.223 Rem Barrel Life

[critter_bill]

Some time back, I posted a question on expected life of a .223 Hart 1-14" twist barrel. At that time, I had 2,600 rounds through it and had a new 1/8" twist Krieger that I was anxious to have chambered. Well, I took it to the range and fired 5-5 shot groups each with some new BIB 52 grain bullets and some old SRA 52 gr SMK bullets. This was the result:





This barrel actually preferred the 52 gr SRA bullets and shot sub .5 moa until I ran out of them.

I decided to keep shooting until it started throwing flyers, averaged more than .7 moa, or reached 4,000 rounds. Although it agged in the .5s a few times, it never reached the .7 mark. So, today I fired the last 10 5 shot groups and the old girl agged in the .4s, even without the SMKs. In all fairness to the rifle, the other 10-5 shot groups and 9-5 shot groups were fired in stiff, switchy winds but today was very calm. I still don't know how long this barrel will shoot but if the new barrel doesn't hack it, then this one can go right back on. If not, it has earned a cut off and re-chamber some day.

 

[joshb]

Yup! That's a keeper! Personally, I'd keep shooting it.

 

[Ned Ludd]

You should provide a resting place of honor for that barrel .

 

[DukeDuke]

You have a lot of life left in that great shooting barrel!
My DPMS Super Bull just went over 7k.
1 in 8" twist, 24" long.
I shot 3k with RL-15 and 4k with 2000MR, only 75 and 80 gr. a-max. I would've never guessed it'd last that long and still be accurate.
10 days ago: it was super windy, the camcorder was in a building 50 feet to my left so the missed shots are actually very close to the gong.

 

[5spd]

4k rounds is just breaking in on a 223. I have 2 bbls past those numbers on my pdog rigs. I have 2 drop in bbls on hand when they do give up the ghost though.

 

[K22]

My Rem 700, 12" twist, has 3,672 through it. Shows no signs of accuracy loss, shooting in the 1/2 to 5/8" group range.

I had a Rem 700 in 222 that I have over 5,000 rounds through that still grouped in the 1 MOA area. Rebarreled to a 223 with a Douglas match barrel.

I don't shoot rapid strings, only followup shots on varmints which is rarely needed. I clean after every 30 rounds.

 

[critter_bill]

One reason for going to a 1 in 8" on this rifle is that I chose a BAT .220 Beggs caliber for my slow twist 22 caliber. The Beggs is accurate but this little .223 just wants to shoot. I find, at 300 yards (the max at my gun club), the heavier 77 grain bullets do better, especially in the wind. But, this really is a fun little rifle.

That's encouraging to hear about these .223 barrels that have stayed accurate for a long span. Thanks for sharing your experiences. For sure, if the 1 in 8" Krieger doesn't make me happy, this little Hart will screw back on.

 

[xswanted]

I have a friend who shot out a 223 Kimber long master.

He had three 5 gallon pales full of brass. When I asked him how many times he'd fired the gun total, he didn't have a clue but said he had reloaded each pale twice.

I'm not sure how many rounds went through that gun but it was legitimately shot out. Id have to guess each pale would hold a few thousand or more rounds of brass.

 

[drover]

My personal accuracy requirements for my Cooper 223's is 1/2" five shot groups, I have found that to be easily achievable with all three of them and also with the other Cooper 223's I have owned in the past.

I have one of them that is on its second barrel and one that is on its 3rd. Around the 6000 round count I started getting the odd flyer, by 8000 rounds the groups were closer to 3/4" than 1/2" - at that point I had them rebarreled. I truly believe that 10,000 rounds would have been doable as a PD rig but the 3/4" groups no longer met my criteria.

Edited to add more info - A couple of years ago I did an experiment just to satisfy my curiosity.
My main shooting is about 80% ground squirrels and 20% PD's. Throughout the season I shot right at 6000 rounds, the rifles involved were a Cooper Varminter which shoots 1/2" five shot groups, a Remington Varminter which shoots 3/4" five shot groups, a Remington 700 which shoots 1" five shot groups.
The distance involved were from 100 to 300 yards, occasionally a bit closer or a bit further, I took the shots as they were presented with each rifle without being selective of distances. I would shoot one of the rifles until it began to get hot, I then switched to one of the other rifles at that point, throughout the season each rifle got shot as near an equal number of times as possible, at the end of the season the hit ratio was virtually identical with all three rifles.

Moral of the story is that sometimes we get too wrapped up in groups and accuracy when there are a ton of other factors at work in the field. However I do, and always will have more confidence in the more accurate rifle.

drover

 

[critter_bill]

drover, who was it that said, "Only accurate rifles are interesting?" Although I fancied myself a varmint hunter for a spell, by far the bulk of my shooting is on the bench. As a recovering benchrest shooter, I can't seem to get away from group shooting...even with my ARs. I actually prefer the A-5 stocked rifles when shooting for fun. I have several BAT actioned single shot rifles with the A-5 stock. I call them Bractical rifles: BR action and barrel, Tactical stock, rings, and optics. Although the build cost is similar on A-5 versus BR stock, my expectations are much higher when shooting the 6PPC or 6BR BR rifles. If I agg .3s with the BR rifles, I am miserable but if I agg .3s with the A-5s, I am delighted. Seldom get .5s with my ARs but they are a different animal.

Thanks to all for sharing your first hand experiences on barrel life. Further proof that I need to hang on to this sweet shooting barrel.

 

[drover]

critter-bill,

I believe the "only accurate rifles are interesting" is attributed to Townsend Whelen, but I feel pretty much the same way.

I surely would not replace that barrel yet, it looks to have a lot of life left in it yet.

Like you I probably put more wear on my barrels shooting groups then I do in the varmint field. Most varmint shooting here is only for about 4 months of the year but bench shooting is 12 months (although a bit cold sometimes). I am fortunate that I have my own range and bench set-up so I can shoot anytime I want by walking about 50 yds to it. I have whittled my varmint rifles down to all Coopers which I use as my bench rifles also. The 1/2" groups out of them would not win any bench matches but there is a certain gratification to shooting small groups with an 8 lb rig using a 1-1/2 lb trigger and an 18 power scope. Mine shoot well enough that in the unsanctioned local matches they only allow them in the benchrest class not the factory varmint class.

drover

 

[critter_bill]

One more thing that I will add. When I had this rifle built in 1998, I specified a finished length of 24". It would shoot some decent groups but then go to 4 and 1 and 3 and 2 which was driving me nuts. I tried different loads but couldn't get it dialed in. Finally, knowing that most short range 6PPC match barrels are finished between 21" to 22", I had a machinist friend cut to 20" length and re-crown. Immediately, it became a shooter with a number of powder charges and bullets. And, it has shot the same in two different stocks...the original bedded HS Precision 40X takeoff and the more recent McMillan pillar bedded A-5. Guess the harmonics were better at this shorter length.

 

[drover]

I did something similar, I wanted to make one of my Cooper varminters into a handier rifle for shooting out of pickup (which I do a lot when shooting gophers and PD's and is legal where I hunt) I had the barrel cut to 20". The darned thing shoots much better than it ever had before and was much easier to develop loads for - I think that the benchrest boys are on to something.

drover

 

[tstowater]

My FIL finally had to rebarrel a Cooper Varminter in a 223 after it had in our best guess somewhere over 10k rounds through it. When new, the gun was the most forgiving rifle I have ever seen. It would shoot whatever you put in the chamber well.

Started to loose a little accuracy as round count increased. When prairie dog accuracy started to give, the gun went back to Cooper and came home with a 204 barrel.

My FIL recently picked up another 21 in a 223 and it will be going on the next prairie dog trip based on how it shot today. This one will split time with a Kimber and the 204.

Don't know if others will last as long but there should be a lot of barrel life in the OP's barrel depending on expectations.