Melonite barrel treatment

[CRaTxn]

Yes , I am waiting to bite on this NEW & IMPROVED shooting gear "advancement". Seems like over the last 69 years I have jumped on a few too many bandwagons that did NOT prove worthwhile in the end.
Hope my patience does not test yours.
I do have a Hawkeye and I can tell you that Blaser rifles have been using a proprietary process on their barrels for years...Germans don't have loose lips..so who knows how long and what they have been doing.
Timed shooting events create more than just synthetic stress on the shooters...they fry throats but hey I'm a meat hunter...do what you enjoy.

 

[idaho elk hunter]

I built one of the first 26 Noslers as soon as Nosler released the dimensions. Using gobs of RUM brass I shot the factory barrel out in less than 400 rounds, pushing them HARD. I then switched to a known barrel manufacture and shot out the barrel in the 325 range using the hottest loads developed in the original barrel. Switching to a Lothar barrel and Nitriding I found the same accuracy and sold it as a development test rifle to a customer. Round count was a little over 1200 when I sold it. I used this on coyotes, rabbits, rockchucks, porcupine and anything else to get the round count up. I did this to see how long the barrel would last. The grouping was consistent till the time I sold it. The man that bought it is a serious reloader and target shooter. I do not know how many rounds he has shot it but I would think quite a few. He has had nothing but praise and keeps on telling me that it is still a consistent 1/2 to 3/4 group gun depending on the load. Since this experiment I nitride all overbore cartridges.

 

[Pdvdh]

Yeah, that's a remarkable difference in bore life. Thanks for sharing the additional details.

 

[shortgrass]

Since this experiment I nitride all overbore cartridges.

That's the 'ticket',,,,, overbore cartridges. .22-243, 6mmAI, 243AI, .338 Edge,,,,,,, anything that uses gobs of powder when compared to the size hole it's pushing a projectile down. The BR guys, if they get hold of a "hummer", want that barrel to last as long as possible, even though the 6BR and 6mmPPC aren't hard on barrels. They shoot a lot of rounds. I've got 3 I'll be sending off real soon!

 

[Bart B]

Re: What's Overbore???

Ask several people what an overbore cartridge is and you'll probable get several different answers. All of which is why I did some barrel life comparisons people in competitive shooting disciplines got with different calibers and charge weights. Also included the barrel lives Sierra Bullets' test barrels delivered testing their stuff for accuracy.

One single thing stood out that was very consistent across all bore diameters. If the powder charge in grains had the same number as the bore's cross section in square millimeters, barrel life was about 3000 rounds. Example, a .308 Win has a bore diameter of 7.62 mm, its cross section area is about 45 square millimeters. Average charge weights for its various bullet weights are around 45 grains; more for light weight bullets, less for heavier ones. Barrel lives were about 3000 rounds for best accuracy; that's starting out at 1/4 MOA then opening up 50% to about 3/8 MOA.

If the powder charge was increased about 40% in larger 30 caliber cartridge cases, barrel lives were half as many or about 1500 rounds. Double the charge weight to 90 grains and barrel lives were one-fourth as many rounds; 750 in .300 Wby Mag's. Same thing with 22 caliber cartridges burning charge weights in the low 20's or 24 caliber ones' charge weights in the upper 20's.

Hunting rifle cartridges with the same standard getting not quite as good of accuracy starting out at about 3/4 to 1 MOA, they had twice the barrel life before accuracy degraded to about 1-1/3 to near 2 MOA or thereabouts after 6000 rounds. Military service rifle and ammo barrel lives were some three times as many rounds starting out at 2 or 3 MOA accuracy then ending at several MOA some 10,000 to 15,000 rounds later.

 

[CRaTxn]

WOW Bart B...that was quite a post. Thank You Sir
I learned not just "something" but "a LOT"