Carbontec LG300XT

[RobinC]

Bob
As you know we have conversed on this subject, but as its an interesting one I thought I'd do this in public so others can see. Although I am a confessd Walther-phile, I have no commercial connection with them, but I do have long term friends and personal connections to the factory in Ulm going back 40 years. I have not shot one, but I have worked on one and handled one, and I've drooled over the dismantled and strung on wires one in the Walther museum!

Walther are a company that has always pushed the boundaries of technology to get advantages, their target guns although as mass produced as their competitors are also closer to being hand built, their bread and butter business is not target guns so they are less constricted, and they treat the target ranges as a prestige part of their business.

The carbontec was an attempt to stretch technology a tad more. The overal weight is also a little of a red herring, the trick which Walther has seen some while back (others have missed) is that the lighter a rifle can be in every aspect including the stock is better, as it allows much more scope for the correct location of weight addition with in the rules to gain a better ballance and feel. The principle of a stock as a long item( so having a wide ditribution of weight) is that as long as it is as stiff and strong as it needs to be the lighter the better as weight can be added where its best.

The carbontec stock was to take this principle as far forward as possible. It worked, but there were problems. To Walther, not their customers!

The single biggest one was that a stock needs to be very accurate in its locations to other components, the system attachments, i.e. the bedding, carbon is not an easy material on which to get accurate dimensioning, the stocks were made by a specialist company for Walther and I have been told that Walther rejected four out of five received! As it progressd the cost of the stocks also exceeded what Walther could charge for them.

But performance wise they are great, the vibration deadening is better than alloy or wood and they are of course beautifully ballanced when weighted correctly, the vibration deadening threw up a minor issue in that I have been told that they can produce tempermental results on Scatt (but then Scatt is tempermental any way!).

They were used by several top class shooters most notably Peter Sidi (Hungary) who has won medals in more than ten World Cups with one, and has a PB of 600 ex 600 with one, although I believe he has just gone over to a new Walther LG400 Alutec. The one I've worked on is used by a top class UK Junior, its a superb rifle, and will be competitive with current technology for many years.

With their new in 2012 LG400 Alutec Walther superceeded the Carbontec, the new alloy stock is as close to the Carbontec weight as is as worth bothering with, is easier to make, and the LG400 action has taken recoiless to the next stage, so vibration is not an issue.

The Carbontec is now obsolete, but as a most asthetically beautiful rifle that works at the highest level it will live on, and it will stand up as a step forward in the sport, Walther can be proud that they stretched the boundaries with it.

Carbon is still used in stocks by several manufacturers, they are used in smallbore .22rf target rifles and in my favourite event, 300 mt, where they are used on some 6 mmBR target rifles, but in those vibration damping is an advantage, and the ones I've seen all have embedded alloy to bolt onto the systems, and they are blindingly expensive!!
Good shooting and have fun,
Robin