Springfield 2020 Waypoint Carbon Barrel defect

[Anklesandwich]

Picked up a 2020 waypoint at the end of last year and just noticed the defect in the carbon barrel. This is my first rifle with a carbon barrel and am wondering if this is purely cosmetic or something to be concerned about. I’m thinking as long as it doesn’t affect accuracy Springfield wouldn’t want to fix it, as I’d imagine the only fix is a rebarrel. Just wondering what y’all think/ would do in my shoes.

 

[Caseknife]

Cosmetic only, unless there are lots more unseen voids.

 

[Anklesandwich]

So most likely nothing to worry about?

 

[dieselchessy]

That barrel has a carbon tube on it more or less for looks.
Its not a carbon spun barrel.

Under that carbon tube is a fluted barrel.

 

[hoooogan]

Just shoot it.

The carbon fiber is under compression to tension the steel barrel underneath. It would need to have catastrophic damage to affect its performance. If the carbon had a twisting force applied as part of structural load, I'd be marginally concerned, but it's not.

Even if you sent it in, it would take probably a couple months to replace for no change in performance.

 

[hoooogan]

That barrel has a carbon tube on it more or less for looks.
Its not a carbon spun barrel.

Under that carbon tube is a fluted barrel.

Waypoints have BSF barrels. It's not for looks.

 

[Anklesandwich]

Just shoot it.

The carbon fiber is under compression to tension the steel barrel underneath. It would need to have catastrophic damage to affect its performance. If the carbon had a twisting force applied as part of structural load, I'd be marginally concerned, but it's not.

Even if you sent it in, it would take probably a couple months to replace for no change in performance.

Thanks, that’s what’s always a pain with firearms problems, can’t stand the waiting!

 

[hoooogan]

Thanks, that’s what’s always a pain with firearms problems, can’t stand the waiting!

Just looked at my paperwork. I had to get an extractor replaced on my Redline and it took ~4 weeks door to door. Not terrible, but also not great since it was a new rifle. That was in October.

That's best case scenario if they even agreed to replace your barrel.

 

[Anklesandwich]

Just looked at my paperwork. I had to get an extractor replaced on my Redline and it took ~4 weeks door to door. Not terrible, but also not great since it was a new rifle. That was in October.

That's best case scenario if they even agreed to replace your barrel.

I sent Springfield an email with the same pic in this thread to see what they’d say, I’ll post their response here in case anyone comes across this issue in the future. I’m guessing it’s going to be a no to barrel replacement. BSF’s warranty says it does not cover cosmetic defects that don’t affect accuracy, so I’m assuming that Springfield won’t be able to get a new barrel from BSF and won’t want to flip the bill to replace it.

FWIW, I’d be thrilled with 4 weeks. I have a Beretta 686 that had a curved rib on the barrel when I bought it. Beretta agreed to replace it without me having to fight for it, which was nice, but I had to wait 3 months for a new barrel to come in from Italy and that one had another issue. They ended up putting a set of 687 barrels on my gun and I love it, but all in all it took about 4 months to get it back. I don’t want to have to send off another for something much less noticeable than a curved rib and especially if it’s only cosmetic, which I really hope it is.

 

[Anklesandwich]

Update: spoke with Springfield, the customer service guy forwarded the image to a tech who said the gun was manufactured back in February of 2023 and thought it looked like it might’ve gotten gouged on something. I just bought the gun in December of 2025 so I told them that this was very unlikely, and he said I could always send it in to have them look at it in person.

I bought it off grabagun and got it for a great price so I guess they’re trying to clear out old stock, was pretty surprised how old it was but for what they’re selling them for (I paid $1476 for it) I can’t complain too much.

I still believe it is a manufacturing defect, but if it shoots ok I won’t bother sending it in.

Most of the groups I shot with it were around 1.25” but it was during a hasty sighting in on a windy day and my rest wasn’t the best. I was also using a target with relatively large aiming points on it. I shot it some more yesterday with a revamped rest and picked a finer aiming point on my target, and got an 11/16” group. I made a small adjustment to my scope, picked another fine aiming point, and hit exactly where I was aiming and decided to call it quits to save my ammo for what’s left of deer season.

Overall I’m happy with the gun, and Springfield being happy to have me send it in if I change my mind.