Is my barrel worn out?

[17remhunter]

I have a 6.5 CM have no idea of how many rounds Ive put through it....................i would guess well over 1500 The issue Im having is that shooting the 143 ELD-X Ive alway shot at 1/2 MOA at 200 yards Now im having a hard time keeping my groups under 2 inches at 100 Same load ive always shot. This morning cool weather dead calm I shot three 5 shot groups and both were over 3" at 100 Crazy..............Im guessing my barrel has had it .

I even tried brand new Lapua Brass I anneal after each shot

It that a fair assumption?

 

[LRNut]

Check our scope mounts; the 6.5 Creed is not a hard recoiling round, but I had issues with in the past with rails coming loose, etc with hard kicking rounds. Check your action screws as well. A shot out barrel doesn't just go from 1/2 to 3 MOA overnight.

 

[LaHunter]

They don't typically go to crap all at once, but it's possible. Not sure about what the typical life of a 6.5 cm is, but you can do a google search and find that info. Normally, you will start seeing unexplained flyers and groups starting to grow. Without knowing for sure what the round count is, I would say go through the usual trouble shooting checks like scope mounts, action screws, etc to eliminate those possibilities. Last, if you have any data on MV when it shot good vs now, that could be useful info. Sometimes the MV will decrease as the barrel is shot out

 

[17remhunter]

Check our scope mounts; the 6.5 Creed is not a hard recoiling round, but I had issues with in the past with rails coming loose, etc with hard kicking rounds. Check your action screws as well. A shot out barrel doesn't just go from 1/2 to 3 MOA overnight.

Talley Bases with blue locktite.................Dont know whats went wrong my rifle took a bad fall the other day from the truck I have a huskemaw scope who knows. I tried all summer to get it to shoot Barnes LRX 127gr and to no avail all over the place. went back to the 140 ELD-match and 140 ELD-X got a few good groups .404 at 200 and then it opened back up........next day five shots at 200 over 4inches.................went back to 100 and 5 at 3"
The thing is that my loads have a SD of 5 2914 average from a 26" Benchmark Barrel and I waited 15 min between shots to make sure the barrel was cool. Yes I do get flyers....The other day I had 3 touching and the next two went out almost 2 inches one left and the other right.

 

[Dosh]

Throat erosion?

 

[adam32+P]

When's the last time you cleaned it? And CLEANED it, not just running a patch down it...

Going from LRX to ELD's is a recipe for disaster without cleaning all the copper out first.

 

[jraulsten]

I have a 6.5 CM have no idea of how many rounds Ive put through it....................i would guess well over 1500 The issue Im having is that shooting the 143 ELD-X Ive alway shot at 1/2 MOA at 200 yards Now im having a hard time keeping my groups under 2 inches at 100 Same load ive always shot. This morning cool weather dead calm I shot three 5 shot groups and both were over 3" at 100 Crazy..............Im guessing my barrel has had it .

I even tried brand new Lapua Brass I anneal after each shot

It that a fair assumption?

Has your MV also decreased with those same loads?

 

[just_jon]

Have you adjusted your CBTO to account for throat erosion? Possible you could lost your node.

 

[Veteran]

As some one else pointed out, if you've never cleaned out copper with something specially made to get copper out, you may have some fouling build up. Scope mounts and all the frame screws is also a great thing to check first. Best way to maybe assess your barrel for both copper, throat erosion, and whether the lands are shot out, is to borescope it. That will tell you a lot. Teslong borescope costs $65 or you can find a gunsmith or friend with one. For cleaning copper fouling out, I like Boretech CU 2+

If you have shot 1500 rounds and only ever used Hoppes 9 bore cleaner, I would bet you have some copper.

 

[epags]

my rifle took a bad fall the other day from the truck I have a huskemaw scope who knows. I tried all summer to get it to shoot Barnes LRX 127gr and to no avail all over the place. went back to the 140 ELD-match and 140 ELD-X got a few good groups .404 at 200 and then it opened back up........next day five shots at 200 over 4inches.................went back to 100 and 5 at 3"

my rifle took a bad fall the other day from the truck
And the problems developed?
I doubt the barrel is the problem.
How about switching scopes before doing anything else?
One change at a time to isolate a problem.
Well maybe before doing that use a tourque wrench to check all the rifle's action bolts to ensure they are tight.

 

[slowshot18]

I second the cleaning and borescope. I thought I was cleaning properly on my 6.5 cm until I picked up a borescope. My 6.5 was developing a carbon ring with RL-16 and 140 eldms. Always shot under 1/2" until it got to 500 rounds down the tube. I thought I was stripping the barrel every 50 rounds. Borescope revealed carbon ring in the chamber along with areas of copper fouling. Once cleaned out the gun went back to less than 1/2".

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

I have had the experience of "OTHER" Shooters claiming that they need another barrel after a set amount of rounds fired. My observation is that they have someone tell them that their barrel is shot out after a set amount of rounds.. here are several things you can do to to extend your barrel life.
If you are in competition seeking one hole groups is one thing and another if you are using for hunting and need 1/4" to 1/2". Most Hunter are happy with 1" groups due to their calibers or them not being able to shoot past 600yrds.

1. Shoot it until you definitely have a change in group size 1/2 + from original -for positive. Make sure that you have checked you scope mounts & action to the stock, then cleaned you barrel and have no copper build up or Carbon Ring. As far as Carbon Rings go-Make sure that it is a "Carbon Ring". I see too many shooters blame accuracy and say they have a Carbon Ring and there is not one. Sometimes you can have an amount of Copper in your barrel and it will shoot better.
If that is all done then move to step #2.
2. Re-Crown your barrel. Take 1/32 off and do a straight crown-no 11-15 degree target crown. You don't need tapered crowns. If your barrel & muzzle are square the gasses will exit evenly with the bullet. I have Re-Crowned Barrels with NO Taper and they shot better than they ever did after 1,500, 2,000 rounds.

3. The next step is that you can move the chamber up, but I can almost guarantee that if you do a good cleaning, then re-crown, you won't have to move the chamber up.
Don't throw away a good barrel just because you think it has too many rounds through it.

 

[CRNA]

I have had barrels crap the bed nearly overnight. I would check the things mentioned but at your round count you are definitely on the latter end of life of the barrel.
Nearly the exact thing happened with me and my 6.5X47. After doing the mandatory checks as listed above it pretty much points to one thing….the barrel is toast.

 

[Western4444]

Check our scope mounts; the 6.5 Creed is not a hard recoiling round, but I had issues with in the past with rails coming loose, etc with hard kicking rounds. Check your action screws as well. A shot out barrel doesn't just go from 1/2 to 3 MOA overnight.

Agree, first check screws on rings and scope mounts. A very likely cause. Also check all gun bolts. Make sure they are tight. It is a slow migration to a barrel's demise. For me, after 1500 rounds I went from 1/4 moa to 1 1/2 moa at 100 yds. Then changed barrels.