Composite Barrel Technology from Teludyne Tech Industries
Teludyne Tech Industries manufactures a unique sleeved barrel system which, Teludyne claims, offers significant advantages over conventional steel barrels. Teludyne’s StraightJacket® Barrel System features a three-part composite construction. In the center is a conventional, relatively thin-contour steel barrel. Around that is fitted a 1.25″-diameter metal sleeve (shroud) running from action to muzzle. In the “gap” between the inner steel barrel and the outer sleeve, Teludyne pumps in a proprietary media. This lightweight fill material provides rigidity with reduced weight, and it also helps to transfer heat away from the inner barrel tube. The outer sleeve can be aluminum, carbon steel, stainless steel, or titanium — as the customer specifies. (Titanium offers an impressive combination of strength, light weight, and corrosion resistance).
Teludyne claims that a composite StraightJacket barrel is as stiff as an equivalent-diameter large-contour steel barrel, but much lighter in weight. Teludyne declares: “By pressure-fitting our thin-walled machine tubing onto your barrel and then filling the void with our proprietary media creating a new monolithic structure, we retain the necessary flexibility but add the accuracy-enhancing rigidity.”
The StraightJacket system has been around for a few years, and the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) has been testing Teludyne barrel prototypes on a variety of platforms. There have been some promising tests that show improved accuracy over long strings of fire. This has been attributed to enhanced barrel cooling. Teludyne also claims StraightJacket barrels are more accurate than conventional barrels — at least conventional factory-grade barrels. That may be a stretch. However there is some hard evidence that a composite barrel can maintain good accuracy for more shots because the composite design sheds heat better.
You can read more about StraightJacket barrels in the GunsAmerica Blog. Testers for GunsAmerica saw improved accuracy in Savage and Sako .30-06 rifles which were retro-fitted with composite barrels. With StraightJacket barrels installed, Both rifles fired impressive 5-shot groups at 500 yards: “Target after target … came back on both rifles with both guns shooting into an inch to an inch and a half at 500 yards, and it didn’t seem to matter how many rounds of standard Hornady [ammo] we put through the guns. In total, [the tester] shot 160 rounds through two guns … most at 500 yards in light to no wind on a 90° Florida day.” If those results can be believed, Teludyne may be on to something. Groups in the 1.5″ range at 500 yards are competitive with quality benchrest rigs, yet the test rifles were “box-stock” except for the composite barrels.
Fitting a StraightJacket Barrel to your Rifle
Teludyne StraightJacket barrels can be fitted to most common bolt-action rifles along with AK series rifles. Also dedicated complete uppers are offered for AR platform rifles. Send your gun to Teludyne in South Carolina and Teludyne will install the composite barrel and ship your rifle back to you about four weeks later. Centerfire bolt-action prices start at $649.00 for steel or aluminum outer sleeves. Rimfire installations cost $699.00. Titanium-shrouded barrel systems are $799.00 installed. These prices include a removable, threaded muzzle brake.
StraightJacket Barrels for Biathletes
Our friends Lanny and Tracy Barnes, Team USA Biathletes, have used Teludyne composite barrels successfully in international competition. The ‘Twin Biathletes’ have endorsed the product: “We have had outstanding groups [with the StraightJacket Barrel System] and it didn’t seem like the cold had an effect on them at all. Our first races were in Canada where it was -15 to -25 degrees Fahrenheit. While everyone else’s groups seem to spread open off of the paper, we were laying the shots down right on top of each other. After the races Tracy flew right over to Italy and the race officials were really impressed with how it shot. Your Straightjackets are really turning heads. We are excited to make history this winter and in the next Olympics in 2014. Thanks — Tracy and Lanny Barnes.” This Editor talked with Lanny at SHOT Show and she confirmed that the barrel really seems to work for her discipline. She called it her “secret weapon”. The composite barrel saves weight (over a similar-diameter all-steel barrel), and it seems to be less affected by hot/cold cycles encountered during biathlon events.
Similar Posts:
- SHOT Show Report: Lanny Barnes, U.S. Olympic Biathlete
- Carbon-Wrapped Savage Pre-Fit Barrels Now Available
- American Tracy Barnes Wins World Biathlon Shoot-Out
- U.S. Biathlete Nominated for Inspiration Award
- Lothar Walther UltraLight Barrels — Less Heat, Half the Weight
Share the post "Composite Barrel Technology from Teludyne Tech Industries"
Tags: Composite Barrel, Muzzle Brake, Shroud, Sleeve, South Carolina, Teludyne, Teludyne Tech, Titanium, TTI, Twin Biathletes
I’ve read their patents and the system actually works by reducing the whip effect by increasing the stiffness of the barrel. Contrary to what is stated about heating – ie improvement in heat transfer and hence cooling of the barrel – the use of the fillers stated in the patents (US20110113667 and 20110277623) would result in thermal isolation of the barrel, as the filler materials are poor conductors of heat (one is basically scale). The use of such fillers would seem more to do with the systems used on tank guns, whereby a thermal jacket is used to reduce the effect of differential heating on the barrel by winds and to keep the barrel at a stable temperature, and hence predicable barrel harmonics. Then again I might be barking up the wrong tree?
I have two areas of interest. First the barrel life and duration of accuracy (gross number of rounds).
Second, it would seem reasonable that a thinner barrel would have substantially higher temp. so the concern is maintaining the integrity of the lans.
There is a lot of data that needs to be shared to make an informed decision. Bottom line will be the life and results when a quality shooter uses one in competition.
I’m thinking along the same lines as Neil above, that the epoxy around the barrel is more of an insulator than an improved heat disipator, but maybe that is the key to it. The barrel temperature may be more stable and therefore more consistant over a string of fire. This could in theort also reduce heat checking in the rifling. A further “possible” benefit is a dampening of barrel harmonics. No surprize there is an endorsement from some smallbore shooters as the pressure levels for smallbore would maximize the effect of such a system. Highpower pressures are a much bigger animal and could over power such a design.
They state the improved conductivity rather a lot, though the materials mentioned in the patents are not good conductors (calcium sulphate, cement, amorphous silica, alumina, limestone dust, clay, quartz, calcium hydroxide calcium sulpho aluminate), nor is epoxy, even carbon fibre reinforced epoxy, at half the conductivity of steel. A more useful light and stiff material would be aluminium, its conductivity is four to five times that of steel. It will be interesting to find out what they are really doing (using) to improve the stiffness and heat dissipation.
Why not make it an oil sleeve around the barrel to dampen harmonics and resist heating? At least that’s something you could put on a proven barrel like a Krieger…
Put this side by side with a fluted barrel of similar length and weight and let’s see which performs better.
Yeah. Thought so!
this really has nothing todo with the barrel but in the third image from the top the rifle in the middle(the tan camo) has a muzzle brake, can anybody tell me the manufacturer or where I can find one?
I have a Teludyne barrel from you, For a Savage 116 in.338 win mag.
I have one question: how much weight does that finished process hanging on my rifle weigh? How much did it increase the weight of my rifle?
Seems like a lot. 2,3 pounds?
Thank you for your time and patience.
Scott Moore
Sitka, AK.