Barrel life

[Tom Brush]

I am trying to pick a cartridge for my 1000 yd. rifle. One of the questions that I have is barrel life. I have read that the Remington Ultra Mags. last about 700 to 1000 shots. What do you shoot and what is the expected barrel life?

Tom

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

My 300 RUM went about 800-1000 rds before accuracy was really noticably falling off at ranges past 500 yards. Inside 500 it would still shoot great, but past that it sprayed them. I would rather own a 7mm or 300 WM and shoot a heavy VLD bullet and burn 30g less powder and still be able to get the job done. You'll also get at least 2000 rds of barrel life as compared to half that. It depends on how much you shoot or want to shoot I should say. Also, what will you be hunting or shooting? Targets, deer, elk? Me, I shoot quite a bit, so I want something that has a little more barrel life involved. But, if you want to be successfully hitting things at 1000 yards, we all know that takes practice which means shooting your rifle quite a bit. I went back to a regular 7 RM shooting 168g VLD@ 3000fps, it will do what I want out to 1000 yards while only burning 65g of powder as compared to 95g of powder in the 300 RUM. It gets expensive shooting the RUM even when you reload. If I had to do it again, I would go with a 300 Win mag and shoot a 210g VLD at around 2900fps. Of course, this is all just my opinion, so take it for what its worth.

 

[sniper2]

You might check out the 6mm bench rest or some of the wildcats off that cartridge think they will shoot quite a few rounds before they die... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Boss Hoss]

Please keep in mind that quite a few people including some of the folks I compete against THINK that the barrel is shot out but with out a bore scope they really are guessing. Have seen many rifles go from scrap to back into the safe as a result of Iosso or JB removing the carbon and layered copper that chemicals showed to be a clean (no blue) barrel.

 

[Tom Brush]

Remingtonman:

I like the .300 Winchester too. I have two hunting rifles in .300 Winchester and one in .300 Weatherby. I plan to use the rifle for long range hunting for deer & bear in Pennsylvania and deer and antelope out west. I do like to shoot at targets too. I also have a 7mm Remington but it is in a Browning pump. The Ultra Mag. barrel life is too short. I would be buying a new barrel every six months.

Thank you for the help.

Tom

 

[Tom Brush]

Sniper 2

I am looking for a hunting rifle for big game. I do have two 6BR single shot pistols that are very accurate, one in 7BR and also a rifle in .22BR They are great rounds but not powerful enough for long range big game.

 

[James Jones]

Tom , try a 6.5-300 Win mag you should get around 1500 rounds if its cared for properly , get a 28-30" barrel and you should be able to shoot the 140 class bullets at around 3300fps which is about the max I have ever seen them shoot accuratly. You'll have the benifit of great Lapua brass and several good dies to choose from.
the regular 300Win is also a great choice , 26-28" barrel with a 1-10 twist 5R barrel should get you close to 3000fps with the 200 grain class bullets.

 

[royinidaho]

Tom,

You may wish to go up a rung or so on the cartridge ladder.

What about a 338 RUM or even better an Edge?

As far as barrel live goes I've never heard of a 338 barrel being "shot out".

The Allen mags are great, I have one, but the BC of the 300 SMK is hard not to look at.

Just an out of the box thought.......And I've never heard of a shot out 338 barrel. Most probably for a single reason. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[sniper2]

Sorry I saw no mention of big game in your post.The .338/300 RUM is very effective round at long range I have plenty of rounds through mine and it still shoots sub min...

 

[Tom Brush]

JDJones:

You are really bringing back memories with the 6.5-300 Wby. In the early sixties when I was in high schol the 6.5 was popular for long range deer hunting. I remember that they shot a 139 gr. bullet that I believe was a Norma. To get around the non-expanding rule they would chuck the bullets in a lathe and cut a line near the tip to make them expand. I shot my first deer with a .264 Winchester Mag. It was also my groundhog gun.

I grew up in Williamsport, PA and two of the founders of the Original 1000 yd. benchrest club were friends of mine.

Tom

 

[Tom Brush]

Sniper2:

Thanks for the help. I did not mention big game hunting. My mistake.

Tom

 

[Wild_Bill]

Hi i shoot F Class and have 2 rifles for ot at the moment the first is a 6mmDasher 8 twist that use 107gr MatchKings at 2960fps and the second is a 284Win shooting the 175gr Sierra MatchKings at 2850fps. on Sunday at the local club shoot i used my dasher at 1000 yards and won the shoot over 7mm,s and 30 cals.

In F Class their is a rule no muzzle breaks and the maxumum bullet diameter is 8mm. The few that shoot 300WSM's are very sparse some have spurts of briliance then nothing. The bigest bore diameter i recomend is 7mm for F Class as with a 9 twist you have some very good VLD projectiles to shoot.

I am looking at upgrading my 2 rifles soon when i sell the 2 i have now they will have hopefuly Lawton 7500 actions right bolt left port and right ejection. One will stay as a 6mm Dasher and the other will be a neck turned 7mm Rem SAUM to get me up to the 2950-3000fps area with minimal recoil and great long range ballistics. Another good cartrige is the 243AI for the long range shooting and the New Lapua 6.5X47 necked to 6mm. It will push the 107 Sierra 6mm projectile at 3050fps and they shoot very well. If you are just starting i would recomend a 6mm either a BR, Dasher or 6X47 Lapua. If your rifle does not kick you you shoot them easier and can wory about other things like reading the wind and firing good shots.

Cheers Good shooting and just dont go for the bigest is best because sometimes it isnt. All you have to do is punch a hole in a piece of paper and all the holes get the same sized 8mm guage placed into it so their is no advantage in that way with projectile diameter.

Now if you have to go bigger is better how about a 8mm ultra mag improved it would be interesting seing someone firing a 22lb rifle with no break F Class it would be more interesting watching the other shooters on the mound. Their is also a few shooters using the 6.5WSM but barrel life is fairly short.

Another good round is the 7mm300WSM just get Norma 270 or 300WSM cases and neck them to 30 cal and shoot.

Now if you are shooting light gun 1000 yard BR you can have a muzzle break and every where except Wiliamsport range allows 17lb but Williamsport is restricted to 16.5. The max bore diameter was 40 cal but i believe they are looking in poening it to 416 to allow the 408's and 416's to compete. If you realy want an awsome rifle what about one of the 338 Allen Mags with a massive muzzle break a Lawton 8000 action and Jewell 1 oz trigger and you could have a beautifull laminated stock made from Joel he can use the A5L and make a 3" forend and he has told me he can fill in the but hook. You should be able to make it under 17lb and in 1000 yard BR you only fore 5 shots per target for light gun.

But if it is a 1000yd + hunter a big 338 is the best in my opinion

Cheers Bill
Australia

 

[Freebore]

Tom,
I think you already have 2 cartridges that are very capable of achieving the 1000 yrd mark, the 300 Win or the Weatherby. I don't know if yours are custom barreled or factory though. Depending on the accuracy and distance confimation would determine use at that range for either. A 200 grainer in a 30 cal is formadable medicine for clean kills.
If is to purchase a new rifle because you can, want and need, I think the 338AM would be my choice. It would kill at any distance shootable w/300SMK's. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[Tom Brush]

Freebore:

My .300 Winchesters are a T/C Encore and a Browning A-Bolt. The A-Bolt has a 24" barrel with the CR device (Boss w/o holes). It shoots into 1/2" at 100 yds. with several loads.

The .300 Weatherby is the Mark V with a 26" factory barrel and a plastic stock. It will shoot the 1 1/2" group at 100 yds. that Weatherby warranties. I have not worked up a load for it.

I thought that I would build a long range hunting rifle. I used to shoot IBS 100, 200 and 300 yd. competition in the 80's. I am not looking for competition, just something that I could carry to a hunting spot and sit. I plan to work with both of the bolt action .300's to see how they do at long range. I have already shot an antelope with the Browning at 483 yds.