Rifle barrel life???
I have a Remington 700 in 22-250. How many round life expectancy can I expect? Assuming proper cleaning and care. I love the gun and shoot it often, but didn't want to wear out the barrel. have heard many opinions on this at the local gun club.
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There are a lot of variables, you haven't addressed.
1, Handloads or factory?
2, Type of powder used, if handloaded?
3, Bullet weight and type?
4, Current roundcount?
5, Rounds fired per month?0 -
I'm shooting Hornady 55 grain bullet, 3680 fps muzzle vel. factory. I've shot 2200 rounds through this rifle 0 -
You wont wear out the barrel, but the throat will erode. You will notice accuracy fall off eventually.
A gunsmith can lengthen the throat a few times until it is so long that accuracy is no longer satisfactory.
So, it is all tied to required accuracy. A benchrest rifle may live 1000 rounds before the throat needs touched up; maybe less.
You may get 5000 before you feel you need a touchup. Maybe more, maybe less.
Don't worry about it. Barrels are replaceable. Start putting away a little money for it.0 -
You are shooting in the hot end of loading, barrel life would be longer if you slowed the bullets down some. Ball powders burn cooler, I run them in my 7mm R. Mag for that reason.
Don't shoot too many in a row before you let the barrel cool out, if you can't wrap your hand around the barrel because it's too hot and you aren't helping the barrel life. Leaving the bolt open after the first 2 shots helps when shooting varmints.
40# of powder rule says about 7000 rounds, so perhaps 1/3 wore out maybe 1/2. If you never shoot it, it will last forever but where is the fun in that.0 -
quote:Originally posted by dude1951
I have a Remington 700 in 22-250. How many round life expectancy can I expect? Assuming proper cleaning and care. I love the gun and shoot it often, but didn't want to wear out the barrel. have heard many opinions on this at the local gun club.
I think you've gotten good advice above, and won't repeat it. You can see here about some details for match type shooters:
http://precisionrifleblog.com/2012/07/09/practical-tips-to-extend-barrel-life/
Begging the question of exactly how many rounds, the fact is, you can't shoot the gun without wearing the barrel (well, not at normal velocity with normal rounds, anyway). If you like to shoot centerfire rifles a lot, replacing barrels is part of the normal expense/routine. EG, if you want to race cars, you're going to have to change a few tires and brake pads!
The "good" news is that new barrels for your gun aren't terribly expensive, and installation also shouldn't be too bad. If you don't mind installing a new take-off factory barrel (as opposed to a nice high end custom match one) you can find those for under $150, or even less on the auction site here, or that one that starts with "E".
Lets say, for the sake of argument, that you can get a useful barrel life of 5000 rounds, and lets say you're paying only $0.30 each to reload them (you're probably not going to get factory ammo for less than $1/round, and I think you'd have to be a pretty efficient reloaded to get your costs down that low).
So your 5000 rounds will have cost you (at least) $1300. Compared to that, what's another few hundred bucks for a new barrel every year or three?0 -
Throat life is much related to the bore size / chamber size ratio. The 40 pound rule that i knew pertained to 30 cal guns. when you've shot 40 lbs of powder, (42 to 50 grains at a time) time to change the tube. In the small bore / large case calibers such as yours, that changes much. A lot of powder burning in a small space greatly shortens accurate life of the barrel by "burning" (eroding) the throat faster. A 308 is good for 5,000 rounds and still deliver 10 ring (probably not X ring) scores. A 243 Winchester (same case; smaller bore) will not shoot accurately (at longer distances) much beyond 1000 rounds. If your shooting is confined to 100 ~ 200 rounds you might not notice for quite some time. If you're shooting match course distances you'll start to see unaccounted for fliers in that caliber around 2500 ~ 3000 rounds. By the time you get to 5000 rounds in that caliber you'll be all over the map at 600 yards. The opinion stated above is very much correct. Changing the barrel is like changing the tires on your favorite vehicle. No big deal; part of the game. 0 -
Thanks for all the great information. That all makes perfect sense. I love to shoot and hated the thought of damaging my rifle. I can see now that I can have the barrel swapped out and keep on. 0 -
To a certain extent, throat erosion can be helped by using a longer OAL, to get nearer to the burnt out lands in the throat; but this is only a limited fix as eventually you will get too long to function in the magazine. A touch up may be useful before that point anyhow.
If you DO get to the point you need to rebarrel, just make sure that you invest in a quality barrel and have it installed and reamed properly.0 -
I have the same model and caliber rifle (approx 1977 production). From 77 to 82, I shot an average of 40 shots per week for 3 months out of the year-so 500 rounds per year for 5 years=2500 rounds fired(plus maybe 100 since 1982). I can't see an appreciable loss of accuracy. 0 -
There are several factors that make or break the life of a barrel. One of the most prominent breaker's, is the amount of over bore a cartridge is. In short, that is the amount of propellant a cartridge holds, in relation to the amount of propellant the barrel, can completely burn efficiently, every time.
The amount of heat, and plasma created, also determines the working pressure of a cartridge. The higher the heat, the more plasma, the higher the pressure, equates, usually, to higher velocity. Velocity, in itself, has been blamed for burning out barrel's. This is a common myth. It is the heat, high pressure, and plasma, to get the velocity, often associated with it, that eats the throat. The 264 Winchester Magnum, 220 Swift, and many of the Weatherby rounds, have been touted as barrel burner's. They were labeled that back in the day of lesser, and inferior propellants of what we have today. Cartridge design also is a factor here. There is a cartridge that is a 6.5mm/0.264" bullet diameter, that will achieve better velocity than the 264 Winchester, yet is efficient, as it uses about 10-15% less powder, and has a barrel life of 2500-3000 rounds in long range competition...where as the 264, is somewhere around 2000, if treated properly. In basic, the short fat cartridges are more efficient, than the longer skinny ones.
Other factors that lead to throat erosion, are shooting the barrel, hot, and/or dirty. If you neglect your shooting iron, it WILL pay you back in the form of decreased working life of the barrel. By shooting moderate loads in your rifle, versus the rocks and dynamite loads, you can extend your barrel life, and improve accuracy.
One more note...By adjusting your bullet seating depth, if you reload, you can sometimes, overcome the negative effect of an eroded throat...but not always. Accuracy is also a component of how well that bullet gets started into the barrel. If the throat is eroded, so it is not concentric, then you accuracy will suffer, no matter where you seat the bullet.
In closing...keep your rifle clean...like after at least every 20 rounds, and do not shoot more than 2-3 rounds, before letting your barrel cool. If you choose to hand load for it, keep your loads a notch or two off the top end. This will help extend your barrel life.
When/if there is a time you decide to rebarrel, use QUALITY parts, and LABOR! I like Bartlein barrels. They represent the lions share of the top 10 winning rifles used in long range competition. I know a company who can install it, and true your action up in the process, too.
Hope this answer's some of your questions.
Tim0
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