204 Ruger barrel life ?

[GlennGTR1]

Does anyone know what to expect for barrel life in rifles chambered for 204 Ruger?

 

[fdshuster]

I saw the beginning of some serious firecracking, using my Hawkeye borescope, at a recorded 775 rds. fired. The barrel was taken off shortly after that & replaced with a Hart 223, 1-9 twist.

 

[GlennGTR1]

That seems like an extremely short barrel life.

 

[fdshuster]

That was just the beginning of firecracking, the first indication. The rifle still shot well, ( in no wind conditions), and copper fouling was not a problem. I would have expected it to be "good" for a lot more rounds, depending on the users accuracy requirements. Some demand 1/2 moa, others are happy with "just barely moa", and still others think a rifle is "accurate" if they can hit a pie plate at 100 yds. Several of my 243 barrels had the same amount of firecracking at 400 rds., and they lasted for 1400 'til I got rid of them. I had other issues with the 204 Ruger, and went back to a 223 on that particular rifle. The 204 barrel was a Hart, 1-12 twist.

 

[drop_point]

I had one that started to open up around 8k rounds. It went from a .2 shooter to over an inch at that mark. I sold the rifle and replaced it with another. I've noticed very good barrel life on .204s. Oddly enough, I think people see worse life out of .223 than .204 Ruger.

 

[K22]

Oddly enough, I think people see worse life out of .223 than .204 Ruger.

That doesn't make any sense to me! The 204 is more overbored than the 223, i.e. the case capacity ratio to the bullet diameter is higher than the 223 so you would expect a shorter barrel life for the 204. However, there are a lot of 223's being made today with fast twists but I'm not sure how that would affect barrel life.

 

[people]

No matter how you plug in the numbers more powder plus a small bore equals less tube life.

 

[drop_point]

See the 2007 April-June issue of Varmint Hunter magazine--read about the turbulent point specifically.

 

[fdshuster]

people: See my above post, " depending on the users accuracy requirements". I personally have no use for the rifle that will not hold, at least, M.O.A., smaller is better. Consistantly under 1/2 M.O.A. with 5 shot groups at 300 yds. is a "winner". I've burned out 3, 223 barrels that have been replaced at between 4 & 4500 rounds, with uncalled flyers, and heavy copper fouling. As seen with my borescope, heavy firecracking for at least the first 2" of throat, with a lot of rifling "gone". When it gets even worse, bullet keyholing will become a problem. The US Army Marksmanship gunsmiths change out the Team M16 match barrels at between 2500 & 3000 rounds, when they begin to see a drop in accuracy. A clubmember has an AR-15 that he says has over 20,000 rds. fired, we looked at the bore with my Hawkeye, and I believe him. It is a smoothbore, (well, not exactly, as there are large chunks of steel ripped out of the bore), with no rifling for a measured 12" in front of the chamber. Keyholing is severe at 100 yds., and he is lucky to be able to hit an 8" dia. pie plate, but to him it is "accurate"!

 

[people]

fdshuster I did read your post. I always read all the posts before posting.

 

[fdshuster]

I also follow your policy of saving the low round count barrel(s) for the "serious" work. A Krieger barreled upper, built by Compass Lake ( 1-7.8 twist) now has 4300 rds. fired so I limit it to 200 yds. Another Compass Lake upper, also a Krieger, has 1100 rds., so it is kept for the more demanding requirements. Guess I'm getting off the subject of the original posting ( 204 Ruger barrel life), so I better sign-off. ;D