Is my barrel worn out?

[oneeyejohn]

I had the same problem with my old Remington 721, 30-06. I read an article in the November 2019 American Rifleman about cleaning barrels that won't group. Before Coved 19 tried all types of powder, primers, cases bullets etc. to get good groups. Finally I stopped and read all I could find to read on this problem. The ABOVE article recommended before replacing the barrel to try This gunsmiths method of cleaning the barrel. I did clean the barrel as described in the article. Last Tuesday 8-2-2013 I got to an open shooting range and shot a 9/16 inch group of three shots with that old rifle. I will try to duplicate it the next time I go to the range, but it has been 15 years since I shot anything close the that small a group. No New barrel at this time. The American Rifleman article is titled Dealing with Fouling by Bryce M. Towslen and I think you can still find it on the NRA web-site.

 

[jarnold37]

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?

Could be one of many things. Have had similar experience and tried many things to cure the problem. Was suprised when the last resort, rebedding, restored accuracy. I have a 308 Hart barrel that has approx. 10,000 rounds through it. Has had the threads cut off and rechambered 3 times. In between rechamberings the bullet would be gradually seated out to engage riflings. I dont think barrels that seem to be shot out actually are. In some cases barrels are fouled with carbon or copper.

 

[Blkrflguy]

I have a 308 that shot 3/8" min every day. Then after 800 rounds (I keep a log), the groups have migrated the last few months to just under 1". So I loaded up 5 rounds and decreased my seating depth by .003". The gun shot a little better. Then I loaded up 5 more rounds with a decreased seating depth of .006". This brought the gun back to grouping 3/8". What happens is your throat burn increases your bullet jump. You have to keep the same jump if you want that same load to perform like it did when you found it. Of course not knowing how many rounds you have on a barrel, it could be that in fact your barrel is toast but, probably not if you've only got 1-1.5k down it. I'd do the easy thing first and check for loose fasteners, etc. Then move to decreasing your jump by .003" at a time.

 

[Rflshootr]

Clean it! Then load 10 rounds with the bullet seated out .005 further. Then load 10 more rounds with the bullet seated out .005 further then that, for a total of .010 longer from your original seating depth. Shoot 'em and see if it helps.....bet it does.

 

[Tumbleweed]

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.

The barrels I've shot out sure did! But they have been big magnums.

 

[Creedmoor shooter]

I had the same thing happen to me. Not to this extent but it ended up being a carbon ring. Cleaned it out and she was back to her old self. Ended up retiring the barrel at 1800 round due to not being able to maintain any velocity over the course of one match.

 

[RAGGED EDGE]

Another Opinion here. Unless this gun landed on it's muzzle out of a truck, the barrel is the LAST place I'd go. Start from the top (scope, mounts, etc.) and work down, and then out. I have a cheap, but extremely reliable scope I keep around for occasions like this. It is surprising to me how many problems like this can be fixed with a really good cleaning. .308-based cases just will not burn a barrel out to the point of replacement in as few as 1500 rounds unless gross abuse has taken place. Good luck with your troubleshooting.

 

[falcon6555]

Try seating the bullets a liitle deeper, this helped me when I was in a very similar situation with my 7mmRM

 

[richhymas]

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.

Agreed. As the barrel wears out you see subtle and gradual increases in groups. You are describing something sudden. I vote less likely to be barrel and more likely something else.

 

[richhymas]

Another Opinion here. Unless this gun landed on it's muzzle out of a truck, the barrel is the LAST place I'd go. Start from the top (scope, mounts, etc.) and work down, and then out. I have a cheap, but extremely reliable scope I keep around for occasions like this. It is surprising to me how many problems like this can be fixed with a really good cleaning. .308-based cases just will not burn a barrel out to the point of replacement in as few as 1500 rounds unless gross abuse has taken place. Good luck with your troubleshooting.

Agree. Crown damage could do it.

 

[Teri Anne]

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?

Back in the early 70's I bought a new Winchester Model 70 in 30-06. At that time I used it for deer hunting as well as metallic silhouette competition. I shot a lot, most of it competition. I kept track of the number of rounds fired using my shooting log and noticed that around 1000 rounds my groups had started to open up and I started missing chickens. A few hundred rounds more and I was missing pigs. Checking everything I could think of and coming up with noting that should cause this problem I contacted Winchester. Their response was, "The rifle is a Sporter and as such with 1200 rounds the barrel from the factory was probably shot out. Sporters normally shoot no more than 20 shots a year, thus you have already exceeded the barrels design lifetime. Had my gunsmith borescope the barrel and it was indeed shot out. The throat was badly gas eroded far into the rifling. I had the rifle re-barreled with a 26 inch Obermeyer super match grade stainless barrel and rechambered in 7.62 NATO. Using Lake City match loading with Sierra 168 grain match bullets it would fore a 5 shot group at 0.045 inches at 100 yards. To make a long story short, have your gunsmith boresight your barrel to check it's condition. It is possible to shoot out a barrel at 1000 rounds.

 

[Bill28]

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?

I would check to make sure everything is tight, my Bergara in 6.5 Creedmoor shot 1/2 moa for over 4,000 rounds. It's currently getting rebarreled.

 

[adam32+P]

55 posts in and the OP hasn't been back... hopefully he's at least reading the replies.

 

[bigbrad53]

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.

Rifle took a fall and groups started going south? Time too check scope and mounts. Sounds like I wrecked and know it drives different.