80% Rifle Barrels - Custom Quality Without the Custom Wait
One of the biggest frustrations with ordering a custom rifle barrel is the wait. There are a lot of steps involved in manufacturing a barrel, and even when everything goes smoothly, those steps take time.
At Preferred Barrel Blanks, we've always worked to keep our lead times as short as possible without sacrificing quality. Our 80% barrel program takes that a step further by completing most of the manufacturing process before you ever place an order.
The result? The same quality you've come to expect from our custom barrels, without spending weeks waiting for the bulk of the manufacturing to be completed.
What Is an 80% Barrel?
Our 80% barrels are essentially pre-manufactured, contoured barrel blanks that are ready for the final chambering process.
Instead of starting from the beginning when you order a barrel, we've already completed much of the work. These barrels are manufactured to specific contours, cut to length, lapped, and muzzle threaded before being added to our inventory.
Once your order comes in, we pull the appropriate barrel from stock and send it straight to chambering.
With a traditional custom barrel order, we may still need to cut the blank to length, turn the contour, thread the muzzle, and, in the case of carbon fiber barrels, complete the carbon wrapping process. By doing that work ahead of time, we're able to eliminate a significant portion of the normal production lead time.
And you're not giving up all the customization that makes ordering a barrel from Preferred worthwhile.
Depending on the barrel, you can still select your chambering, add Cerakote, choose fluting options on stainless steel barrels, or send us your action for barrel installation.
We've simply taken care of most of the work before you hit the order button.
Our 80% Barrel Options
We're currently offering two different types of 80% barrels: our Carbon Fiber 80% barrels and our Tikka Lite Hybrid 80% barrels.
Carbon Fiber Barrels
Our 80% Carbon Fiber Barrels are a great option for shooters who want a high-quality carbon fiber barrel without the normal wait associated with manufacturing a custom carbon barrel.
We offer these barrels in two finishes:
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Classic Black Carbon Fiber: Our traditional black carbon fiber appearance.
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50/50 Nickel Blend Carbon Fiber: A blend of nickel-colored and black carbon fiber for a distinctive appearance.
Each barrel comes with the following specs:
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Precision honed and lapped bores
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Heavy Palma Carbon barrel contour
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1.235" Shank Diameter
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5/8x24 muzzle threads
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Carbon fiber wrapping and finishing
- Prefits available for a variety of actions
Our Heavy Palma Carbon contour also fits commonly available Proof Sendero barrel channel inlets very well, making it easier to pair one of these barrels with an aftermarket stock.
After selecting your caliber and chambering options, we finish the barrel to fit your selected action.
Whether you're working on a new lightweight hunting rifle, replacing a worn barrel, or getting a rifle ready for an upcoming match, these barrels offer a much faster way to get a custom-quality carbon fiber barrel onto your rifle.
Tikka Lite Hybrid Barrels
Our Tikka Lite Hybrid 80% barrels are designed specifically for shooters looking to replace or upgrade the barrel on their Tikka rifle while retaining the factory Lite stock.
These stainless steel barrels are manufactured in our Lite Hybrid contour, which is designed to fit factory Tikka Lite barrel channels without requiring stock modifications.
Each barrel comes standard with:
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Stainless steel construction
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Our Lite Hybrid barrel contour
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Precision honed and lapped bore
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5/8x24 muzzle threads
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A contour designed for factory Tikka Lite stocks
You can also choose from additional options, including barrel fluting and Cerakote, to make the finished barrel your own.
If you'd rather not handle the installation yourself, you can send us your Tikka action or barreled action. We can remove the factory barrel and install your new Preferred barrel before sending it back.
These are an especially good option for anyone who loves their Tikka but wants a fresh barrel, a different chambering, or improved performance without replacing the rifle they're already comfortable with.
Skip the Long Wait. Get Shooting.
Anyone who's ordered a custom rifle barrel knows that lead times aren't fun.
Maybe you've got a once-in-a-lifetime hunting trip coming up, and you've decided it's finally time to rebarrel your rifle. Maybe your competition barrel is getting tired, and you've got a match on the calendar. Or maybe you've been planning a new build and simply don't want to wait months to get started.
That's exactly why we developed our 80% barrel program.
We wanted to make it possible to order a high-quality replacement or prefit barrel and get it into production almost immediately, rather than waiting for all the preliminary manufacturing steps.
Of course, we know these configurations won't work for everyone.
If you're looking for a different contour, barrel length, muzzle configuration, or something else outside our 80% lineup, our full-custom barrel options aren't going anywhere. We'll continue building those barrels just as we always have. The 80% program simply gives you another option when getting your rifle back in the field quickly is the priority.
80% Carbon Fiber Barrels for Gunsmiths and DIY Builds
One additional benefit of our 80% Carbon Fiber program is that these barrels can also be purchased as contoured carbon fiber blanks.
If you're a gunsmith, or you have a trusted gunsmith you'd prefer to use, you can order one of our stocked 80% carbon fiber blanks and take care of the chambering and breech tenon threading separately.
All the time-consuming carbon fiber manufacturing work is already finished.
This means you can skip the typical production wait associated with ordering a custom carbon fiber blank and move straight into the machine work needed for your specific action.
It's a great option for gunsmiths who want to offer their customers shorter turnaround times without having to maintain a large inventory of carbon fiber barrels themselves.
We're Here to Help
Not sure which barrel you need? Have questions about action compatibility, contours, chambering, or installation?
Reach out to us at [email protected] and we'll be happy to help you find the right configuration for your rifle.
We've put a lot of work into making custom rifle barrels more accessible, and we're excited to give our customers another way to spend less time waiting and more time shooting.
LINKS
Looking for an 80% Carbon Barrel? CLICK HERE
Looking for an 80% Tikka Barrel? CLICK HERE
Looking for a Full Custom Barrel? CLICK HERE
