US Department of Defense Purchases PROOF Research Carbon Fiber Barrels for 300 PRC MRADs

by Austin R

Published: July 18th, 2019

us department of defense purchases proof research carbon fiber barrels for 300 prc

PROOF Research announced today that they’ll be providing barrels to the DoD’s extended long range sniper program. These new Barrett MRAD rifles are chambered in Hornady’s new 300 PRC round (that I recently had a chance to try in a different rifle). Here’s what PROOF Research had to say in today’s press release.

The contract was announced 2018 year-end, for an undisclosed number of Barrett’s modular, precision, bolt-action MRAD rifles, chambered in Hornady’s new long-range 300 PRC cartridge. The barrels for these rifles were engineered for purpose by PROOF and utilize a unique hand-laid, high-stiffness carbon wrap process to give the US military the very best barrel technology that is available today.
PROOF Research has made a name for itself in the firearms industry for its carbon fiber technology. A PROOF barrel utilizes a high strength, aerospace-grade carbon fibers that are impregnated with a proprietary matrix resin developed by their Advanced Composites Division. PROOF-ACD has developed many different high temperature resins and carbon fiber layups that allow PROOF’s design engineers to create a superior barrel solution for even the most demanding of applications. Furthermore, the technology used in their manufacturing process is scalable which opens up opportunities for small, medium and large caliber applications.
There are many benefits of incorporating aerospace grade carbon fiber technology into a military rifle. PROOF Research carbon fiber barrels are up to 50 percent lighter than steel barrels of similar contour, which is crucial for operators moving rapidly from one position to another and when carrying their gear over long distances. The carbon fiber wrap also makes the barrel highly resistant to weather, grit, dings, scratches and all-around abuse.
PROOF Research high-fiber content, cut-rifled composite barrels are extremely accurate. Well known within the precision rifle competition community as the first choice for match-grade accuracy, the long-range accuracy, performance and reliability of PROOF Research’s carbon fiber barrels are not only benefits, but critical for mission success among these elite military teams.
“PROOF Research is very proud to be the only carbon fiber barrel company that is trusted by our warfighters.”

Find PROOF Research Carbon Fiber Wrapped Barrels

Find out more about PROOF Research barrels and rifles at proofresearch.com.

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#Hornady #PrecisionRifle #ProofResearch #BarrettFirearmsManufacturing #300PRC #USDepartmentOfDefense #BarrettMRAD

Austin R

The author is a military contractor who enjoys conducting independent firearms research and reloading. Article inquiries and suggestions are welcome at austinjrex at gmail.com

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9 of 19 comments

Social_Artifice on Jul 18, 2019

All this stuff is dumb. LOL.
300 WM is more than adequate and issuing better iterations of that cartridge would achieve what they are aiming for ;P
The whole push for new cartridges within the military and civilian market is honestly not born out by anything. 300 Blackout is IMHO an amazing evolution of the 308 and 223. 6.5 creedmoor is... really just pointless. You can take 308 and boat tail the darn round to achieve greater utility. Also with new energy capture tech in guns there is no real reason to generate all the incurred costs. Modifying current munitions has shown the same improvement or arguably better because the supporting platforms are all so much more refined.
I think it is taken for granted how insanely rare it is to see munitions with the capacity and flexibility across so many different platforms that we enjoy with 300WM, 308, 223, etc (and the military equivalents) Nearly anytime a sweet cool new munition comes along a more refined version of an older staple cartridge can overcome it w/o the platform limiting characteristics.
I think 300 blackout is the only new cartridge of note since 556 was invented for western firearms. The ability to have nearly the same effective range as a 556 with the same capacity, and marginally higher carry weight while increasing energy conversion on impact, then swap to arguably the most efficient subsonic round ever with a simple mag swap... it's amazing.
I love 458 socom but really... just use a 12 gauge slug... they are 30% slower but delivery twice the total energy in the same effective range.
In nearly 50 years we've had arguably one notable rifle cartridge, the best second place would be 338 Lapua as a 50 BMG replacement... But I've seen some good pushback on this notion. 50 BMG has the potential to generate in excess of 4 times what 338 Lapua does... Its anti material properties with that energy really set it in a class of its own. 330 Lapua ends up being a much more expensive and specialized version of 300 win mag in the end.

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- Dhdoyle on Jul 18, 2019
  
  @Social_Artifice You are certainly entitled to your opinion. However, is there the slightest chance that the people involved in this might have more experience than you when it comes to long range sniping at flesh and blood targets? Just askin'
  
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- Bhum Brahmavira on Jul 18, 2019
  
  @Social_Artifice I still think 6.5 should supplant or at least complement standard 308 ammo... It's just better in every metric except for incendiary and tracer burn time.
  That said, if it's a really small-scale thing, you could sabot a 6.5 BT match slug inside a 308 casing for identical performance (at much higher cost in large volumes, of course)
  
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- Aono on Jul 18, 2019
  
  @Social_Artifice 300PRC does to 300WM what 6.5CM did to 308, in that it is a shorter case to allow for longer bullets which in turn require faster twist barrels. It shares a bolt face with 300WM but is the same case diameter as the 300WMs belt. The MRAD is finally a decent *production* precision rifle and can switch barrels easily, without which a decision like this would make less sense.
  338 Lapua had a case and notional magazine COAL that was too long to accommodate to accommodate long-for-caliber (300gr) bullets, which is the whole reason that 338 Norma and then 300 Norma Mag were developed. 300 Norma Mag proved you could shoot inside a 338L taking advantage of the long projectile lengths afforded by the design. Then 300PRC took that advantage and gave up ~100fps to fit inside of a 300WM action. It's a damn good design and will be successful in making inroads against 300WM purely due to the factory twists in existing guns out there. 300PRC wants 1:8, 300WM is 1:10 all the way and that in and of itself tells the story. Plus, the MRAD is a barrel and bolt away from 338L. So everything about this makes sense if you accept that 220SMK is not the end all be all and look at the possibility that SOCOM may well spec ELDs or Hybrids.
  
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- EzGoingKev on Jul 20, 2019
  
  @Social_Artifice The 300PRC is basically a modern day reboot of 300WM.
  
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Matt_from_Colorado on Jul 19, 2019

They better be one shot one kill, because after several shots those carbon fiber barrels are going to droop.

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- No one on Jul 21, 2019
  
  @Matt_from_Colorado ....You do realize that resin treated carbon fiber is far *more* heat resistant and more rigid than steel right?
  
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- Matt_from_Colorado on Jul 21, 2019
  
  @No one .... you do realize that carbon fiber barrels trap heat right far *more* than steel right? One of the main carbon fiber barrel manufacturers, I can't remember which one right now, used to advertise how their barrels were cool to the touch after several rounds. Well guess what? That heat is still there and if it cannot dissipate, then your barrel is frying no matter how cool it feels. A lot of gunsmiths and competition shooters I know hate them for that reason, particularly if they are being used with overbore cartridges.
  
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- No one on Jul 21, 2019
  
  @Matt_from_Colorado Yes, carbon is a very good insulator of heat, however its threshold of when it will warp or deform due to heat and friction is much higher than steel to more than make up for this to compensate and also offers many other advantages over a steel barrel.
  So long as it isn't touched bare handed after long firing sessions (which shouldnt be done with barrels of any material to begin with), this shouldnt be a problem, mainly with a bolt action long range precision rifle that wont exactly be lighting up the skies with its rate of fire and mission role.
  
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US Department of Defense Purchases PROOF Research Carbon Fiber Barrels for 300 PRC MRADs

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