Barrel life on a 6mm rem.

[C. Collins]

What do yall estimate a barrel life for a 6mm remington? The barrel is a douglas xx, 27", loads are the heavies, mostly 105 and 107. I have used 41 gr. of reloader 17 for a majority of shots. ???

 

[1000yardstare]

I can report on the 6AI, the "improved" 6mm Rem. Used RL22 with 107 SMKs, 30 inch 8 twist barrel. Mainly 1000 yd F Class. Tack driver to 1500 rounds. Started to open up a bit after 1500 to 1800. At 1800 fell of a cliff. Couldn´t keep the shots on a pie plate at 300 metres.

I would guess that you would get 500 rounds more out of the standard 6mm Rem. Will be interesting to see if users of the 6mm Rem agree with that statement.

 

[bozo699]

chefpierre,
I don't have the burn rate for RL-17 but based on RL-19 using naked bullets calculator says 1571 rounds. I am shooting 39 IMR 3031 in mine and I have over 1200 rounds through her and you can still easily cover 5 shots with a dime. That load calculates to 1996 in mine.I thought That sounded a little high but after reading 1000yardstare's comments maybe the calculator is closer than I thought.
Wayne

 

[Steve Blair]

I have owned and fired .244 and 6mm Remingtons for many years and barrels. My shooting, until the latest rifle, has been for varmints and mostly light bullets. Shooting 55-58 grain bullets in excess of 4000 fps produces barrel life of 900-1200 rounds before throat erosion is severe. The barrels get quite hot shooting crows when they are thick. If you shoot at a more moderate pace, watch barrel temps and don't abuse your barrels, the estimates posted above sound reasonable.

 

[VooDooMagic]

That is interesting Wayne, the calculator estimate I mean. What does it predict for the 6xc with 4350 and 8208 for 2975 fps as a comparison?

 

[MTETM]

Not mine, but a friends 6mmAI that was well documented.

Shilen 1:10 twist in a 7 contour
87 gr Vmax
Warm loads

barrel was toast at 950

 

[bozo699]

That is interesting Wayne, the calculator estimate I mean. What does it predict for the 6xc with 4350 and 8208 for 2975 fps as a comparison?

VooDooMagic,
I don't have 8208 in calculator but 38 grains of H-4350 with a naked bullet should get about 1739 down the tube it says, and thats @ 65000 cup I am not sure what they actually are.
Wayne.

 

[WyleWD]

From my experience with the 6mm and 6AI. The 6mm was around 1400 out of a factory barrel, and the 6AI out of a custom stainless barrel was almost identical to MTETM's post....950 rounds and it was done for. WD

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

I'm shooting 70 grain Blitzkings in mine near 3600 fps. It has over 1200 rounds on it now in a Douglas 6 contour barrel. It will still shoot .5 MOA or better.

 

[VooDooMagic]

That is interesting Wayne, the calculator estimate I mean. What does it predict for the 6xc with 4350 and 8208 for 2975 fps as a comparison?

VooDooMagic,
I don't have 8208 in calculator but 38 grains of H-4350 with a naked bullet should get about 1739 down the tube it says, and thats @ 65000 cup I am not sure what they actually are.
Wayne.

Is that calculation really with 65,000. cup or did you mean 65,000. psi?

 

[bozo699]

VooDooMagic,
Thanks for catching my mistake,I must have been thinking one thing and wrote another, sorry about that. Yes 65000 PSI not cup.here is a link to the calculator I have been using.
Wayne.

http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2008/10/spreadsheet-formula-calculates-useful-barrel-life/

 

[fordwrench]

mine went at 1000. its a great caliber but is tough on the throat for high volume shooting. also if you shoot it hot your asking for trouble.

 

[1000yardstare]

Have been going through my records again to determine the age of 6AI cases for necking up to 6.5AI and would like to revise the figures in my previous post in this thread.

107 SMK, 49 gr RL22, 3250 fps, 30 inch MacLennon lead-lapped barrel.

All F Class shooting in 2 or 3 man squads, alternating shots, usually 2 sighters and 10 scoring. No single string. Most shooting between 65F and 75F.

Very accurate to 1200 rounds, opened up a bit 1200-1500, wandered around on a 1000yard target 1500-1800, couldn`t keep bullets on a pie plate at 300 metres after 1800.

 

[jghoghunter]

I'm shooting a 243 with 42 rl-22 115 bergers and I have 1375 set back at 700 and my best groups came at over 1300 rnds with 3 five shot groups at 100 in the .0's. This is a very well ducumented rifle.