6.5 prc barrel life

[gman47564]

curious what kind of barrel life people are getting with their 6.5 prc…

 

[500yards]

GA Precision quotes 3500 for a 6.5 SAUM which is very similar. I would say that would be the upper limit and is very dependent on firing cadence.

 

[Doug Beach]

GA Precision quotes 3500 for a 6.5 SAUM which is very similar. I would say that would be the upper limit and is very dependent on firing cadence.

3500 seems rather optimistic. Maybe that’s when all evidence of rifling is finally removed.

 

[wboggs]

I would like to see GA Precision's defination of barrel life. It is different for a hunter or a competitive target shooter

 

[gman47564]

yeah im not buying that..lol I've been shooting a prc for a couple months now and have around 600 rounds down it and its not looking to good in there... been using reloader 26 in it with a 156 gr berger eol at around 2990 fps with no pressure signs... Hornady cases on their 7th cycle and primer pockets are still tight so I don't feel like im pushing it that hard... shilen select match barrel... not sure if this one will make a 1000 rounds I should add I've never let the barrel get really hot...

 

[Dgd6mm]

3500, yeah right!

 

[ckrifles]

I have built myself several 6.5-284s all shot very good. All gave up their at around 1000, 1200 rounds can't see 6.5 PRC doing any better. Although I like it, might build one.

 

[Kurz]

This is an explanation from a poster on another forum:

You can't compare tactical and F-Class barrel life.

F-Open you shoot 20 round strings (and often very fast to catch the wind) and if it drops above .5 MOA you pull it (since most of the time it's the X's that determine the winner). Since you are shooting known distance - predictability trumps flatness.

Tactical - the strings are short and far apart. The velocity drop is the indicator of "shot" ('out') barrel. Vertical advantage is just as important as horizontal (you have to make distance AND wind calls). 6.5SAUM dropping 100fps is still at the "speed limit" of 3200 - 6.5x284 drops 100fps into 2700 and might as well shoot 308 class.

I added the 'out' after the "shot" term.

This is an explanation from George Gardner:

Pats current barrel is approaching 3000 rounds 2800+ to be exact and he is using it through this hunting season. My 2nd barrel is at 1700+ now and has lots of life left. Brian Yeung (PRS competitor) is on his 3rd previous 2 made 2700-2900 rounds. Im still perfectly fine telling everyone that 2500-3000 is the expected Barrel life as all barrels tested have made the mark. It will take a couple years before most guys can report on their barrel life as most guys dont shoot as much as pat , Bryan and I.

The felt recoil of this cartridge is light, recoil is a huge problem with allot of shooters, its what induces a flinch in most guys.

Being able to follow through and actually see a hit or a miss on target is paramount in long range shooting.

There are lots of cartridges that can out do the ballistics. But none of them can do it without a trade off of heavy recoil, low barrel life, long actions


Ive laid right beside a guy with a 338 Edge, beside him a 338 Norma, beside him a 7mm WSM. Target was at 1500 I put 3 rounds on steel before the other 3 connected with the target. 5 rounds on target before all 3 of the others connected at least once. WHY??? Recoil Management and Short Action!

its why the #1 phrase guys say after shooting one for the first time. "Thats the deadliest gun ive ever shot" !!!

And the answer to the objections:

yeah im not buying that..lol I've been shooting a prc for a couple months now and have around 600 rounds down it and its not looking to good in there... been using reloader 26 in it with a 156 gr berger eol at around 2990 fps with no pressure signs... Hornady cases on their 7th cycle and primer pockets are still tight so I don't feel like im pushing it that hard... shilen select match barrel... not sure if this one will make a 1000 rounds I should add I've never let the barrel get really hot...

Learn to know what the original test and competition loads consisted of. There was no Re-26 at that time, we used H-1000 which is a very low energy, lower temperature powder. The load was somewhere between 60 -61 grains of H-1000 depending on whether we were shooting 130 grain or 140 grain bullets. The loads were 2.925" OAL, just short of the magazine length. The velocities were generally about 3050 fps based on the speed limit of 3200 fps for PRS competitions. This velocity yielded a pressure of 50-51,000 psi which low when compared to the loads you're shooting.

We used Bartlein cut rifled barrels because of their consistently excellent quality. You chose to use a Shilen which softer because it's a button rifled barrel and will wear faster. Yet you castigate GAP because of your choices.

George did state plainly that the highest round count consisted of one short set back of 0.122" (two threads approx.) which he did because he had the barrel off while fitting a new muzzle brake. But the other shooters testing the cartridge also kept meticulous records of the number of shots and reported somewhere between 2,700 - 3,000 per barrel while consuming several barrels (all Bartlein).

You state that you've been shooting the PRC for 'a couple of months'. We tested for two years and a dozen shooters using multiple barrels both in competition and on the range. Not much of a comparison.

There are simply too many variables when trying to quantify data and make viable comparisons between certain cartridges and barrel life between disparate shooters. But you can get some of the information into the same ballpark when there are similarities between variables.

 

[gman47564]

didn't realize I was castigating any one... from what little I know about a 6.5 saum its pushing a 140 grain bullet 3000+ fps quiet a bit faster than a 6.5 creedmoor and I don't know of any creedmoor getting close to 3000 rounds out of a barrel... maybe the saum does... don't know .. never owned one... and I wasn't the one comparing it to a 6.5 prc…. I was simply asking if anyone shooting the prc knew what to expect from a barrel life standpoint...

 

[alf]

I never had a 30x47 or 308 go past 2500 rounds of competitive accuracy in Hunter Benchrest.

 

[L.Sherm]

We used Bartlein cut rifled barrels because of their consistently excellent quality. You chose to use a Shilen which softer because it's a button rifled barrel and will wear faster

If both a cut rifled and button are made of the same steel how can a button be softer, pure internet B.S.

 

[Don_Parsons]

I'm running a 6.5 Square between 2740 and 2880 ft-per seconds,,, I'll be lucky if it makes it to 12 or 1400 shots...

I know one now,,, I'm heading back to old school cartridges from here on in,,, ha.

Slower bullet's and hopefully a bit more barrel life,,, hopping that is...

 

[TimS]

I'm running a 6.5 Square between 2740 and 2880 ft-per seconds,,, I'll be lucky if it makes it to 12 or 1400 shots...

I know one now,,, I'm heading back to old school cartridges from here on in,,, ha.

Slower bullet's and hopefully a bit more barrel life,,, hopping that is...

12 would be a real bummer. 1400 would be okay.

 

[Kurz]

If both a cut rifled and button are made of the same steel how can a button be softer, pure internet B.S.

Believe what you want but you only show your ignorance of the barrel making process.

Button barrels are softer because of the method used to pull the button through the bore diameter hole.

Cut rifle barrels use a sharp cutter to actually cut the metal for each groove.

Look it up and learn something.

From Patriot Valley Arms:

Across the industry this is not the case to have otherwise identical processes for 2 product lines. Typically, the largest commodity barrel makers out there are using much softer material for their button rifled blanks. It is easier on the buttons, easier on normalizing (if they even normalize after buttoning) and more reliable in bulk process not to break buttons off in the blanks. The hardness of the barrels is critical in only 1 metric and that is longevity.

Softer material breaks down in the bore faster and the life of the barrel is diminished due to it. We have seen several competitor barrels in 6.5mm Creedmoor that only lasted 1800-2000rd before they were unable to hold 1moa at 100yd. Upon dissection the material hardness was measured and shown to be 5-6 points lower on the Rockwell C scale. That is the difference between a 6.5 Creedmoor that lasts 3500rd and one that goes only half the distance.

 

[L.Sherm]

I dont need to look anything up, believe what you want.

 

[reloaderguy]

This is an explanation from a poster on another forum:

I added the 'out' after the "shot" term.

This is an explanation from George Gardner:



And the answer to the objections:



Learn to know what the original test and competition loads consisted of. There was no Re-26 at that time, we used H-1000 which is a very low energy, lower temperature powder. The load was somewhere between 60 -61 grains of H-1000 depending on whether we were shooting 130 grain or 140 grain bullets. The loads were 2.925" OAL, just short of the magazine length. The velocities were generally about 3050 fps based on the speed limit of 3200 fps for PRS competitions. This velocity yielded a pressure of 50-51,000 psi which low when compared to the loads you're shooting.

We used Bartlein cut rifled barrels because of their consistently excellent quality. You chose to use a Shilen which softer because it's a button rifled barrel and will wear faster. Yet you castigate GAP because of your choices.

George did state plainly that the highest round count consisted of one short set back of 0.122" (two threads approx.) which he did because he had the barrel off while fitting a new muzzle brake. But the other shooters testing the cartridge also kept meticulous records of the number of shots and reported somewhere between 2,700 - 3,000 per barrel while consuming several barrels (all Bartlein).

You state that you've been shooting the PRC for 'a couple of months'. We tested for two years and a dozen shooters using multiple barrels both in competition and on the range. Not much of a comparison.

There are simply too many variables when trying to quantify data and make viable comparisons between certain cartridges and barrel life between disparate shooters. But you can get some of the information into the same ballpark when there are similarities between variables.

This flies in the face of the volumes of experience with 6.5-284 and 6.5-06. I have a 6.5 PRC with a cut rifled barrel and there is not a chance it is going to see 2000 rounds let alone 3000 rounds.

 

[Kurz]

This flies in the face of the volumes of experience with 6.5-284 and 6.5-06. I have a 6.5 PRC with a cut rifled barrel and there is not a chance it is going to see 2000 rounds let alone 3000 rounds.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion and your 'volumes of experience' with other cartridges. I was there throughout the design and execution of the ammunition and the making of the barrels. In fact, I made many of the barreled actions in the testing phase of this cartridge. I was there when George examined the chambers and even cut a few in half to better see what had taken place from the number of rounds fired.

George's observations about barrel life are as acceptable as your opinions.

Have a great day!

 

[riflemonkey]

This is an explanation from a poster on another forum:

I added the 'out' after the "shot" term.

This is an explanation from George Gardner:



And the answer to the objections:



Learn to know what the original test and competition loads consisted of. There was no Re-26 at that time, we used H-1000 which is a very low energy, lower temperature powder. The load was somewhere between 60 -61 grains of H-1000 depending on whether we were shooting 130 grain or 140 grain bullets. The loads were 2.925" OAL, just short of the magazine length. The velocities were generally about 3050 fps based on the speed limit of 3200 fps for PRS competitions. This velocity yielded a pressure of 50-51,000 psi which low when compared to the loads you're shooting.

We used Bartlein cut rifled barrels because of their consistently excellent quality. You chose to use a Shilen which softer because it's a button rifled barrel and will wear faster. Yet you castigate GAP because of your choices.

George did state plainly that the highest round count consisted of one short set back of 0.122" (two threads approx.) which he did because he had the barrel off while fitting a new muzzle brake. But the other shooters testing the cartridge also kept meticulous records of the number of shots and reported somewhere between 2,700 - 3,000 per barrel while consuming several barrels (all Bartlein).

You state that you've been shooting the PRC for 'a couple of months'. We tested for two years and a dozen shooters using multiple barrels both in competition and on the range. Not much of a comparison.

There are simply too many variables when trying to quantify data and make viable comparisons between certain cartridges and barrel life between disparate shooters. But you can get some of the information into the same ballpark when there are similarities between variables.

Thanks for the information and detailed explanation. I have a 5R stainless Bartlein barrel and your information gives me hope that I can get possibly more than the average 6.5 prc barrel life.

 

[Capt. Oblivious]

3years on and with a bit more experience with this caliber Id start looking for a replacement barrel when you get close to 900 rounds

 

[SKWERLZ]

Lol
Gap only got that life number by doing many set backs so it’s a BS claim.

900-1200 is what my friends who shoot it or similar cartridges get.


Even my 7 saum gets barely 1500 before your adding powder to regain speed or bail on it for a new barrel.
1900 if you are willing to crutch it for a while
but that’s not feasible for competition.