Carbon Fiber "SLEEVING" my Corsair 7mm barrel
I had been reading lately of various people “SLEEVING” their airgun barrels using Carbon Fiber. One of the main reasons is basically to STIFFEN the barrel and aide in accuracy. This is not a new process, its just new to airgunners. 2 reasons that I wanted to perform this “SLEEVING” is to 1, stiffen my Corsairs barrel and to de-resonate it all in an effort to aide in accuracy. The 2nd reason was because my barrel is still in the WHITE (unfinished) and the CF tube would eliminate the need for me to disassemble the gun to send it off to be Cerakoted. Overall, the sleeving would save me time and money and it also aide in the looks of the gun.
CARBON FIBER TUBING: The tube came from http://www.clearwatercomposites.com/. Its dimensions are 72″ long x .633″ O.D. x .563″ I.D. with walls that are .035″ thick and consist of TWILL FABRIC. While the tubing walls are somewhat thin overall, the strength of the tubing is phenomenal. You can space your hands about 3′ apart and try and bend it and you get just a little flexing. Move your hands in closer to one another and you can forget about it. And there is much THICKER tubing available but this dimension is the one that best fits my gun due to its build tolerances.
EPOXY: I’ve read stories of people using JB weld, generic epoxies and Acraglas bedding compound with great results. Due to a past pillar bedding project, I just so happened to already have a box of Acraglas bedding compound. And besides, I’m pretty familiar with using it and I know its strength. So Acraglas it is for this project. One of the good things about this product is that it comes with a tube of black die which is a color that’s well suited to various gun finishes. The product is simple to use and like everything else, FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS for mixtures.
THE INSTALLATION PROCESS: Before starting, I cleaned the outside of my barrel. I used denatured alcohol to remove any dirt or grease. This is necessary so the epoxy can set. Now, after cleaning the barrel, I removed the muzzle brake and checked the fitment of the CF tube over the barrel. The TJ 257 barrels measure roughly .562-.563″ O.D. and that is the I.D. of the CF tube so I knew the fitment should prove to be that like a glove. Low and behold, it was a perfect slip fit over the barrel with the perfect amount of friction IMO. So now, I use sandpaper to ROUGH up the outside of the barrel. This aides in the epoxy CLINGING to the barrel when it sets. I then re-wiped it down again to remove any debris. I then carefully measure the length of the barrel using the CF TUBE and made my marks on the CF tube were I was to cut it. I was careful to also include an EXTRA 16th of an inch for finishing purposes. Before CUTTING the CF TUBE, I rechecked my measurements and marks against the barrel to once again VERIFY the mark would be good. I then carefully cut the tube and cleaned up the end with my dremel. After squaring the cut end of the CF tube, I then reinstalled the CF tube to verify the length of the tube was PERFECT to the barrel. IT WAS PERFECT! So now I clean the inside of the CF tube and then roughed up both ends to also aide in the epoxy bonding to it. The barrel and tube were now ready for installation. I then mix the epoxy according to the directions and I apply a strip of it along the length of the barrel. I do this at the 12 o clock and the 6 o clock. The plan was to PUSH and TWIST the CF tube over the barrel and this would spread the epoxy around the entire circumference and length of the barrel insuring that every inch of the tubes inside dimension contained epoxy. This process worked like a charm and I ended up with very little run off of epoxy. After checking everything carefully for fitment and epoxy run off, I let the barrel set overnight so the epoxy could dry and bond.
Stay tuned for the accuracy report. I can say though, I really love the looks of the CF sleeve on this gun. Ummmmmm, TD 257’s got next…..lol!
Tofazfou
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Thats what I lie to hear 😈
WHY YES……….YES IT DOES MIKE!
SOme forget that “you can’t have FPE without FPS!”
…and yeah, that saying is copyrighted so i’ll sue you any of you YEWTS try to use it………. :winkn:
Speed Kills! 😯 And Kills Well!!! 😈
😈 Knife 😈
26″ twist should allow for more speed. NOT SHOULD but WILL allow more speed than the 16″ twist. It should do very well with pellets too.
Tof,
I’m going to use the barrel on my sniper, which is magazine feed, limited length and weight – so I’m thinking the 26″ twist should work well.
hoping with some more tuning and a longer barrel i’ll be able to push them up close to 1000fps
I may need to make a new valve assembly – the original one has the port cut right up to and slightly into the front O-ring area – making ti all but impossible to open up the port as it stands
-Dog
Dogwood,
2 things. Yeah, i found out from doug recently that you can get barrels BIGGER from TJ. Wished i would have know that much earlier in the game.
2nd, what 357 barrel are u getting? 16″ twist or the 26″ twist?
Powderburner,
Thanx man. I love it much more too. That’s the only thing with barrels in the white…….they aren’t blued…lol! It would be cool if one had an all silver or chrome gun….lol! So the CF worked out in more ways than 1
Thanks! I didn’t realize he would do that. I will ask for it when I get a chance to get the barrel.
Thanks Again
Christmas tree
Damn, i was already i love with that gun,
And damned if ya didn’t make it look better!!!!! love it man
Way to go Toff,,,
If you are getting a TJ barrel have him make it over size and pay the $18 to have it OD ground to a .624″ that way you can use .625″ tubing.
I hear ya Tof, that’s why I’ve been book marking every carbon tube place mentioned in a post about this subject as soon as I see it.
plan on buying a TJ in .357
Merry Christmas Christmas tree
Dogwood,
Just a heads up. FInd out the barrels O.D. and search the net for the correct CF tube I.D.. You want the tube to be sorta “GLOVE” fitting or tighter to the barrel. Tighter is better than a VERY LOOSE FEEL.
You can always sand out the inside of the CF tube if its just a cunt hair smaller than the barrels O.D. but you can’t go the OTHER WAY…..
If you have a lathe, you can spin and sand the barrel down a cunt hair too. But again, you can’t UPSIZE a small barrel to a big I.D. CF tube.
Doug,
Was over at Doug Nobles the other day and he fitted CF tubes to his upcoming 7mm barrel. His hammer is barrel riding instead of FRAME RIDING. Well, he installed the CF tubes from the muzzle up to the point where the hammer rides on the barrel during its cocking and firing cycle. In other words the entire barrel except the last 4-5″ nearest the breech end.
Also, You would not want the hammer to ride on the CF tube for numerous reasons. One version of the tube is actually a little rough to the feel. The other version is smooth and glossy. Either way, i would not install it to where the hammer rides on it. I could see all sorts of immediate problems while in the field.
Now, i could be wrong on that but i’m just saying………..I WOULDn”T DO IT!
Thanks for the write up, plan on doing the same on the new barrel I plan on getting for my .357 sniper
Yeah, it would pretty much turn into a new and complete build save the valve…. New fabrication, fitment and building of all the upper internals. Would the new diameter accomodate the original stock Power Wheel too?
BtW. Checkout the Power Wheel I made for my .177 frakenstein leftover parts gun.
I just wonder how well everything would hold up to the friction rubbing against carbon fiber, such as a barrel riding hammer and the spring too? I think you are right, it’s just not going to be too practical to extend back past the last bushing before the power wheel.
Unfortunately this is the area I feel that could use some stiffening the most. As this is where i had experienced most of my woes from flexing and binding at the breech. It was flexing the rear of the whole barrel from the pressure of the hammer locked up behind the release sear. As the hammer released the load against the barrel would become unsprung and the breech would likely go “boing” just like a diving board.
I ended back up with a frame riding hammer to eliminate the side load on the barrel from the spring lockup. I suppose that i dont really need to stiffen the breech end now and if I did, I still wouldnt want a barrel riding hammer sliding on the carbon fiber anyways? So kinda negates my whole idea…. 🙄 Oh what the heck am I talkin bout anyways…. Duh! I guess sometimes ya gotta talk things thru while ya kinda figure it all out….
well I do have a 30 incher still in the white, that likely would benefit for a stiffening down the length right up to the top of the frame. Carbon fiber shroud would be the Cats Meow too! Christmas tree
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:rofl:
Cedric, I did indeedy get bounced off the Yellow~ Woo-Hoo!!! A Good day!
Talk about a “Badge of Honor”!!! 😈
Knife