Rifle bore imperfections

[Canadian Bushman]

I went on a deer hunt with some friends and family last weekend, and my brother had a bore scope so we started sticking it down barrels and seeing how good or bad they looked.

I used it to check out my rem 700 sps varmint chambered in .308 that i use for target shooting and hunting and the barrel looked pretty rough. I have used this rifle for probably close to 3 years and maybe 1500 rounds. I used it for a lot of load development and it has seen many hot rounds, different bullets, dirt and weather.

It looked like the throat was already pretty eroded and there were a lot of hairline cracks perpendicular to the rifling for the first few inches and then got lighter towards the muzzle. I also noticed there were many small patches of pitting or maybe porosity in the steel for the entire length of the barrel. The most interesting thing i noticed is that one of the rifling lands was quite a bit more worn than the others with more tool marks and more copper fouling.

Now apart from all this the gun shoots fantastic. Im not a very good shot but i can shoot under a MOA with it regularly and sometimes under a 1/2 minute. The cold bore shot is usually spot on and it doesn't really walk much under heat.

Has anyone else seen barrels behave like this before, and how much wear is pretty typical?

Also when should this barrel be changed?

 

[J E Custom]

I went on a deer hunt with some friends and family last weekend, and my brother had a bore scope so we started sticking it down barrels and seeing how good or bad they looked.

I used it to check out my rem 700 sps varmint chambered in .308 that i use for target shooting and hunting and the barrel looked pretty rough. I have used this rifle for probably close to 3 years and maybe 1500 rounds. I used it for a lot of load development and it has seen many hot rounds, different bullets, dirt and weather.

It looked like the throat was already pretty eroded and there were a lot of hairline cracks perpendicular to the rifling for the first few inches and then got lighter towards the muzzle. I also noticed there were many small patches of pitting or maybe porosity in the steel for the entire length of the barrel. The most interesting thing i noticed is that one of the rifling lands was quite a bit more worn than the others with more tool marks and more copper fouling.

Now apart from all this the gun shoots fantastic. Im not a very good shot but i can shoot under a MOA with it regularly and sometimes under a 1/2 minute. The cold bore shot is usually spot on and it doesn't really walk much under heat.

Has anyone else seen barrels behave like this before, and how much wear is pretty typical?

Also when should this barrel be changed?

It is not unusual for factory barrels to be rough inside and have machine marks. some even shoot
well. The down side is they normally will not shoot realy well (1/4 MOA and down ) and foul easy
and cleaning is more laborious.

As far as replacing it, I would shoot it until accuracy falls below your standards, Then replace it
with a custom barrel.

Where it this point ? who knows, I have a 308 stainless hart barreled match rifle that over 22,000
rounds through it and it will still shoot 1/2 MOA.

J E CUSTOM

 

[drbill]

I have a 308 stainless hart barreled match rifle that over 22,000
rounds through it and it will still shoot 1/2 MOA.

J E CUSTOM

LOL are you serious?

 

[J E Custom]

LOL are you serious?

Very !!!

I started shooting Hi Power In 1968 and quit 14 years later. after selling the rifle it went through
3 more shooters until I got a chance to buy it back.

After cleaning and inspecting I decided to reload my pet load and just see if it would shoot at all
It did. The throat is well worn but the rifling is still good and it still has the original crown.

Most match shooters keep good records of all the matches they shoot and these shooters did.
the number is conservative because practice and some load development are not allways
recorded in the match book.

I have shot lots of rifles that still shot well at 500 to 600 yards that were armory rifles and had
over 50,000 rounds through them. so if the barrel has good care and the crown is still good
you have a chance.

I also have the family 22 that is close to 70 years old and has no throat for 3 to 4 inches and it
still shoots well.

I know there are other rifles people have with lots of rounds that still shoot.

I can rebarrel any rifle I have if it does not shoot but have no need to with these two rifles.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Canadian Bushman]

Im not a great shot so if the gun shoots under 1moa im happy. However you are right about it being a pain to clean but im not bothered. Thanks JE i appreciate your input.

 

[FEENIX]

 

[Canadian Bushman]

Wow feenix great post. Yeah my remington looked alot like that one with the tooling chatter and even the flat spot in the rifling. Mine might of been a bit worse but i have a lil over a thousand rounds through mine. I think i may seriously re-barrel my rifle with a lilja barrel when the time comes. That thing looked NICE!!!

 

[Clark]

With a $7 flashlight fiber optic adapter
NITE IZE Adapter, Fiber Optic, AA - Flashlight Accessories - 5XR78|FPO-07-AA20 - Grainger Industrial Supply
I don't think they make them any more, but a few are still in stock in a few places.

I can see the last 1" of the bore very well with a magnifier.

I grade barrels, and the A+ goes to those that are factory honed.



Last month a built three rifles with Shilen stainless barrels that were factory lapped.
I ran out of time and just had to buy what Brownells had in stock and could not wait 3 months for barrel man.

The "select match" barrel was A+ as expected, but the two "match" barrels were not.

 

[FEENIX]

Wow feenix great post. Yeah my remington looked alot like that one with the tooling chatter and even the flat spot in the rifling. Mine might of been a bit worse but i have a lil over a thousand rounds through mine. I think i may seriously re-barrel my rifle with a lilja barrel when the time comes. That thing looked NICE!!!

You will not be disappointed with Lilja barrels. I am very please with my 30" SS, 3-groove, 1:8 in my .270 AI.

Good luck!

 

[Canadian Bushman]

When you buy a barrel from lilja, how much machine work is left to be done before it can be fitted to the rifle. Im under the impression it only needs to be crowned threaded and chambered?

 

[FEENIX]

When you buy a barrel from lilja, how much machine work is left to be done before it can be fitted to the rifle. Im under the impression it only needs to be crowned threaded and chambered?

Yep pretty much but the same is true for other barrel makers ... but of course the action and barrel must be squared accordingly together.