Barrel Life

[Rflshootr]

Yes, the trend is to shoot the longest, heaviest B.C. bullets that you can......instead of what you actually need to accomplish the task at hand. But here is a really good factual read that might make you rethink that if you want your barrel to last as long as possible.

http://www.mssblog.com/2019/09/18/reloaders-corner-barrel-throat-erosion/

 

[Aquamark]

This makes me feel better since I'm shooting 50gr in my 223 bolt gun (1:9)

 

[oldfortyfiveauto]

Prairie dogs are hard on barrels. So far my 223's made it to about 2500 rounds before accuracy dropped off (greater than 1 moa). My 204 Ruger made it about 1800 rounds.

 

[J E Custom]

Thanks Rfishootr for sharing that With us. I have been a long time proponent of staying at or below SAMMI pressures and optimum bullet weights to increase barrel life. With many years of competitive shooting and loading (Over 50 years) I have had several barrels die at an early Age and others that are still shooting 1/2 MOA with thousands of rounds and my match rifle used for many years and has over 23,000 rounds down the barrel that still shoots 1/2 MOA with iron sites (When I do my part) and everything that was said has proven to be true, at least in my case.

I also clean often to prevent the carbon fouling from wearing the barrel from the bullet carrying it down the bore every time it fires. I also believe that free bore allows the bullet to move before the pressure get to high and causes gas to escape around a bullet before it gets moving causing gas cutting of the bore and throat.

Heavy for caliber bullets with copious amounts of powder, loaded hard have been the bulk of my barrels that didn't live long.

There are many other things that contribute to early barrel failure That I believe can be avoided if practiced.

I personally found everything true in my experience and the fact that he referred to cause and effects of some procedures, (It may solve one problem and cause another) also rang true. If you don't understand everything, I would recommend reading it again and again until you understand at least his point of view.

J E CUSTOM

 

[AZShooter]

On the other hand you can make a hunting rifle that isn't shot that frequently shoot the best BC bullet at top velocities for intended purpose and the heck with barrel life. I burned out a 257 Weatherby with approx. 1100 rounds in 10 yrs of use, it didn't bother me. I just rebarreled and continue to use the rifle on my coues wt hunts.

 

[sw282]

Three rifles all shoot the same bullet on Prairie Dogs. 40gr Bal TIP, 221FB-15gr pdr. 223REM-25gr pdr. 22-250 w/35gr pdr... 221FB will likely outlast the other two...

 

[Greyfox]

Thanks for posting.....interesting article with some very good points.
While I pay far more attention to barrel life with my competition rifles/loads, barrel life(within reason) isn't as much concern with my hunting rifles. Since adopting the 6.5x284, my go to hunting load for the past several years has been a 142gr JLK VLD, rebated boat-tail, relatively low bearing surface(25% less then the Berger 140VLD), using slow burning Retumbo with velocity in the 3000FPS range. My initial motivation for using this particular bullet/load was accuracy/terminal performance on game. In hindsight, I soon found that my throat wear seemed reduced compared to the traditional recipes using faster burning powders and longer bearing surface bullets.