308 throat erosion normal?

[coolbox]

My FTR barrel with a little over 2600 rounds had throat erosion of 40 thou. Is this normal?

I have shot 175smk over 43.5 gr RL15 (2800 fps), and 185 juggs over 44gr RL15 (2750 fps).

Borescope revealed no cracking. I used the same bullet to measure this.

 

[284winner]

My FTR barrel with a little over 2600 rounds had throat erosion of 40 thou. Is this normal?

I have shot 175smk over 43.5 gr RL15 (2800 fps), and 185 juggs over 44gr RL15 (2750 fps).

Borescope revealed no cracking. I used the same bullet to measure this.

IMO, Yes. Very surprised no fire cracking was discovered. My barrels have had cracking with less than 2500 rounds on them using RL15 and similar bullets.

 

[Straightshooter1]

My FTR barrel with a little over 2600 rounds had throat erosion of 40 thou. Is this normal?

I have shot 175smk over 43.5 gr RL15 (2800 fps), and 185 juggs over 44gr RL15 (2750 fps).

Borescope revealed no cracking. I used the same bullet to measure this.

My 24" .308 Krieger barrel's lands moved ~.035" over 2600 rounds, and . . . my loads were somewhat mild with occasional hot loads like yours. So, what you show there seems normal to me.

 

[FNSafari]

If it still shoots competitively you are doing good.

 

[coolbox]

IMO, Yes. Very surprised no fire cracking was discovered. My barrels have had cracking with less than 2500 rounds on them using RL15 and similar bullets.

Yes, my friend and I were both surprised, as his 308 match rifle with 1200 rds showed fire cracking!

This was my first competition rifle. About 1000 rounds were not shot in match conditions (slow strings of 5 shots or 10 shots at max, learning the basics, and some practice). About 1500 rounds were shot at a fast rate of 20 shots in 8 to 10 minutes, or 10 shots in 5 to 6 minutes.

While the barrel is shooting quite good, I have still replaced that barrel with another Bartlein 32". This barrel will be kept as backup if need be.

 

[FNSafari]

Yes, my friend and I were both surprised, as his 308 match rifle with 1200 rds showed fire cracking!

This was my first competition rifle. About 1000 rounds were not shot in match conditions (slow strings of 5 shots or 10 shots at max, learning the basics, and some practice). About 1500 rounds were shot at a fast rate of 20 shots in 8 to 10 minutes, or 10 shots in 5 to 6 minutes.

While the barrel is shooting quite good, I have still replaced that barrel with another Bartlein 32". This barrel will be kept as backup if need be.

The nice thing about old barrels is that if your gunsmith will take the pains to cut the chambers as nearly identical then its a fine fire forming barrel.

 

[284winner]

Yes, my friend and I were both surprised, as his 308 match rifle with 1200 rds showed fire cracking!

This was my first competition rifle. About 1000 rounds were not shot in match conditions (slow strings of 5 shots or 10 shots at max, learning the basics, and some practice). About 1500 rounds were shot at a fast rate of 20 shots in 8 to 10 minutes, or 10 shots in 5 to 6 minutes.

While the barrel is shooting quite good, I have still replaced that barrel with another Bartlein 32". This barrel will be kept as backup if need be.

As a hunting rifle, the 308 Winchester will last a lifetime even if shooting it in some matches or at the range as a plinker. I have probably 3500 rounds on one barrel and it's still going strong. Firecracking and throat wear is visible but still keeping half MOA easily. Next barrel will be it's last for sure. It has shot RL15 almost exclusively for the first 1500 rounds. Since, it's been only shooting Varget.

 

[D-4297]

As a .308 TR shooter , my experience says you're in the ball-park on erosion . The .308 tends to have a normal amount of erosion in the first few hundred rounds , and then stabilize to near nothing per hundred rounds fired . . Last year , I took of a Brux 30" that had 4,600 rounds through it before it went "South" . But the erosion was normal ,and there was little to no fire-cracking in it . Just plain wore out the Lands in the barrel . It shot 197 , 199 , and 196 on Saturday , and the following Thursday , a 198 , 185 , 170 . Gone that fast . And I do run my 185gr about the same as your load . 2750 - 2770 .

 

[284winner]

As a .308 TR shooter , my experience says you're in the ball-park on erosion . The .308 tends to have a normal amount of erosion in the first few hundred rounds , and then stabilize to near nothing per hundred rounds fired . . Last year , I took of a Brux 30" that had 4,600 rounds through it before it went "South" . But the erosion was normal ,and there was little to no fire-cracking in it . Just plain wore out the Lands in the barrel . It shot 197 , 199 , and 196 on Saturday , and the following Thursday , a 198 , 185 , 170 . Gone that fast . And I do run my 185gr about the same as your load . 2750 - 2770 .

Even South is relative. For me, south means my LR shots are under 400 yards if using that rifle. That's just being conservative. South to a comp shooter is night and day compared to the big game hunter. My burner barrels are still hunting rifle barrels to most. I'm just a real OCD kinda guy when it comes to accuracy for hunting. Gotta be .5 MOA or better or it's on to a new barrel.

 

[coolbox]

We did observe some missing rifling. Looked like part of rifling was erased/shaved, right after the throat, while some of it exactly opposite to the eroded rifling was intact. Not quite sure if this were normal too.

I do have a series of matches to shoot, and have started breaking in the new barrel. Shot 50 rounds in all last Sunday over 4 hours (shoot clean, repeat), 175smk. New barrel shows promise.

With my previous barrel, I shot factory ammunition for about 600 rounds, and only then started reloading. How long does a barrel take to speed up in a 308?

 

[D-4297]

Even South is relative. For me, south means my LR shots are under 400 yards if using that rifle. That's just being conservative. South to a comp shooter is night and day compared to the big game hunter. My burner barrels are still hunting rifle barrels to most. I'm just a real OCD kinda guy when it comes to accuracy for hunting. Gotta be .5 MOA or better or it's on to a new barrel.

I knew it was toast when I loaded some 174gr , .311 SMK's normally reserved for one of my M-N's , and it gave me a three inch spread at 100 yards .