Those of you who are into extreme long-range shooting have probably heard about the tacomHQ Structured Barrels because apparently, these barrels have been around for at least a couple of years. But for the majority of us, mere mortals, learning about the structured barrels will make our jaws drop as happened to me when my buddy Edgar sent me the link to these barrels. In a nutshell, these are bull profile barrels with eight holes drilled around and along the bore.

No, there is no barrel jacket and yes, these are one-piece barrels with the holes surrounding the bore machined all the way back to several inches before reaching the chamber. According to tacomHQ, this design increases the stiffness of the barrels. Particularly, the company claims that when compared to standard barrels, the structured barrels are 56% stiffer for the same weight or 20% lighter for the same stiffness.

Another advantage of the structured barrels is the increased surface area which makes them heat up slower and cool down faster. In fact, these barrels have a whopping 500% more surface area than standard ones. The tacomHQ structured barrels also have forced cooling feature. As the company says: “As each round is shot, negative pressure is generated by the bullet passing through the muzzle pulling cool air through the breather ports and up its neck cooling it from the inside“. 

The company also notes that these barrels are “harmonically dead” meaning that they have virtually zero vibration when the gun is fired. The result is that the structured barrels are very forgiving when it comes to load and projectile changes. Here is how tacomHQ explains this feature:

Structured Barrels take advantage of axial compression. A physics principle where tubes are always stronger than rods of equal length and mass. The Structure pattern makes each hole act like a tube resisting tension / compression forces. As one hole in the pattern begins to “bend”, one side of that hole goes into tension while the other goes into compression triggering the opposing hole, opposite of it in the pattern, to undergo compression and tension. The opposing forces cancel out making Structured Barrels harmonically dead.

TacomHQ structured barrels are made from rifled barrel blanks of following manufacturers: Bartlein, Benchmark, Broughton, Brux, Hart, Hawk Hill Custom, Lilja, Pac-Nor, Proof Research, and Rock Creek. On their website, there is also a list of chassis that are compatible with the structured barrels: Cadex, McRees, MDT, Mirage, Spike’s Tactical, TUBB Adaptive Target Rifle and XLR.

The Fallen Angel external finish that forms a ribbed surface along with the dimples machined at the chamber area also contribute to the stiffness, better harmonics and faster cooling of the barrel.

The tacomHQ structured barrels can be ordered on the company’s website. The prices range from $600 to $1,550 depending on the barrel length and the choice of external finish. There are eleven barrel length options available, from 20″ to 40″, in 2″ increments.

Do you have experience with these barrels? If yes, tell us what do you think about them in the comments section.

Images from www.tacomhq.com