HBN extened barrel life?

[tbrice23]

Has anyone seen a definite improvement in barrel life by using HBN coated bullets and/or barrels?
Also, I read that SS barrels may not see the extent of barrel life improvement of CM pr CS barrels.
Fact or fictional?

 

[gohring3006]

Tagging in, I use it for several rifles, I haven't shot them near enough to know if barrel life is extended.
If HBN does what it's designed to do, it will increase barrel life.
I do know, the barrel feels cooler after a series of shots.

 

[tbrice23]

That alone has to count for something.
It kind of makes since that HBN would work better to extend barrel life in CM vs SS because its softer than SS and can be
Imbedded easier.
If it is less useful in SS than I don't know if it would be worth the effort. Except to prevent bonding issues for stored ammo.

 

[gohring3006]

Maybe even in a SS barrel, the fouling should be less.
I have a Savage 338 Lapua carbon steel barrel, and I decided after 200 rounds with HBN to go ahead and decopper the barrel. I was amazed on how well the HBN protected against fouling. My first cleaning run the patch come out with a very light tint of blue, I went ahead and did another round and it came out with no blue at all. I though something wasn't right so I tried another well proven cleaner and the patches came out clean again. I'm amazed at this... Never seen anything like that in a Savage barrel...

 

[tbrice23]

Are you coating bullets or your bore or both?

 

[gohring3006]

Are you coating bullets or your bore or both?

I do both, I tumble the bullets and use a slurry of HBN and rubbing alcohol on a bore mop.
Once I get the barrel "seasoned" I get low Es and very good velocity. I did have to go up in charge weight to get the same velocity, that's how I knew I was getting a good coating. I was able to exceed the velocity with my 30-06 and the 208 ELD. I was able to push it to 2750 fps without a hint of pressure.

 

[Bullet bumper]

If the barrel feels cooler then it has to be extending it's life because it will reduce fire cracking and flame erosion of the crack edges .

 

[tbrice23]

I plan on coating Berger bullets, does the tumbling close up the meplat or fill in the void with media??
That would be a deal breaker.

 

[Barrelnut]

Broz addresses the Berger questions in this how to.
[ame]https://youtu.be/_yoinNhCqHg[/ame]

 

[tbrice23]

Thank for the link.

I was just in the process of reading all 28 pages of his thread on LRO, I was hoping Jeff chime in and I wasn't sure if he was still doing it.

 

[gohring3006]

Thank for the link.

I was just in the process of reading all 28 pages of his thread on LRO, I was hoping Jeff chime in and I wasn't sure if he was still doing it.

Jeffs video is what convinced me to try it. The only thing different is, I use a vibratory tumbler instead of a rotary.

 

[JTB]

I had never bought in to the bullet coating business until I installed a new barrel that lost accuracy after 15 shots no matter what break-in procedure I followed due to copper fouling. Decided to give the HBN a try and the problem went away almost instantly. The system I use for coating amounts to an old peanut butter plastic bottle containing stainless steel jeweler's tumbling media and a teaspoonful of HBN. Just load the bottle with 100 170gr 270 EOLs and set it in the vibratory tumbler for about 30 minutes. I then separate out the bullets and place them in an old tube sock and rock them back and forth in the sock a few times; they come out perfect. I found I needed to cover the tumbler lid hold-down screw with some gas line to keep the peanut butter bottle from wearing in the middle as it rotated. Also wrap the bottle lid with electal tape to keep it secure and to smooth the lid edge. Without the tape it will begin to wear a groove in the tumbler bowel where it rotates against it. I only coat bullets for this specific barrel but the HBN solved my problem.

 

[Deleted member 46119]

Maybe even in a SS barrel, the fouling should be less.
I have a Savage 338 Lapua carbon steel barrel, and I decided after 200 rounds with HBN to go ahead and decopper the barrel. I was amazed on how well the HBN protected against fouling. My first cleaning run the patch come out with a very light tint of blue, I went ahead and did another round and it came out with no blue at all. I though something wasn't right so I tried another well proven cleaner and the patches came out clean again. I'm amazed at this... Never seen anything like that in a Savage barrel...

Yup

 

[Gene]

Never used HBN, but 10 years ago, I decided to use moly exclusively in a factory Savage LRPV .223 I shot in competition at groundhog matches. First shot to last every bullet had moly. Occasionally after thorough cleaning, I would run a little moly paste thru the bore. At 3300 rounds, it stopped shooting.