.204 Ruger - Barrel Life

[wildcat284]

Hey guys,

Anyone hazzard a guess a typical round count before the barrels accuracy goes south. Rifle is a Kimber Pro Varmint.


Cheers,

Michael.

 

[coupalr]

3000 from what I have heard. Mine has 1100 through it.

 

[ghermitage]

I heard 1200.

 

[acloco]

Depends on how much heat the barrel is exposed to,repeated firing without cool down or cleaning).

Some calibers are worse.

Have over 1800 down the tube of my factory chrome moly Savage barrel.

Have over 2500 out of my 223 Savage chrome moly barrel as well.

Both of these have been abused - when you are on a hot prairie dog town with "opportunities" all the way out to 800 yards, well...it is hard to hold back!

 

[Silverfox]

My Savage 12VLP in .204 Ruger has 2,072 shots down the tube and it is still shooting great for me. I hotrodded it the first year with 32 gr. V-Max loads leaving the muzzle at 4,255 fps. I slowed my loads down to save a little life on my barrel. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if I got 3,500 to 4,000 rounds out of this barrel.

I shoot quite a few rounds in prairie dog towns and pay real close attention to how hot my barrel is getting. When it gets hot enough so it is a tiny bit uncomfortable to keep your fingers on it, I give it a rest until it cools way down. In a target-rich prairie dog town it is difficult to take a break instead of blazing away. However, those prairie dogs will still be there 20 minutes from when you stop to let the barrel cool and your barrel will shoot more accurately and last a WHOLE lot longer.