260 rem barrel life?

[6.5grendel]

What is the average barrel life for a 260 rem? Curious what round count everyone is getting or has gotten in the past. I bought a used barrel with approximately 700 round count and had it looked at by a gunsmith with a hawkeye and the first 6 inches of the barrel is shot. I was expecting the life to be several hundred more than that. I am planning on getting a new barrel and wanted to stick with 260 since I already bought Forster dies, but if the expected life is only 700 then I will really have to reconsider what caliber to go with.

 

[adam]

I had a 260 that went over 4000 rounds before accuracy really dropped off.

 

[MikeMcCasland]

I've burned through quite a few .260 barrels at this point. Their life is typically much longer than ~700 rounds. As with any cartridge, that will depend on rate of fire, both powder type/quantity, and bullet velocity. For instance, you probably could burn a .260 barrel out if you fired 7 100-round strings; however that's a rather unlikely scenario.

I've not scoped any of my .260 barrels, so I'm not the most qualified to talk about visible throat erosion. That said, I'll typically look to pull them around the ~2,000 round mark; that's probably a bit on the conservative side too. I'd probably focus more on how the barrel shoots, rather than how it looks on a scope, as looks can be deceiving (at least as it pertains to internal surface condition directly correlating to barrel accuracy).

If you're not shooting them in competition (i.e. 20 shot strings of fire), and running slightly less than max loads, then you could probably get well beyond 2,000 rounds.

Lastly, one of the AS members created this barrel life calculator that you can play around with:
http://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/excel-formula-predicts-useful-barrel-life/

 

[GWY]

I shoot 600-1000 yard NRA high power and am on my 4th barrel. The first 3 were good for 2000-2500 rounds.

 

[dstoenner]

I got 2600 out of my first barrel before it started acting up. At 2100 on my second barrel it was still shooting great but would not make it for this next season and I wanted to change caliber. I shoot f-open. I was not shooting heavy loads. 42.5 h4350 behind 140 hybrids. Measuring my lands the second barrel had advanced .075 inches.

David

 

[Geno C]

My all time best shooting barrel was a rock creek in 260. It’s peak accuracy was consistent 1/4 moa with occasional zero groups. At 4000 rounds it was 3/4 moa and I set it back to form 260ai. Shot 100 rounds. Set it back again for 6.5-47 starter barrel for my son. It has already shot plent sub 1/2 moa groups with an 11 year old shooting 120 amax...

And not that it matters, but, it is really heavily fluted

 

[tomswede]

Just took one off at 1700 rounds. Still shooting fine, just wanted to change the rifle for another use. Mostly shot for prone matches with 123 Lapua bullets and a fairly mild load of H4350.

 

[6.5grendel]

Thank you everyone. Sounds like everyone is getting a pretty decent life out of them and I would be happy with that kind of round count. Sounds like this used barrel I bought actually had more than the 700 rounds through it or it was ran really hard. I think I will stick with the 260.