Camp Perry, Ohio (September 20016) – With a score of 200-16X, U.S. Palma Champion, Norman Crawford won the 2016 Wimbledon Cup during the National Long Range Rifle Championships using a 32″ PROOF Research carbon-fiber composite barrel chambered in .284 Shehane. This prestigious cup, which dates back to 1875, is awarded annually to the winner of a 1,000-yard shooting competition consisting of 20 timed shots, fired from the prone position. Crawford’s win represents the first time in the cup’s 141-year history that it has been won with anything other than a steel barrel.
“I don’t know of anyone else in this sport using a carbon fiber barrel,” said Crawford, who’s been shooting PROOF composite barrels since 2013. “The benefits over a steel barrel are that you get a larger-diameter, stiffer, faster-cooling barrel that weighs less than a standard medium Palma-taper barrel, with no real downside I’ve been able to identify in three years of shooting them. All five PROOF barrels I own are capable of winning any match-providing I do my part.”
A 30-year Army vet and former Army Special Operations Sniper, Crawford has been shooting competitively since 1990. His list of shooting accomplishments is long, including winning the Camp Perry National Matches-considered the “World Series of the Shooting Sports”-in 2005 and earning runner-up in 2001 and 2003. A three-time member of the U.S. Rifle Team to the World Championships, Crawford also used a PROOF barrel to tie the national record for a 600-yard Any Gun, Any Sight competition in North Carolina last November, one of five national records he has set or tied over the course of his shooting career.
According to PROOF Research CEO Larry Murphy, “We are honored that Norm chose our barrel to go up against the best shooters in the world with. His success in Palma shooting has been unparalleled and we are proud to be a part of it-and by putting our barrels to the test in intense competition, he pushes us to do our best as well.”
Tags: Proof Research
“faster-cooling barrel” were did you get that?
From the Proof website:
“The aerospace-grade carbon fiber we use has a specific strength up to 30 times that of stainless steel and a specific stiffness up to 7 times greater than steel. But strength and stiffness are only part of the equation. Heat conductivity and thermal expansion are also of paramount importance when developing a match-grade carbon fiber barrel. Our helical wrapping pattern favors the longitudinal thermal diffusivity of the carbon fibers (along the length of the barrel) allowing them to more efficiently dissipate heat emanating from the barrel rather than insulating it.”
http://proofresearch.com/the-products/barrels/
Can’t wait to drop a Proof in my next build and hopefully they’ll expand to Tikkas in the near future.
“longitudinal thermal diffusivity”… I read it twice as I thought I was misunderstanding the sentence. So no, it’ll not cool at a higher rate than a steel barrel but it may affect to a lesser rate accuracy while heating. The ratio weight/stiffness will be better but not the ratio dimensions/stiffness.
Well seeing as the guy saying it just won the Wimbledon Cup and states he’s been shooting 5 of their barrels over the last 3 years, I’m going to go out on a limb and guess it’s from his own experience shooting them.
Congrats, Norm! Good stuff…
Wonder what they tried to hide behind Crawfords head with that photoshop disaster of an image. Severe blurring, smudging, and cloning.
Other than that, cool news.
He’s actually wearing a “Kreiger Barrels” hat. (JK!)
He’s actually wearing a “Krieger Barrels” hat. (JK!)
Congratulations Norm. Great accomplishment!!