Late last week, Tony from Delta Tactical (https://www.deltatactical.com.au/) dropped off our pre-fit 24" carbon fiber Accuracy International AT 6.5mm Creedmoor barrel.
The Proof barrels come in a nice brown and black cardboard box with foam chocks to keep things secure, along with a sticker, warranty book and instructions.
The palma style, heavyweight, steel 26" 260 Remington barrel that's been excellent but heavy and unbalanced came out of the action quickly with the 4mm hex allen key. Quick clean out of the threads before the new Proof 6.5CM barrel thread in by hand. Use a 22mm flat spanner to snug the new barrel up against the action followed by applying 49 inch pounds of torque on the quick lock barrel nut to secure it ready for firing.
Barrel weight stats:
- LW barrel, steel, 260REM, 26", Medium Palma style = 2,581 grams without brake.
- LW barrel, steel, 308WIN, 20", Palma style = 1,636 grams without brake.
- Proof barrel, carbon fiber, 6.5 Creedmoor, Straight taper style = 1,407 grams without brake.
Being that the Proof barrels run a 5/8-24 thread as opposed to the AI's M18 style metric thread pattern, the factory AI brakes are not compatible. Got onto the lads who supplied one of the new, self timing Area 419 'Sidewinder' 30Cal muzzle brakes. This thing is a precision piece of engineering, the adapter threads on, snugged down by a 13/16 ring spanner with blue loc-tite then the actual brake itself slips over the top, level it out and hand tighten the locking collar.
Running the barrel in, was done at 100yds, normally meters, just ended up parking the truck there and that was it... No big deal.
First up, clean out any factory preservation grease, fire 3 rounds (approx 0.7" group) landed 1 Mil left & 0.5 Mil high from the 260REM barrel which is pretty solid... Clean it out, fire 3 rounds (approx 0.7"), 5 rounds (approx (0.8"), clean then it's ready to go... Shooting factory loaded, Hornady 140gr ELD-M ammo at "2710" fps (to be confirmed with MagnetoSpeed chronograph next trip).
This 24" carbon barrel cut off 1.2 KILOGRAMS nearly from the 26" 260REM... Excellent!
Looking forward to spending some serious time behind this rifle with the new barrel, the AI AT is an excellent system... These components do nothing but improve what was already and outstanding rifle!
If you are chasing gear from a Melbourne based company who are heavily involved in the Precision Rifle Series, get in touch with these lads. They do a LOT for the community and are extremely approachable - good people.