Backdraft outlier barrel

[Livetohuntandfish]

I have been intrigued with the idea of the backdraft barrel for sometime. I couldn’t resist anymore and ordered one on Black Friday. I’m waiting on the action to piece it together but it’s going to sit on a tikka action.

Initial thoughts-

finish- on par with a factory carbon fiber barrel. Not custom quality but looks good

durability- this worry’s me. You can squeeze the carbon fiber and there seems to be flex. This is understandable with it being hollow, but this worry’s me with abuse during hunting.

Bore- bore scoped it right out of the box. Looked ugly! A lot of machining leftovers. Once I cleaned the barrel it was shiny and no marks or errors I could see.

Overall I’m excited about the barrel. I’ll post once I get it built and firing. The only drawbacks I can see is its durability and barrel dimensions. It was hard finding a stock which the manufacturer would give the ok to opening up the barrel channel to the extend needed for the backdraft. I ordered a stockys stock as out of 6 manufacturers they were the only stock manufacturers that were ok with me opening up the barrel channel to 1.23 without any worry about structural integrity.

Anyone else have any feedback or thoughts?

 

[bnewt3]

Do you also have the backdraft suppressor coming? My understanding is that they work together.

 

[Livetohuntandfish]

I ordered one. I think it’ll be a few months before it’s shipped. If it’s on par with the barrel I should be satisfied.

 

[Livetohuntandfish]

wanted to add to this thread. I drank the cool aid for Arken/outlier. I ordered the barrel and thought this was a pretty good deal. I will not be getting the suppressor for who knows how long. After this purchase I had enough good feelings toward the company I purchased a epl scope. Not until after I purchased did I see some details about the suppressor that were not there when I ordered my barrel. The barrel is only rated for .308. This is odd because the barrel in ordered in 7prc was made for this suppressors usage. To go along with this it states it’s not compatible with magnum rifles. This is ever stranger because most YouTube videos show it being used with a 6.5prc. I am not anti (outlier or Arken) yet but I did cancel my Arken order and went with a Burris. This company has stood behind everything I’ve ever purchased. I will see how this barrel purchase will go and I may have waisted $500 dollars. Yet to be determined

 

[hebertbrian]

wanted to add to this thread. I drank the cool aid for Arken/outlier. I ordered the barrel and thought this was a pretty good deal. I will not be getting the suppressor for who knows how long. After this purchase I had enough good feelings toward the company I purchased a epl scope. Not until after I purchased did I see some details about the suppressor that were not there when I ordered my barrel. The barrel is only rated for .308. This is odd because the barrel in ordered in 7prc was made for this suppressors usage. To go along with this it states it’s not compatible with magnum rifles. This is ever stranger because most YouTube videos show it being used with a 6.5prc. I am not anti (outlier or Arken) yet but I did cancel my Arken order and went with a Burris. This company has stood behind everything I’ve ever purchased. I will see how this barrel purchase will go and I may have waisted $500 dollars. Yet to be determined

I believe you mean suppressor rated for only 308. Fully agree with the feedback, I also saw that after receiving my barrel with no mention before. Luckily I planned to use it on the 6mm cm barrel I ordered, they should have warned folks that ordered barrels above the cartridge limit. Outlier definitely lacks info and customer service support, lead times always much longer than advertised, and had to slog through a return process for a chassis with basic mfg issues on screw hole location/tapping. I knew going in these were cheaper and riskier, but this was a pretty big surprise on the limits given where most supressors are today.

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[Livetohuntandfish]

I believe you mean suppressor rated for only 308. Fully agree with the feedback, I also saw that after receiving my barrel with no mention before. Luckily I planned to use it on the 6mm cm barrel I ordered, they should have warned folks that ordered barrels above the cartridge limit. Outlier definitely lacks info and customer service support, lead times always much longer than advertised, and had to slog through a return process for a chassis with basic mfg issues on screw hole location/tapping. I knew going in these were cheaper and riskier, but this was a pretty big surprise on the limits given where most supressors are today.

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Maybe you can explain to me what .308 rating means. Sorry as I am a hunter and until this system came out suppression never intrigued me because of barrel length was to long for back country hunts. I see in videos they are shooting 6.5prc which in my eyes is a magnum? I guess I’m just going off of the pressures that the 6.5 and 7prc exert out the barrel?

 

[hebertbrian]

Maybe you can explain to me what .308 rating means. Sorry as I am a hunter and until this system came out suppression never intrigued me because of barrel length was to long for back country hunts. I see in videos they are shooting 6.5prc which in my eyes is a magnum? I guess I’m just going off of the pressures that the 6.5 and 7prc exert out the barrel?

Lots of folks more expert than me, at a high level suppressors need to be compatible with the caliber, and below the pressure for a certain cartridge (typically for a given barrel length/cartridge combination...and factory ammo vs hot handloads). I've attached several screenshots summarizing the basics. Yes a 7 prc and 6.5 prc are magnums, and based on how I interpret what Outlier published on their suppressor page, the 7prc and 6.5 prc would be too high of pressure cartridges for their suppressor...they list 308 max at a 20 inch barrel, longer barrels may be able to go higher pressure than a 308 but I wouldn't try unless Outlier confirmed it first...even then I probably wouldn't gi en my experiences with their quality control so far. Not sure if using their backdraft barrel with its channels makes more of a difference with longer barrels/volume, or if going to a 9mm (. 354 inches) helps, but would discuss with them directly on your specific cartridge and barrel length for prc's.

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[Livetohuntandfish]

Lots of folks more expert than me, at a high level suppressors need to be compatible with the caliber, and below the pressure for a certain cartridge (typically for a given barrel length/cartridge combination...and factory ammo vs hot handloads). I've attached several screenshots summarizing the basics. Yes a 7 prc and 6.5 prc are magnums, and based on how I interpret what Outlier published on their suppressor page, the 7prc and 6.5 prc would be too high of pressure cartridges for their suppressor...they list 308 max at a 20 inch barrel, longer barrels may be able to go higher pressure than a 308 but I wouldn't try unless Outlier confirmed it first...even then I probably wouldn't gi en my experiences with their quality control so far. Not sure if using their backdraft barrel with its channels makes more of a difference with longer barrels/volume, or if going to a 9mm (. 354 inches) helps, but would discuss with them directly on your specific cartridge and barrel length for prc's.

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Thanks for the reply. Makes perfect sense. It’ll be interesting to see if they ok the use or not.

 

[KY_coop]

Ive got 20" backdraft in 6 creed. Ive only shot 40 rds through it but so far the barrel has acted.... weird. Like you said, very dirty from factory so I cleaned it out before shooting.

First box of hornady 105 black grouped OK. right around 1.5" for 5, by the end of the box it was closer to 1" for 5 though I didnt measure. But on my adjustments from getting on paper to getting zeroed i saw a weird wondering poi. If I needed to go up .3 mil, it would raise .1-.2 and left .3 mil. Then to adjust for that move it would make another weird move. Ended up leaving the turrets alone for last 5 rds of 1st box. And had a different poi then the previous group. On to the next box of ammo( 108 match) i let the barrel cool for about 20 minutes from the last box and shot 5 shot group, adjusted turrets to center up on target and let it cool for another 10-15 minutes. Shot the next group and it was about 1" and perfectly centered and where I adjusted to. Left it alone and saved last ten rounds for white tail hunting that weekend. Shot a doe at 360 yds if I remember correctly. And it hit perfectly. Later that day me and a buddy shot out the remaining 9 rds at a 450 yd gong and 200 yd gong. All the shots on gongs were impacts. All this to say, I think the barrel will break in and be decent.... atleast I hope. But it may seem to have some issues with heat? Not quite sure though, could just be barrel getting smoothed out.

Also I saw some pretty low velocity from the 108 eld ammo for 6 creed. 2685 ish avg if I recall. Atleast it seemed low to me. I ordered the hub->backdraft adapter seperate from the can when I ordered and it came right away. So I slapped on my otter creek hydrogen so that I should get the same "backdraft effect" as their suppressor. Part of me wonders if the slower then expected speed was from the pressure within the "backdraft system" before bullet exits the suppressor muzzle. But it may just be a slow box from hornady( ive seen massive swings between lot numbers). Or could be a slow barrel in general.

Lots of questions still about this barrel system but ive only got 40 rds on it thus far. Will order some more factory ammo before I start handloading for it. I should be able to shoot it again once my xlr chassis comes in. Should have the outlier suppressor by then as well.

 

[KY_coop]

A friend also ordered a backdraft 20" 7mm08. I believe hes got 80 rds down the tube now. All with a 30 cal suppressor screwed onto the 5/8's threads. His barrel was shooting 2-3" 5 shot groups with first box of factory 150 eldx. Each box he shot the average group size seemed to get a little smaller. By the last box and a half he was around 1.2" for 5 shots. We didnt have any of the wondering zero issue like we did with my barrel.

 

[nm.otter]

Maybe you can explain to me what .308 rating means

Ignore the AI slop.

A suppressor's ability to suppress is strongly correlated with the amount of burned powder it needs to moderate. Most of the other details are in the margins.

 

[Livetohuntandfish]

A friend also ordered a backdraft 20" 7mm08. I believe hes got 80 rds down the tube now. All with a 30 cal suppressor screwed onto the 5/8's threads. His barrel was shooting 2-3" 5 shot groups with first box of factory 150 eldx. Each box he shot the average group size seemed to get a little smaller. By the last box and a half he was around 1.2" for 5 shots. We didnt have any of the wondering zero issue like we did with

Ignore the AI slop.

A suppressor's ability to suppress is strongly correlated with the amount of burned powder it needs to moderate. Most of the other details are in the margins.

thanks. I’m guessing outlier is more worried about rupturing the suppressor or barrel then burning out the baffles I would assume. With to much pressure.

 

[nm.otter]

Volume of powder determines volume of ejecta, which (for a given suppressor) determines total pressure.

 

[KY_coop]

I could be wrong but I think their suppressors are rated for any of the cartridges but they only have sound ratings for 308.

 

[Livetohuntandfish]

I could be wrong but I think their suppressors are rated for any of the cartridges but they only have sound ratings for 308.

If that would be the case that would be great. I guess there was never any real clarification on anything I read. For a short barrel light weight rig for hunting only sounds not the biggest concern if it’s reasonable.

 

[KY_coop]

I dont think anyone will have issues if they are selling barrels in magnum cartridges and attaching free suppressor promos with it.

 

[hebertbrian]

I dont think anyone will have issues if they are selling barrels in magnum cartridges and attaching free suppressor promos with it.

Their suppressor product page states "rated up to 308 Win with a 20 inch barrel or longer" (also in screenshot in thread above). They also provide dB ratings separately, so I'm interpreting this as their max cartridge/barrel length min combo guidance. Outlier would be best to confirm. Good to hear others experiences with group sizes and round count.

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[bnewt3]

IMO, it makes sense to me that the system(barrel&can) would be a bit fragile, therefore 308 limit.

I didnt see it mentioned but I would imagine the bore size of the can vs the bore of the barrel makes a difference for example a 6.5 coming out of a .30 can would have less pressure on the system than a 6.5 out of a 6.5 can. But thats just a guess