lighter than they looked. I plan to have one made when funds allow, It likely will solve your problem quite well..........DJ

DJ-

Thanks for your response. Rifle weight has never been a "big deal" to me in the past; but, this rifle is so heavy and so barrel-heavy from a balance perspective that I really want to give this process a try.

I am hopeful that I will gain a rifle that will handle completely differently and still shoot well.

They are based on turned down Shilen blanks that are so thin you can almost see the rifling impressions. In your application they would trim off some serious weight and should be as strong. They regularly make ultramag conversions so I don't see a problem with them. I would imagine they could give you a very good estimate of weight savings between what you have now and finished product. It should be a bit I would imagine

I will say I have never owned one but have had a couple of buddies who bought them. It seems there were two kinds of experiences the ones whose rifles were ok loved them they were VERY accurate ultralight yada yada. then there were the other two both of there's were screwed up. It almost appeared that christensen decided if they were going to screw up they were going to go all the way. one had an off chamber the bedding sucked (it was supposed to be pillar then glass bedded and said on the invoice it was, charged him for it, and it was just hogged out not even sealed let alone glass bedded, with no pillars in sight.) not only that it wouldn't feed from a full magazine worth a darn and most of the time wouldn't feed the last round either. After either three or four rounds back and forth to christensens they finally got it to do ok but it was a long process. the other was almost as bad. But like I said it seems like when they do it right the first time results are more than ok. There was another place that was wrapping barrels advanced barrel composit or somesuch I think they got bought out but were still doing business last I heard. I believe they had a different winding process which supposedly helped with the heating problem carbon barrels are supposed to have. I think they may have even be a little bit cheaper as well. maybe someone else can chime in.

30 Caliber Mag Fan, not to rain on your parade, I understand that sometimes you see a product that catches your imagination, and that becomes "the thing" to get next. But just from what you wrote, you'd actually be able to save quite a bit of weight by simply going to a smaller barrel contour. Your current #6 is quite a bit heavier than what one would normally consider for a sporter barrel. Depending on how long you'd want your barrel, your could go with a regular #3 (24") or a #4 (25-26"). Now I realize that the carbon fibre barrels are what caught your imagination. A regular barrel would leave you with more options as to who would manufacture the barrel for you, though. Ah well, just thought I'd mention it. Good luck with your project.
- mike

SempreElk, Pallladium2506 and MHO-



Thank you for your responses. Here are some of my thoughts. I am giving strong consideration to having Christensen or whomever else does this process (and I would really be interested in who, whomever else is?) turn my existing Krieger Barrel down and carbon wrap it. I am risking that my barrel does not shoot as well after the process, as before.



My existing stock is an H&S with aluminium bedding block; thus that can't be screwed up. The barrel channel has been opened to the #6 contour anyway. If I rebarrel the rifle, I will have to go with a new stock, so out of pocket that would be more than the $600 USD to do the conversion. A new barrel chambered and installed is going to run approx. $600 and new stock $300 plus, so that route is approximately $1000.



I may let Rifles, Inc. take a look at it. He is in Pleasanton which is about 30 minutes from San Antonio and hear what he has to say.

If you're going to do it don't mess with reworking your barrel. Turning an already rifled barrel introduces stress that will likely negatively impact accuracy. If Christensen does turn a barrel down so you can 'almost see' the rifling, can they keep the thing square while they wrap it.
Rifles inc does nice work and builds light weapons though not as light in the 70 as the 700, so he's worth a look.
You should be able to rebed your stock so you might get away with just a new barrel and a paint job. Try Danny at Cutrifle.com for a light barrel. I have 5 barrels from him from .510 to 308. and another on order. They're all accurate even the light one.

Yes, I can certainly see the attraction of being able to reuse the stock - i.e. get a barrel with the same contour, only lighter. If that does not work out, perhaps simply just fill the barrel channel with some epoxy - enough to match a slimmer contour, and repaint. OK, the epoxy will weigh some as well. Ah well, best to seek the advise of professionals. Best of luck.
- mike