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22BR barrel life

kd4avp

Gold $$ Contributor
Just curious as to what other 22BR shooters are getting on barrel life.
Did realize this round can eat a barrel up faster than other choices.
But sure do like loading for it and shooting it.
 
Not sure what to compare it too. This is my first one but know it’s known to erode a barrel quicker. I have 6br, 6ppc and know if I take care of the barrel, 2500 to 3000 is not an issue for those. Maybe even more depending on how hot I make the loads. The 22br is primarily a 100-200 yd gun for my purposes
 
kd4avp said:
Not sure what to compare it too. This is my first one but know it’s known to erode a barrel quicker. I have 6br, 6ppc and know if I take care of the barrel, 2500 to 3000 is not an issue for those. Maybe even more depending on how hot I make the loads. The 22br is primarily a 100-200 yd gun for my purposes
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Just to be clear, every barrel I have pulled still shot better than 1/2 MOA. I find there is a point where the groups get a little bigger and it won’t respond to tuning like it used to. At that point I take it off because it’s not competitive anymore for BR. If it’s a long barrel, I can usually have it cut down 4” or so, rechamber it, and have another “new” barrel. Right now, my strategy is to start with a 22 PPC that needs the length to get to the good node, then rechamber to 22 BR for the second go because it can get to the good node with a shorter barrel.
 
urbanrifleman said:
22br is not a "barrel burner" by any definition that I know of...
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Well my first one only made to 1000. I am on my second one at 500. I am getting ready to order my third one just in case. My 6br went to 3000. I was really surprised at the 1000. I had figured it would do 2000.

Right now i consider 1000 a barrel burner.

Mine failed in that the first 20-30 rounds after a complete cleaning shot a normal 1/2 moa. At about the 25 mark the groups started getting bigger. By 30 rounds they were 2 inches.
 
dstoenner said:
Well my first one only made to 1000. I am on my second one at 500. I am getting ready to order my third one just in case. My 6br went to 3000. I was really surprised at the 1000. I had figured it would do 2000.

Right now i consider 1000 a barrel burner.

Mine failed in that the first 20-30 rounds after a complete cleaning shot a normal 1/2 moa. At about the 25 mark the groups started getting bigger. By 30 rounds they were 2 inches.
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Well I have no idea what you are doing, but I'm going out on a limb and say your results are not normal.

I've probably sold 60 to 70 22brs. I've never heard any stories like yours.

I shoot pdogs with the 22bra, and I have a 90 grain barrel also. Haven't seen any real evidence of barrel burning at all.

I think I shot 400 rounds in one day with my 8 twist shooting 62 eldvt. Still hammering away. Taking it to Colorado later this month.
 
I had one customer that ordered a 22br to shoot pdogs. Took it pdog shooting a few times. It shot so good he then converted the barrel over for f class. It did so well he gave it to his son to shoot f class.

This was AFTER being a pdog gun.

Still havent got the call to replace the "burned out" 22br.
 
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urbanrifleman said:
Well I have no idea what you are doing, but I'm going out on a limb and say your results are not normal.

I've probably sold 60 to 70 22brs. I've never heard any stories like yours.

I shoot pdogs with the 22bra, and I have a 90 grain barrel also. Haven't seen any real evidence of barrel burning at all.

I think I shot 400 rounds in one day with my 8 twist shooting 62 eldvt. Still hammering away. Taking it to Colorado later this month.
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My barrel is 1:7 which is harder on barrels than a 1:8. I also understand that every now and then you get a bad barrel for life. I shoot fclass so my 3 goto bullets are berger 85.5, hornady 88 for steel and 90 atip for 1000 yards. I am running 1 node lower than max so staying at around 80% max pressure. I shot a 600 yard match and shot a 195-7x in june. Went to the 1000 match in October and the first match was a 189 which is pretty normal for me and then shot my worse score that i have ever shoot a 159. I just could not figure out what was going on. But i did figure the barrel was gone and my testing showed that it was the barrel and my second match would have been bad.

If my second barrel goes to 1500 or more then i will take back the barrel burner comment.

BTW i love this caliber so i am not turning away from it. It is so much more versitle than a 223
 
dstoenner said:
My barrel is 1:7 which is harder on barrels than a 1:8. I also understand that every now and then you get a bad barrel for life. I shoot fclass so my 3 goto bullets are berger 85.5, hornady 88 for steel and 90 atip for 1000 yards. I am running 1 node lower than max so staying at around 80% max pressure. I shot a 600 yard match and shot a 195-7x in june. Went to the 1000 match in October and the first match was a 189 which is pretty normal for me and then shot my worse score that i have ever shoot a 159. I just could not figure out what was going on. But i did figure the barrel was gone and my testing showed that it was the barrel and my second match would have been bad.

If my second barrel goes to 1500 or more then i will take back the barrel burner comment.

BTW i love this caliber so i am not turning away from it. It is so much more versitle than a 223
Click to expand...

I'm shooting my 7 twist 22bra today. I shoot the 88 ELDM and 90 smk. Once again, not seeing any signs of burning up the barrel.
 
dstoenner said:
My barrel is 1:7 which is harder on barrels than a 1:8. I also understand that every now and then you get a bad barrel for life. I shoot fclass so my 3 goto bullets are berger 85.5, hornady 88 for steel and 90 atip for 1000 yards. I am running 1 node lower than max so staying at around 80% max pressure. I shot a 600 yard match and shot a 195-7x in june. Went to the 1000 match in October and the first match was a 189 which is pretty normal for me and then shot my worse score that i have ever shoot a 159. I just could not figure out what was going on. But i did figure the barrel was gone and my testing showed that it was the barrel and my second match would have been bad.

If my second barrel goes to 1500 or more then i will take back the barrel burner comment.

BTW i love this caliber so i am not turning away from it. It is so much more versitle than a 223
Click to expand...
Great report and thanks for sharing. The discipline that any clambering is used in makes all the difference in the world. Batches of barrel steel are definitely not all the same, to say the least. My barrel life, shooting at long range steel or coyotes, is world's apart from someone shooting F class or 1000 yd benchrest. My barrels in .22BR will probably outlive me! It's all about heat and cadence of shooting. Really nothing new, if you think about it. Shoot straight and enjoy the 22BR as it is a fantastic round.
Paul
 
This is good information. I am shooting a 12 twist and primarily a 52 gr Berger. So maybe I am reading too much into the online data. Will just shoot it till it shows issues.
 
kd4avp said:
This is good information. I am shooting a 12 twist and primarily a 52 gr Berger. So maybe I am reading too much into the online data. Will just shoot it till it shows issues.
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Let me say this. I sell barrels for a living. I am not getting phone calls from people complaining about short barrel life for any caliber really. It takes someone that shoots A LOT to wear out a barrel.

I shot a five gallon bucket of brass through my 223 7.7 twist space gun. More than that really... Probably 5k. The load was 23.5 grains of Varget. The same load in a 22br would be 27.5 -28.5 grains of Varget. No one is going to convince me that 4 grains of powder would make a barrel go from nearly indestructible to a barrel burner.
 
kd4avp said:
Not sure what to compare it too. This is my first one but know it’s known to erode a barrel quicker. I have 6br, 6ppc and know if I take care of the barrel, 2500 to 3000 is not an issue for those. Maybe even more depending on how hot I make the loads. The 22br is primarily a 100-200 yd gun for my purposes
Click to expand...
My 6ppc barrels die around 1200 or less, ( No longer competitive )but min of P.D. is a different game.
 
I can't post a picture here from my computer and can't seem to get logged in from my phone for some reason, but I have a barrel with about 200 rounds on it where the throat looks to be totally roached. I still have not decided on a load due to pressure issues. .223WSSM btw. That's about 40 grains rather than 30 but still, I'm rather disappointed that it looks like I won't get 500 rounds from it for the $800 that barrel cost me last summer. Doubt I'll buy another Douglas CM for this round!
 
jpjulian said:
I can't post a picture here from my computer and can't seem to get logged in from my phone for some reason, but I have a barrel with about 200 rounds on it where the throat looks to be totally roached. I still have not decided on a load due to pressure issues. .223WSSM btw. That's about 40 grains rather than 30 but still, I'm rather disappointed that it looks like I won't get 500 rounds from it for the $800 that barrel cost me last summer. Doubt I'll buy another Douglas CM for this round!
Click to expand...
That's is very unfortunate,
Try a Krieger,
All mine seem to last well, longer than expected really, and I shoot overbore cartridges
 
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