Barrel Life Commentary

[squarefour]

I am willing to bet that none of the “barrels are like tires” crowd have run autocross tires on their street car, even though they have fantastic grip. Or had to replace the back tire on their sport bike every 1,200 miles.
At least tires have the courtesy of performing better and better as they wear out, right up until they clearly indicate they are REALLY done (cord peekaboo).

 

[RabbitSlayer]

If I only had 1 gun I'd burn out 1 or 2 barrels a year, but I don't know a single person who shoots as much as me. I shoot around 3k centerfire a year plus some rimfire. The people on this forum are mostly very far from the average shooter.

 

[saunaking]

I don’t mind if a hunting rifle is a barrel burner if it gives me the performance I want. My 6.5WSM is good for about 700 rounds with a good custom barrel. I shoot about 10 shots a year out of it. I’m not going to wear it out in my lifetime. I have p-dog caliber barrels that are replaced annually with the number of rounds fired. That’s part of the cost for the recreation I enjoy.

 

[Fire Dog]

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.

It's not the "Getting Married" part that is so expensive...
It's the getting "Un-Married" that really brings in the cost factor....

 

[k260]

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.

Barrel wear is precisely why I fire formed my 6-284 brass in the sizing die.

 

[rwj]

Barrel wear is precisely why I fire formed my 6-284 brass in the sizing die.

Please explain…

 

[Bob3700]

Barrel wear is precisely why I fire formed my 6-284 brass in the sizing die.

I take a used bbl and will chamber it for the cartridge that needs fireforming. Better to use an old bbl for the job.
Today, chambers can be cut virtually the same so brass is interchangeable between bbls.

 

[Dgd6mm]

I use my first 6mm Competition Match barrel to ff my brass for my other barrels.

 

[ChrisNZ]

It's not the "Getting Married" part that is so expensive...
It's the getting "Un-Married" that really brings in the cost factor....

Yeh, joining the 50-50 Club can be very painful, especially if if becomes the 20-80 Club.

 

[Fire Dog]

Yeh, joining the 50-50 Club can be very painful, especially if if becomes the 20-80 Club.

Been there….
Done That….!!

 

[Fire Dog]

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.

That barrel cooling with a rechargeable air mattress inflator is a little trick I saw on one of F Class John’s videos and it really works!
The link on the video to the little blower no longer worked but a brief search I found one on the internet and with a couple of pieces of plastic hose from the aquarium shop, one small piece to adapt the nozzle of the blower to the next size down piece of tube that fit into the action and I was set up for a total cost of about $32. Lots cheaper that a “made for purpose” barrel cooler I had seen advertised.
Once your barrel gets over 130-150* F you are going to find accuracy falling off as well. During the summer the barrel is heat gaining just from sun exposure; I run the cooler between strings and keep the rifle in the shade {if I can}
10 minutes with the blower running will knock off 30-40*

 

[k260]

I take a used bbl and will chamber it for the cartridge that needs fireforming. Better to use an old bbl for the job.
Today, chambers can be cut virtually the same so brass is interchangeable between bbls.

I had an old Mauser action I was going to set up with different barrel stubs for a fire forming fixture but never got around to it.