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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WILDFIRE,
Those are might kind words my friend. THank you very much and Merry Christmas
Nice nice nice job! Looks great!
I wonder how this might work on the condor? Might help stiffen the barrel and eliminate some of the barrel flexing towards the breech end. I wonder if friction and wear from the hammer and spring would be an issue with the carbon fiber?
Perhaps a bushing slider sleeve that slips over the outer carbon fiber sleeve that the hammer could ride. Triple stiff, airgun viagra!
That came out beautiful my friend! I’m also a really big fan of the CF look! I’m down with the flu and wanted to tell you I just spent the last 6 hours watching your videos. Wish we were neighbors, I’d love to hunt with ya sometime! Keep up the good work.
Wildfire :5:
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DOUGR,
It will work on the condor just fine. But you really have to think of how far and where you want the sleeving to go inside the gun. The more the sleeve goes up the barrel toward the breech, the more things like bushing and such that you are gonna have to bore out to a bigger diameter to fit the thicker barrel/sleeve arrangement.
I’m going to do mine and i don’t feel i need anymore than just he section of the barrel from muzzle up to the front of the barrel bushing. So mainly the part of the barrel that sticks outside the frame and just inside the frame endcap up to the bushing. THe rest of my barrel should be SOLID inside the frame.