.308 barrel life for FTR

[Tony1320]

How many rounds do you typically see out of your .308 barrels for competitive FTR use? What happens when the barrel burns out? I put 2000 rounds on my barrel this year I'm wondering if I should get another barrel ready

 

[Don_Parsons]

Only you will know when it needs changing out Tony.

When the rifle shoots more Outters then Inners,,, then it's time to change it out.

I have a spare barrle on hand since it only takes a few hours to change it out.

Don't do this if your into the season, always be 2 steps ahead in the competion shooting sports world.

Don

 

[Quickoz]

Well, I have one barrel that's done 1500rds and in its last 200rds it won me the state championships. But as its going on a different rifle now and is being rechambered, its going to be a practice barrel now. But I think that 2000rds would be a good amount of top level competition life from a F/TR barrel and then its 2nd chamber be for small comps and club shoots.

 

[Ned Ludd]

I had a .308 barrel (Bartlein 5R) that was shooting cleans with excellent X-counts at 600 yd with ~3000 rounds through it. In the last 4 matches I used that barrel, it gave scores of 200-12X, 200-11X, 200-12X, and 198-8X, so it was shooting very well. I could feel it start to get a little rough in the throat with a cleaning patch and you could plainly see firecracking with the borescope at about 2800 rounds. I finally took it off at just over 3100 rounds because I had another one ready to go.

The type of powder you're using and how hot your loads are can make a big difference, but I would generally expect about 3000 rounds out of a quality .308 Win barrel. Of course, if you're running 200 gr bullets at over 2700 fps, or 185s at well over 2800 fps (as I know some people like to do), then noticeably shorter barrel life is to be expected. However, if you're not pushing your loads that hard, you may well have another 1000+ rounds left in your barrel. If you can feel the barrel starting to get rough in the throat with a patch, it's not uncommon for it also to start coppering up faster, especially near the muzzle. You can smooth out the throat by giving it 60-80 strokes in that region with some KG-2 and get perhaps another few hundred rounds out of it if you don't have a new one in hand.

Realistically, having a new barrel blank in hand isn't going to hurt you and is probably a good idea. I generally have two cut at a time, simply because you never know for sure exactly when one will crap out. If you can find the exact blank you're looking for in stock somewhere, the lead time is not an issue. However, if you want a special contour, twist rate, etc., and have to order direct from the manufacturer, it's probably safer to count on about 6-8 months lead time.

 

[Mozella]

I don't shoot .308, but the same factors apply. I can tell when a barrel is worn out using a very reliable indicator which is this:

Just about the time you find that perfect combination of bullet, powder, primer, charge weight, neck tension, and seating depth that you've been researching forever, your barrel is shot-out. Time to get a new barrel and start all over.

Or, to quote dead, rich-guy Malcolm Forbes, "Once you've made it........... you've had it".

 

[Papa Charlie]

Every barrel will be different. Depends on the many factors:

1) Barrel material
2) Powder Charge
3) Total charge pressure
4) Weight of the projectile
5) Barrel twist rate

Here is a calculator available on AS that enables you to do rough calculations.

http://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/excel-formula-predicts-useful-barrel-life/

 

[Scott Harris]

3000 rds and i pull it off...2500 rds if you want to be cautious. Obviously, results vary a little from barrel to barrel

 

[Trevor60]

3000 is my limit. if barrels fell off suddenly and noticeably i would shoot them until they told me...but they don't they start gradually declining with unexplained shots at distance that could be mistaken for environmental at 1,000.

Trevor

 

[Tony1320]

Thanks everyone

I will get a Bartlein barrel on order

 

[Mr.Knowit all]

I heard that 308 barrels are good for like 6k rounds? Is that crazy?

 

[Jdne5b]

I heard that 308 barrels are good for like 6k rounds? Is that crazy?

I had a 13tw Shilen that won matches and shot stupidly accurate until it had 5500+ rounds on it. It got removed around 6/6500 rounds because the x count dropped. Shooting 155s at 2950+. It was a special barrel. 3 owners, 3+ state championships, never once changed the load or even chased the lands. Threw whatever lot of varget in it @ 46gr and went shooting.

 

[DirtySteve]

I have a Rock Creek 10 twist barrel M24 contour with almost 9K on it now. shooting 175 gr bullets and 44 gr of Varget. It still shoots but I am planning to change it this winter because it has served me well. I shot a 200-10X back in March with it. In February I shot 198, 198, 197 with it. So 308's will last if you don't get them to hot.

 

[Down South]

I pull mine around 3000 rounds give or take a few. Normally what i've seen is that once i'm over 2000 rounds the throat starts eroding faster as the barrel gets more miles on it. Around 3000 rounds its moving pretty good and starts getting me worried so i pull them even though they are still shooting well. I run fairly stout loads, running lower pressure loads would extend barrel life i'm sure.

 

[Papa Charlie]

I pull mine around 3000 rounds give or take a few. Normally what i've seen is that once i'm over 2000 rounds the throat starts eroding faster as the barrel gets more miles on it. Around 3000 rounds its moving pretty good and starts getting me worried so i pull them even though they are still shooting well. I run fairly stout loads, running lower pressure loads would extend barrel life i'm sure.

Do you constantly adjust the seating depth of your loads to adjust for throat wear or do you leave it pretty much the same?

 

[Quickoz]

Papa Charlie,

I adjust seating depth to chase lands. My last barrel, the throat moved 2 to 3 thou in 1500rds so wasn't much of an issue but I still chase it so the load is spot on all the time.

 

[Down South]

Do you constantly adjust the seating depth of your loads to adjust for throat wear or do you leave it pretty much the same?

I adjust seating depth as it moves.

 

[Ned Ludd]

Do you constantly adjust the seating depth of your loads to adjust for throat wear or do you leave it pretty much the same?

This is another case where "trust, but verify" should be the best practice. Because land erosion is relatively easy to quantify, it is also easy to simply change seating depth accordingly, i.e. "chase the lands". However, that may not work in every case. I've had more than one barrel where the optimal seating depth remained fairly constant, regardless of how much the lands eroded. The only way to know for sure is to do a seating depth test, or at least to do some group testing to convince yourself that the precision remains optimal when chasing the lands.

 

[Laurie]

I've had more than one barrel where the optimal seating depth remained fairly constant, regardless of how much the lands eroded. The only way to know for sure is to do a seating depth test, or at least to do some group testing to convince yourself that the precision remains optimal when chasing the lands.

Those are my findings too, but I'd imagine they are probably barrel specific, and certainly so for the bullet model, some designs simply unaffected by erosion it seems. (What will change though is MV if COALs and loads aren't adjusted - my 155.5 Berger BT Fullbore load has lost around 25 fps over 2,850 rounds barrel use and one could see as much as 50 fps lost through this source. ES may grow a bit too.)

Every time I start to worry about this, I take the rifle to the 100 yard BR range and shoot a couple of groups. To date, I can't see any deterioration, so leave well alone.