Bartlein 5R 7mm barrel coppering badly

[lrgoodger]

My 284 Shehane has 1187 rounds on it now and it has started coppering badly at the muzzle. It was not doing this at 800 rounds when I made my 1 mile prairie dog kill with it. My other barrel (same specs) has 962 rounds on it and is just starting to copper near the muzzle. I have two questions.

1. Can a barrel still shoot well once it has started coppering? (both of these barrels are not shooting nearly as well as they were before)
2. Can anything be done to stop the coppering?

 

[Scott Harris]

My 284 Shehane has 1187 rounds on it now and it has started coppering badly at the muzzle. ...

1. Can a barrel still shoot well once it has started coppering? (both of these barrels are not shooting nearly as well as they were before)
2. Can anything be done to stop the coppering?

1. Clean it and let us know. Usually, yes, but you will need to clean more often. consider getting it recrowned if it is just the muzzle that has this problem....but I'd borescope the chamber end too.
2. Yes, use a new barrel. Once fire-cracking begins, the copper follows and I've seen fire-cracking as early as 400 rounds on a Shehane....although that is unusual.

 

[lrgoodger]

I just had both barrels set back from 32" to 28" (probably was a waste of money). What firecracking there was is gone now. Firecracking would be responsible for copper on the chamber end, but not the muzzle end where the lands still look great. I'm not getting any copper at the chamber end. I've read that cleaning and bullet wear will make the bore smoother and that is what makes it start coppering on the muzzle end. I was wondering if there was a way of getting closer to the original inside surface finish to stop the copper, like maybe Tubb lapping bullets of the right grit?

 

[DickE]

I read in a Precision Shooting magazine a few years back, about an easy lapping technique. I have used this procedure multiple times and seems to work quite well on barrels that seem to start losing their accuracy and on new factory rifle barrels.
Start with a used, not to tight brass bristle brush, wrap it one time with a patch, cut to size so it does not overlap. Coat with cloverleaf 220 lapping compound, use a bore guide and push through the barrel 10-12 times(one way only) more if needed. The compound will breakdown on each pass. You do not want to use too fine a compound, as too smooth, is as bad as too rough. This will give your barrel a almost as new finish inside. If you have or access to a borescope, you will be amazed at the outcome.
This will do nothing for fire cracking, but in your case, it is now not a concern.

 

[dkhunt14]

Once you rechamber you need to break in again. It will have the fine marks from the reamer just like when new. Shoot and clean until copper stops. Copper at the muzzle is from the bullet passing over a rough throat. The copper gets vaporized and deposited down the barrel. Matt

 

[dragman]

Once you rechamber you need to break in again. It will have the fine marks from the reamer just like when new. Shoot and clean until copper stops. Copper at the muzzle is from the bullet passing over a rough throat. The copper gets vaporized and deposited down the barrel. Matt

+1
This is often over looked

 

[BradY]

Have you used any abrasive pastes in the cleaning of this barrel before?

 

[cdparker]

You can usually help accuracy when you set a barrel back by also taking some off the muzzle.

 

[nastynatesfish]

Why not have the Barrel nitride treated?

 

[Thud]

Why not call Frank at Bartlein and ask them. They may be able to help

 

[lrgoodger]

It is now a moot point. I knew it was a crapshoot to set back barrels and hope for restored accuracy. Load testing has shown that neither barrel will shoot at a competitive level. I won't waste my money trying to set back another barrel.

Anyone have a use for very heavy 284 Shehane hunting barrels that fit a BAT action? They would be great on big game.

 

[BradY]

Have set back many barrels and had them shoot fine. Often with the same load, sometimes a whisker more powder required to get velocity back to the previous node.