Barrel Life Commentary

[K22]

For time to time, I see threads on barrel life concerns, mostly by owners of rifles with high intensity and over bore cartridges.

Presumably, an individual selects such cartridges because they have a specific need for them. It then seems counterproductive to stress out about barrel life when you made a conscientious decision to go this route to accomplish some purpose either real or imagined. Thus, you should treat the barrel as consumable, much like tires on your vehicle.

Of course, you can mitigate barrel wear somewhat by not shooting sustained fire sequences IF your purpose for selecting that cartridges will permit that type of shooting.

But the bottom line is to accept the tradeoff for such cartridges present. Defining your shooting purpose will go a long way in selecting cartridge that will give you the best value and performance.

 

[urbanrifleman]

For time to time, I see threads on barrel life concerns, mostly by owners of rifles with high intensity and over bore cartridges.

Presumably, an individual selects such cartridges because they have a specific need for them. It then seems counterproductive to stress out about barrel life when you made a conscientious decision to go this route to accomplish some purpose either real or imagined. Thus, you should treat the barrel as consumable, much like tires on your vehicle.

Of course, you can mitigate barrel wear somewhat by not shooting sustained fire sequences IF your purpose for selecting that cartridges will permit that type of shooting.

But the bottom line is to accept the tradeoff for such cartridges present. Defining your shooting purpose will go a long way in selecting cartridge that will give you the best value and performance.

After selling about 500 barrels total, I have only had a about 10 people call to replace a "shot out" barrel. I really don't think the average person shoots one rifle that much. Maybe hard core competitors do, but club shooters and hunters don't (or they have multiple rifles).

My company mantra when it comes to barrels is "it is like Doritos, shoot all you want, we will make more".

I try to keep the prices so you don't have to get married to a barrel.

 

[ballisticdaddy]

Pretty funny as barrels are and always have been consumable if you actually shoot them they will wear out.

 

[SKWERLZ]

The ammo to burn them out is considerably more expensive
I use my dead barrels for parts, bushings, spacers and go gauge and headspace gauges.
Just recently retired a 338 barrel and I have a 7mm barrel that won’t last past summer.

 

[demarpaint1]

Pretty funny as barrels are and always have been consumable if you actually shoot them they will wear out.

Yep, it's like tires and brakes on a car, wear items.

 

[LCazador]

I recently fire formed some brass in a 6.5X284 barrel. This is my 6 th barrel on this rifle, new barrel about every 3 years. I used a Harbor Freight air mattress inflator to keep the barrel cool and shot 50 rounds over a 4 hour period to fireform the brass. A tedious process but it saves barrel life. I remember complaining about a $500 investment on a new barrel. Now it's $700-800! Don't forget to add the price of chambering and fitting.

 

[jackieschmidt]

For time to time, I see threads on barrel life concerns, mostly by owners of rifles with high intensity and over bore cartridges.

Presumably, an individual selects such cartridges because they have a specific need for them. It then seems counterproductive to stress out about barrel life when you made a conscientious decision to go this route to accomplish some purpose either real or imagined. Thus, you should treat the barrel as consumable, much like tires on your vehicle.

Of course, you can mitigate barrel wear somewhat by not shooting sustained fire sequences IF your purpose for selecting that cartridges will permit that type of shooting.

But the bottom line is to accept the tradeoff for such cartridges present. Defining your shooting purpose will go a long way in selecting cartridge that will give you the best value and performance.

You are dead on in your assumptions.
Disciplines that require long strings with high capacity cartridges, combined with no ability to clean it, do use barrels up.

The accuracy requirements of a barrel intended for Competitive Benchrest can also be a factor. We do put a lot of rounds down range, but we are also meticulous in never letting the barrel get fouled to a detrimental extent. Cleaning after every Group or Target is the norm.

But throat erosion is still something that is a reality. When you push a 66/68 grain 6 mm bullet at 3400 fps out of a PPC sized case, you will notice detrimental erosion in as little as 600 rounds. If the barrels capability starts at a sub .200 agging capability and deteriorates to a .300 capability, it is pretty much useless.

Many Competitive Shooters (my self included), set good barrels back on a regular basis to keep the throat fresh. However, this is not a common practice unless the shooter is performing his own barrel work.

As was said, a barrel is a consumable item. But as was noted by @urbanrifleman, the vast majority of shooters rarely wear out barrels. Unless you are shooting prairie dogs on hot summer days or in a match that will require 200 rounds, it is a non issue.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

My take as a hunter (I have 3 custom barrels) , these shoot incredible compared to most factory barrels. Not fussy about loads and very consistent. Only problem, from lack of experience( new custom barrels) I don't want to "wear them out", afraid I will not have the same feeling. First time at the range with a new custom barrel is insanely satisfying and a huge mental boost when on the trigger.

 

[CJ6]

Having multiple high intensity big game cartridges, I seriously doubt I'll ever wear a barrel out in any of them. That's because any single rifle just doesn't get shot all that much, 10 rounds would be an exceptional amount for any single rifle in a year. This doesn't include varmint rifles.

 

[Forum Boss]

You guys should read this article -- Rate of Fire and HEAT make a huge difference in barrel wear and longevity.

Toast in Six Seconds — The Brutal Truth of Short Barrel Life « Daily Bulletin

This thought-provoking article is one of the 15 most popular Daily Bulletin features over the last 12 months. We are republishing this story today for readers who may have missed it the first time around...

bulletin.accurateshooter.com

And here is another item worth reading:

How to Kill a Barrel in One Afternoon — Firing Rate and Heat « Daily Bulletin

Can sustained rapid-fire shooting with no cool-down period wear out a quality barrel more quickly? The answer is Yes according to Forum member LCazador, who did an interesting comparison test with two .243 Winchester barrels.

bulletin.accurateshooter.com

 

[Shooter13]

Having multiple high intensity big game cartridges, I seriously doubt I'll ever wear a barrel out in any of them. That's because any single rifle just doesn't get shot all that much, 10 rounds would be an exceptional amount for any single rifle in a year. This doesn't include varmint rifles.

Funny isn't it? I have a couple of rifles that may get shot 2000 round each, each year!

 

[marchx]

I had discussion yesterday with a Jungjäger about caliber choice. So, his argument for .308 was barrel life. He would have chosen 6.5 creedmoor- he liked the accuracy better and milder recoil, but he worried about barrel life! So he bought .308 instead. It's such a nonesense. Barrel is commodity, consumable like brass or bullets. From hunter's perspective barrel life plays marginal role.

 

[jelenko]

Funny isn't it? I have a couple of rifles that may get shot 2000 round each, each year!

Indeed. My one rifle goes through 8-10K each year.

 

[CJ6]

This just goes to show the differences in usage between hunting, competition and varmint rifles. Unless I go out West or up north in Minnesota the hunting rifles just sit in the safe and I'll use more varmint cartridges for coyotes.

 

[jelenko]

This just goes to show the differences in usage between hunting, competition and varmint rifles. Unless I go out West or up north in Minnesota the hunting rifles just sit in the safe and I'll use more varmint cartridges for coyotes.

Exactly!
All the different usages are represented here. There's almost 80,000 members now!

 

[FNSafari]

When the Krauts shot the MG42 and 34's they would go through one 250 rd belt then change barrels. Guess why.

 

[ebb]

Because they didn't have a water cooled machine gun like Browning or a Maxim. But you are totally right. A stellite bore helps and I want to see away to make a match barrel that way and hone it till it will produce match accuracy.

 

[FNSafari]

I wonder if any high-volume rifle discipline shooters have enough time to change out barrels during a match after longish strings of fire? I have no idea, just fishing for info.

 

[ImBIllT]

It’s not uncommon for me to put 50-100 rounds down a hunting barrel in a year. I have three hunting rifles, but an only likely to shoot one or two of them on a a given year, and if I shoot two, then it would probably be 30-50 rounds each. Even so, considering initial break-in and waiting for the barrel to speed up, then initial load development, and the possibility of switching bullets and doing new load development somewhere in the middle, I’m more comfortable if I think the barrel will go 1200+ rounds without any serious degradation to its accuracy. That covers the vast majority of cartridges, including a lot of high performance cartridges, but there are a few big magnums that make me a little skeptical. The big Noslers, Whestherbys, and some of the other really new ones seem like they don’t offer very much in return for the risk that I need a new barrel and have to wait on a smith to do the work, within only a few years getting the rifle in the first place. If I have my own lathe and experience then I would probably feel differently.

 

[Pawnee Bill]

Remember boys & girls, "Speed Kills!"