Was just thinking on this......If a barrel only will go 2000 rds, I'd have to average 40 rds per week to kill it in 12 months. Guess I got a new job!
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Barrel Life?
- Thread starter HARPERC
- Start date
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I might have a "few" guns that will probably never see a new barrel. I can spread out my shooting of each and try to vary the ones I use when I hunt. That being said, I have a Remington 700 with a 5 digit serial number that starts with 2. It was pretty much a smooth bore when I got it since it was the guys only rifle. He bought it new and shot it religiously for deer, ground hogs, foxes, crows, anyway, you get the idea. That's the only one I've ever had barreled and will likely barrel it again since it's purpose has changed. A slow twist .243 was great for ground hogs, not so much for larger game.
Canhunter35
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2017
- Messages
- 3,167
This is a good thread!
One thing I wonder about when ppl worry about burning out a barrel...look at the cost of using it?
An overbore round with 1500rd accuracy still takes more money spent in ammo to burn it out than what a new barrel and replacing it costs.
It's a strange concept when deciding on a cartridge considering how few guys burn out barrels yet it's in the top points of negating a magnum.
I have a 257 I've shot the snot out of. It's what I learned to reload with, started with poor bullet choices, kept experimenting and finally settled on a single load near the end of its life. Still shot 8-9 deer with it, lots of coyotes over a decade of shooting it. point I'm trying to make is if a person makes one load, or even two factoring that the first load doesn't work out. Then with some shooting to check your zero and dope before deer season. There is years of hunting with overbore cartridges.
But I did buy a 308 for practice and take it hunting all the time because I'm comfortable with it.
One thing I wonder about when ppl worry about burning out a barrel...look at the cost of using it?
An overbore round with 1500rd accuracy still takes more money spent in ammo to burn it out than what a new barrel and replacing it costs.
It's a strange concept when deciding on a cartridge considering how few guys burn out barrels yet it's in the top points of negating a magnum.
I have a 257 I've shot the snot out of. It's what I learned to reload with, started with poor bullet choices, kept experimenting and finally settled on a single load near the end of its life. Still shot 8-9 deer with it, lots of coyotes over a decade of shooting it. point I'm trying to make is if a person makes one load, or even two factoring that the first load doesn't work out. Then with some shooting to check your zero and dope before deer season. There is years of hunting with overbore cartridges.
But I did buy a 308 for practice and take it hunting all the time because I'm comfortable with it.
Whenever someone asks what it cost to shoot my .375 Snipetac I say $5.66 per trigger pull (not counting rifle/scope/etc):
$2.45 per bullet
$1.53 powder (@150 grains)
$0.80 brass (4 shots per)
$0.05 primer
And $0.83 towards the cost of rebarreled.
$2.45 per bullet
$1.53 powder (@150 grains)
$0.80 brass (4 shots per)
$0.05 primer
And $0.83 towards the cost of rebarreled.
HARPERC
Well-Known Member
Every rifle shooter should have a good, .308 case, based, rifle in the safe, for the purpose of volume shooting.
If you're a beginner, or committed to being a one rifle owner, something that's done in a few hundred rounds should not be your choice.
My guess is is more of us here fall in the group, that is more driven to having a rifle suited to the task at hand.
Having had barrels that never met my expectations, having one that does, even if only for, a few hundred rounds seems preferable.
With the good barrel makers all months behind, replacement does lack the instant gratification of walking out of the with a new one.
The same people who wring their hands when they have 500 shots on a barrel are the same people who will happily sit down to a $100+ steak dinner. Guns are like razors. You can have a cheap blue disposable or a real nice one but either way, if your not wearing it out, it sort'a defeats the purpose.
nmbarta
Well-Known Member
If you shoot out barrels, you know enough to know that the cost of the barrel was small in comparison to what it cost to shoot that barrel out.
Rich Coyle
Well-Known Member
tag
Lefty7mmstw
Well-Known Member
I've knocked out a few barrels so far... Right now my lh lss 7rum is waiting on me making a decision on what barrel to put on her as she stopped shooting well enough last summer. That's the second 7rum I've knocked out... I have a couple of 7mm barrels in the basement; 1 chambered for 28 nos and 1 chambered for 7stw... still thinking on what I want to do... the obvious choice is to chop an inch off the 28 nos and have it chambered to 7rum and keep playing; not sure I want as overbore of a 7mm again though and may just go with a fresh blank and chamber to 7rem as I've got stuff lying around for it too.
The larger the bore, the slower they seem to burn up; I haven't fully fried out anything over 7mm... That may just be my new challenge as I've got two 300 mags (a win and a rum) with serious time on them.
The larger the bore, the slower they seem to burn up; I haven't fully fried out anything over 7mm... That may just be my new challenge as I've got two 300 mags (a win and a rum) with serious time on them.
HARPERC
Well-Known Member
Did you happen to track how many rounds to loss of accuracy?
What kind of groups did you get in the beginning?
At what point did "not shooting well" become unacceptable to you?
Thanks,
Carl
What kind of groups did you get in the beginning?
At what point did "not shooting well" become unacceptable to you?
Thanks,
Carl
Lefty7mmstw
Well-Known Member
my last 7rum (my lh lss) was bought used and had a rather crappy looking bore already. I shot around 500 rounds through it before it went. This bore started tossing two groups with loads that were normally 1/2 moa... The groups were separated by two inches or so at 100 yards. This was on three different loads with multiple trigger wigglers and not just a bad group or two.
I sorta feel like hanging a scope on her again and seating the bullets out a good bit to see if it helps, but it would be a short term Band-Aid at best.
The crappy part is I have around 200 rounds loaded for this rifle yet.
Don A Parsons
Well-Known Member
I look at barrel life in 2 categories.
Category #1
A rifle that I "normally" use from 100 to 400 meters.
If it gets 1" to 1 1/2" MOA, then it's good to go.
Category #2
I like my 1000 meters units to be "able to pull off 1/4" MOA.
If I shoot 3 groups of 10 shots each and 65% of the bullets "on average" are out side of the inner ring,,, then the rifle gets a new barrel.
This is done at 900 meters / 1000 yards and "hoping" to land the 65% of 30 shots in-side the 5" ring.
That is a 10" V ring for the TR folks.
The above is a rule of thumb, so pick and choose what works for you .
PS: It is wise to do the rifling barrle test on the calm-est of calm days to lesson the chances of this becoming a factor .
No wind and the best of shooting skills are priority 2,,, the steadest of "hand & eye" will determine priority 1.
Only the shooter will know when the time is due.
Western Canada Don
Category #1
A rifle that I "normally" use from 100 to 400 meters.
If it gets 1" to 1 1/2" MOA, then it's good to go.
Category #2
I like my 1000 meters units to be "able to pull off 1/4" MOA.
If I shoot 3 groups of 10 shots each and 65% of the bullets "on average" are out side of the inner ring,,, then the rifle gets a new barrel.
This is done at 900 meters / 1000 yards and "hoping" to land the 65% of 30 shots in-side the 5" ring.
That is a 10" V ring for the TR folks.
The above is a rule of thumb, so pick and choose what works for you .
PS: It is wise to do the rifling barrle test on the calm-est of calm days to lesson the chances of this becoming a factor .
No wind and the best of shooting skills are priority 2,,, the steadest of "hand & eye" will determine priority 1.
Only the shooter will know when the time is due.
Western Canada Don
