Prefit opinions

[robtattoo]

I'm looking at a sensibly priced prefit for my Tikka (not that one. Or that one. The other one...)
I've got it narrowed down to either a fluted steel Preferred (20" 6mm) or an X-Caliber carbon (same length & chamber) since they're priced pretty closely today, butI'm hoping one or t'other will throw an awesome 4th sale & that might really help me decide.

I have zero experience with carbon barrels, but I have several friends with them & they're universally loved, as they seem to be here. I'm kinda wondering if there's a significant weight difference between the 2. The steel Preferred will be light sporter with 12 point helical fluted, which they claim is an 'agressive weight saving'. The X-Cal is their lightest profile (0.9" at the muzzle, iirc)

Any opinions or experiences anyone's could share would really help me make a decision here.

 

[B_Reynolds_AK]

I have zero experience with carbon barrels, but I have several friends with them & they're universally loved, as they seem to be here.

Not quite the case. Not many of us WKR's use carbon barrels at all any more. They are heavier, costlier, more fragile (superficial) and more risk of not shooting as good. Get the PBB steel barrel.

 

[robtattoo]

Not quite the case. Not many of us WKR's use carbon barrels at all any more. They are heavier, costlier, more fragile (superficial) and more risk of not shooting as good. Get the PBB steel barrel.

Really?! I thought ALL the cool kids had carbon these days. My god I'm behind the times. 🫩

What's the problem with them not shooting well? I thought they were supposed to be stiffer & a lot better than steel? And if they're heavier as well..... what's even the point?

 

[B_Reynolds_AK]

Really?! I thought ALL the cool kids had carbon these days. My god I'm behind the times. 🫩

What's the problem with them not shooting well? I thought they were supposed to be stiffer & a lot better than steel? And if they're heavier as well..... what's even the point?

Negative, 16-18” small contour steel barrels adorn more Rokstok’s than any other I’d wager.

You have three dissimilar materials (Carbon, Resin and Steel) that heat at differing rates and can potentially cause issues if they’re not layed up properly, or so I’m told. Whether they’re stiffer or not is irrelevant. A tikka contour barrel is all you need.

The only point really is for looks. It doesn’t have to do with them being better by any metric, atleast any metric that actual shooters care about.

 

[kswaterfowl]

I echo the above comment. Pbb steel prefit.

 

[WeiserBucks]

I've got a PBB SS prefit and it's been really good so far.

 

[2buffalo]

Not quite the case. Not many of us WKR's use carbon barrels at all any more. They are heavier, costlier, more fragile (superficial) and more risk of not shooting as good. Get the PBB steel barrel.

How many carbon barrels have you owned and how many have been duds? You also need to get a pretty small contour to equal the weight of an HCA light contour. The PBB Hybrid lite is definitely not lighter. I have both.

 

[schmidty3]

My pbb 23.25" 25 prc tikka hybrid lite with the helical weighed 2#5oz if I recall.

You'd probably be around 2# in a 20" 6mm with tikka shank.

My pbb defiance 18" .750 taperless with helical is 2# 8 oz I believe.

A carbon barrel would probably weigh more then the tikka hybrid lite profile. But something like a c6 featherweight might be less then the larger shank and .750 taperless. Id wager the pbb would shoot more better though. (Hypothetically)

For this application I just dont think its worth the extra expense of carbon.

 

[robtattoo]

My pbb 23.25" 25 prc tikka hybrid lite with the helical weighed 2#5oz if I recall.

You'd probably be around 2# in a 20" 6mm with tikka shank.

My pbb defiance 18" .750 taperless with helical is 2# 8 oz I believe.

A carbon barrel would probably weigh more then the tikka hybrid lite profile. But something like a c6 featherweight might be less then the larger shank and .750 taperless. Id wager the pbb would shoot more better though. (Hypothetically)

For this application I just dont think its worth the extra expense of carbon.

That's great info, thank you!

I believe I'm leaning much harder towards the PBB steel now.

Let's see what the 4th brings.....

 

[Walker6]

Here are some weights from some PBB’s.

18” Lite Hybrid 6cm



18” Lite Hybrid 6cm Hellical fluted


For comparison:
Factory 20” sporter .243 with flared muzzle



Hope this helps in some way.

 

[B_Reynolds_AK]

How many carbon barrels have you owned and how many have been duds? You also need to get a pretty small contour to equal the weight of an HCA light contour. The PBB Hybrid lite is definitely not lighter. I have both.

Only a couple and they were ok, not as good as my PVA steel prefits. But why even pay a premium for a Hells Canyon lightweight carbon barrel that doesn’t do anything better than a Tikka Sporter or hybrid? Or better yet, how many carbon barrels are on S2H class rifles?

 

[2buffalo]

Id wager the pbb would shoot more better though.

Why?

 

[schmidty3]

Here are some weights from some PBB’s.

18” Lite Hybrid 6cm
View attachment 1086069


18” Lite Hybrid 6cm Hellical fluted
View attachment 1086070

For comparison:
Factory 20” sporter .243 with flared muzzle
View attachment 1086072


Hope this helps in some way.

Your numbers are why I was dissapointed in the .750 taperless weight .

Why?

Well let's take a perfectly good pencil barrel.....machine it out some more. Then dip an inconsistent weave of carbon into an inconsistent amount of resin and wind it onto said machined down barrel and then bake it.

You're just adding a lot of manufacturing complication, which at best doesnt add accuracy, and at worst certainly can affect it.

Ive got a thicc Boi Carbon6 25 creed for NRL. It does shoot pretty well (still under evaluation). But id rather have a CRB hunter barrel. Only reason id have a carbon barrel is if they gave me one or offered a steep discount (I got mine for $400)

 

[2buffalo]

Only a couple and they were ok, not as good as my PVA steel prefits. But why even pay a premium for a Hells Canyon lightweight carbon barrel that doesn’t do anything better than a Tikka Sporter or hybrid? Or better yet, how many carbon barrels are on S2H class rifles?

There is no reason to pay a premium unless you want to save 4-5oz. But that doesn't mean they shoot worse. How many are on S2H rifles means nothing to me. I have had 50-60 steel barrels and only 6 carbon. IME the carbon barrels shoot just as well and some have been better than some of the steel. The worse I have seen was a factory Tikka barrel and the PPB that I bought a couple months ago shoots worse than any of my carbon barrels.

 

[Shadow Illude]

Proof Carbon on my Tikka and if I had it to do over I’d go with steel.

 

[2buffalo]

Your numbers are why I was dissapointed in the .750 taperless weight .
Well let's take a perfectly good pencil barrel.....machine it out some more. Then dip an inconsistent weave of carbon into an inconsistent amount of resin and wind it onto said machined down barrel and then bake it.

You're just adding a lot of manufacturing complication, which at best doesnt add accuracy, and at worst certainly can affect it.

Ive got a thicc Boi Carbon6 25 creed for NRL. It does shoot pretty well (still under evaluation). But id rather have a CRB hunter barrel. Only reason id have a carbon barrel is if they gave me one or offered a steep discount (I got mine for $400)

I understand the cost difference I don't understand why you say a carbon barrel is worse when the only one you own shoots good.

Have you seen a carbon barrel made in real life? It is not inconsistent.

 

[WeiserBucks]

I've had and still have all sorts of barrels. These days I don't see a reason to spend more $$ on CF when SS meets all of my needs.

 

[B_Reynolds_AK]

There is no reason to pay a premium unless you want to save 4-5oz. But that doesn't mean they shoot worse. How many are on S2H rifles means nothing to me. I have had 50-60 steel barrels and only 6 carbon. IME the carbon barrels shoot just as well and some have been better than some of the steel. The worse I have seen was a factory Tikka barrel and the PPB that I bought a couple months ago shoots worse than any of my carbon barrels.

Those HCA bbl’s are probably the exception as far as weight then. I’m not gonna lie, a carbon barrel can look great in some cases. Something about a wood stock with carbon looks neat. Point being about the S2H rifles is just that if there were any tangible benefits to be made using carbon, they’d be on there.

 

[WeiserBucks]

There's a very obvious reason not to use CF on high volume shooting class rifles.

 

[HandgunHTR]

I would go with the Preferred mainly because they will do a shouldered prefit for the Tikka. X-Caliber will not. Not that there is anything wrong with barrel nuts, I use them on Savages and Remingtons, but only because their tolerances aren't good enough for shouldered prefits. Shouldered barrels just look cleaner.