.223 8" Twist Barrel Life

[critter_bill]

I currently am shooting a Rem 700 with a Krieger 14" twist barrel that will soon have 3,000 rounds on it. It still is shooting .5 moa groups with 52 gr SMK and better with custom bullets.

I plan to send the rifle to Jon Beanland for a new 8" twist Krieger barrel and am wondering what barrel life I can expect out of this barrel shooting 24 grains of Varget behind the 77 gr Lapua Scenar bullet.

Anyone shoot this combo or something close to it who can share their experience on barrel life?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Cyclops]

I currently am shooting a Rem 700 with a Krieger 14" twist barrel that will soon have 3,000 rounds on it. It still is shooting .5 moa groups with 52 gr SMK and better with custom bullets.

I plan to send the rifle to Jon Beanland for a new 8" twist Krieger barrel and am wondering what barrel life I can expect out of this barrel shooting 24 grains of Varget behind the 77 gr Lapua Scenar bullet.

Anyone shoot this combo or something close to it who can share their experience on barrel life?

Thanks in advance.

I'm shooting a Savage Model 12 26" 1:7 twist barrel.
I load 24.7 gr Varget with 80 gr A-Max in Norma cases.
Barrel has fired about 3000 rounds over two seasons of use.
Accuracy seems to be slipping so I'm considering a new barrel.
(Or possibly a new shooter.)

 

[critter_bill]

Thanks, Cyclops. Part of me wants to see just how far this 14" twist barrel will go but the Rifle ADD part of me wants to chamber future 14" twist barrels in 220 BEGGS and go with 8" twist in .223 Rem. I have an 8" twist .223 on a BAT B action rifle but only have about 1500 rounds on it thus far and it is still shooting well. I was hoping to get 2,000 or better out of it so I am encouraged that you have gone 3,000 or better. Thanks again.

 

[Tommie]

It has more to do with rate of fire. You could torch a barrel with 200 rounds if they're all fired in rapid succession.

 

[critter_bill]

Tommie, I have AR-15 carbines for that. I'm more particular with my custom bolt guns.

 

[mac86951]

What chamber are you cutting in the new barrel, standard 223 or a wylde?

I'll try to lost the group pic later (need to resize); my 20" barrel is still capable of bug holes with 77SMK at 6k+ rounds, Wilson barrel with wylde chamber. Having done that, I'd rather a hybrid, cut lead to seat 77 out a bit unless you're feeding from magazine. With my wylde (there are different) touching is 2.450" and I use the 77 for mag feeding, so needless to say they jump a bit.

My Varget load was 23.8, but I moved away from Varget for N140, or H4895. I had one lot of varget that was awesome, then never found another lot that performed as well. Just FYI should you find you need another powder for comparison. (Neglecting the obvious R15 to try too).

Hope this helps, and it's early after a late night, hope this isn't too confusing

-Mac

 

[critter_bill]

Thanks for the good info, mac. I have the Wylde chambers in my Rock River ARs but this reamer is one that Dave Kiff of PT&G suggested for use with the 77 grain SMK and it has shot very well in my single shot BAT rifle. The Lapua Scenars shoot good in this chamber as well. On the re-barrel, I am returning the Rem 700 to repeater with Badger Ordnance M5 bottom metal. When I had the 14" twist installed, I wanted single shot so the smith fill the magazine cut out with Marine Tex to make a poor man's 40X. I have never tried H4895 but did load N140 in my 308s and found it very accurate. For now, I'll stay with Varget because I managed to stock up before the shortage and am shooting it in my 8" twist .223s and 11.25" twist 308s. Thanks again.

 

[raptor1ronin]

I have a friend who I shoot with on a regular basis in FTR and he also uses .223 and has over 3000 rounds using 80VLD. Even after 3000 rounds and pushing the 80's over 3000fps the barrel still shoots and I mean shoots.

Its a Kreiger Barrel 1-7.7 twist 30"

 

[critter_bill]

Raptor, that is good to hear. My biggest concern with the 8" twist was possible short barrel life but I would be very pleased with 3000 rounds or more. As I said earlier, I have only shot 1500 rounds on the BAT with 8" twist and was concerned about committing to another barrel before knowing what barrel life to expect. I have enjoyed the light bullets in 14" twist but the wind really moves them at 300 and beyond. Now I can go all 8" twist with peace of mind. Thanks for sharing.

 

[1raggedhole]

I have never heard of barrel twist having an impact on barrel life. It seems to be related only to chambering and rate of fire, both of which create the heat.

 

[raptor1ronin]

Raptor, that is good to hear. My biggest concern with the 8" twist was possible short barrel life but I would be very pleased with 3000 rounds or more. As I said earlier, I have only shot 1500 rounds on the BAT with 8" twist and was concerned about committing to another barrel before knowing what barrel life to expect. I have enjoyed the light bullets in 14" twist but the wind really moves them at 300 and beyond. Now I can go all 8" twist with peace of mind. Thanks for sharing.

No problem, I currently have 1845 rounds on one of my .223 guns that shoots the 80VLD's and its great, My new 90vld build doesn't have enough to even called it broken in LOL.

 

[Tommie]

I have never heard of barrel twist having an impact on barrel life. It seems to be related only to chambering and rate of fire, both of which create the heat.

Don't go there. I already tried.

 

[critter_bill]

I have never heard of barrel twist having an impact on barrel life. It seems to be related only to chambering and rate of fire, both of which create the heat.

With severe rifle ADD I have never kept a barrel or rifle long enough to have reliable data. Two exceptions were my first 700 VS .223 w/12" barrel that I sold with 3200 rounds fired and a Rem 40XBR 6BR 1/14" twist shot 1600 rounds before rechambering to 6PPC with a 3600 total rounds when sold. Have owned many rifles over the years but most ended up traded/sold to scratch the next itch. What I have noticed that the faster twists, while still shooting accurately, seem to foul more quickly. I am not known as a hot rodder either. I usually search for the lower node.

 

[Laurie]

I have never heard of barrel twist having an impact on barrel life. It seems to be related only to chambering and rate of fire, both of which create the heat.

It does marginally and indirectly. Faster twists are normally used to handle heavier bullets. Heavy bullets reduce barrel life compared to light models all other things equal. This is because a heavy bullet has greater inertia and therefore moves down the barrel more slowly. The throat area is therefore subjected to peak heat and pressure longer than with a lighter, faster accelerating bullet.

 

[chapstix97]

i have a bartlein 26" m24 contour 1/8 barrel at 3900 rounds still shoots half min moa 10 round groups at 200. I was thinking of rebarreling but ill wait till it opens up more. im using 75 amax and varget, but i just tried 70 berger vld with 23.6 varget, shot 1/2 moa 10 rounds @200. note: i shoot off sand bags or bipod

 

[bobcat93]

I use to worry about such things..and belive me I'm not 'made of money ..but. not to sound disrespectful, or to play down your question.
But honestly..who cares when it gets down to it...shoot that sucker..when the accuracy drops off or the rifle just doesn't perform to your expectations..send it out and have a new tube but on it.. shoot,shoot, shoot ,repeat

 

[critter_bill]

bobcat, I agree that barrels are expendable. I have multiple barrels for my BAT rifles but only one for the Rem 700. Like an alcoholic, I have more rifles than I need but not as many as I want. In retirement, I have sold off a number of good shooting rifles to thin the herd to twelve. Plan to get down to ten and shoot each of them more. I'm pretty sure that this little 700 will see 3500 rounds or more of sub .5 moa groups before I retire this Hart barrel.

 

[critter_bill]

chapstix, that is truly encouraging. Thanks for your positive, first hand experience.

 

[manitou210]

I would suggest getting a 1/7 twist and some 80.5 bergers, you will not be disappointed, 3000 rounds still as accurate as when new

 

[ripley]

I currently am shooting a Rem 700 with a Krieger 14" twist barrel that will soon have 3,000 rounds on it. It still is shooting .5 moa groups with 52 gr SMK and better with custom bullets.

I plan to send the rifle to Jon Beanland for a new 8" twist Krieger barrel and am wondering what barrel life I can expect out of this barrel shooting 24 grains of Varget behind the 77 gr Lapua Scenar bullet.

Anyone shoot this combo or something close to it who can share their experience on barrel life?

Thanks in advance.

I have had Kriegers on my Ar-15 service rifles that I replaced at 6900 rounds and still shot good at 600 yards..One marine I was shooting with at Camp Perry had over 10,000 rounds thru his Krieger and was still competitive at the 600 yard line...Kriegers are great..the ones I've had never show throat errosion until about 3200 rounds....pay for what you get