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fire cracking

Lots more than slow fire.
But, depending on what you use the rifle for, it is what it is.
Depends on the diameter and length of your barrel a lot. If it is a thinner, shorter barrel, the effect will be greater - and of course, air temperature makes a difference. I have shot many, many sustained strings of 20-rounds at squirrels, shooting at a rate of about a shot every 5-10 seconds and strings of up to 200 rounds at a rate of about every 15 seconds in barrels with many thousands of rounds on them and they still shoot great. That is with heavy diameter A/R's, with barrels of 24" to 26". If they are shot as fast as one can pull the trigger, that is another story. I don't do that, so I can only guess how much that would accelerate wear. The type of powder you use will make a difference too. I notice that when I use IMR8208XBR, for example, my brass comes out so hot that it melts holes in my mesh brass catcher, whereas the other powders I use (faster burn) don't.
 
The barrel still shoots good but not great. Maybe I should just buy a new barrel ?
Have you rechecked your load to see how far off the lands you are?
I have a 22/250 with about 1800 rounds of varmint shooting out of it. To be honest it may be more rounds than that. Currently has firecracking for about the first 4” of the barrel. I keep it clean but noticed the groups have opened up with my main load. Not horrible but not near as good as usual. Rechecked the with the OAL tool and realized I was .030” farther out. So I simply loaded some more at .030” longer with the same charge and my groups tightened right back up. I know the barrel is on its way out, but it ain’t done yet.
 
On some old military bores, that were so rough they would eat up a bronze bristle brush, I used some Brownell's 600 grit, then 800 Grit Silicone carbide paste on a tight-fitting patch, stroking back and forth. One 8mm is still shooting 3/4" at 100 yards with a de-coppering every 20 rounds.

All this talk of using serious abrasives, you better realize that there is a learning curve!

Years ago, I used some abrasives on 22/250s and 220 Swifts to smooth up the barrel where the throat was so long you could no longer touch the lands. After a bit of lapping, I then went to a Sierra or Speer semi point bullet with some very satisfactory accuracy.
 
what exactly is throat maintenance system
It is bullets coated with i think 1200 grit. You shoot 2 every couple of hundred rounds. For my custom barrels i use then to start the break in and then 2 every hundred. I get mine from Midway USA

David
 
That little area where the neck ends gets beat on hard with lots of heat and an abrupt transition to bore diameter. I've got a new reamer that I'll try out soon where I laid that 45° angle down to 15°. It'll take time to know if it's worthwhile but I can imagine it helping bbl life a lot.
Have you found much success with doing this ?
 
Have you found much success with doing this ?
Too soon to say other than I see no change in accuracy. Haven't had time to shoot much this year and this is gonna take a long while to know anything definitively. Throats look great and there seems to be a bit less carbon in the neck and throat area. That's all I've got at this point.
 
In a 223 cal is there any way to smooth out the fire cracking ? I have it in about the first 2 inches of my barrel
If its a bolt action barrel and depending in how many rounds through and the barrel length now, take it off, cut off 1" and rechamber. I have this done to my competition barrels after a certain number of rounds and rechamber. It can gain a few hundred more rounds. If its an AR barrel, don't bother. Just ahoot it 'till it just not worth it anymore. If you di a rechamber, have the muzzle recrowned at the same time. All a mayter of how much you want to spend but there is no miracle cure for removing firecracking. The price of playing.
 
Have used JB Bore Brite & Hollands Witches Brew on a boremop w/ a patch, in an electric drill on a 1941 MK 3 .303 that looked terrible, a MK 4 .303, 1912 Modelllo Mauser, 204 ruger,6BRA, it got rid of some of the roughness, it Helped the .303 was the Worst fire cracking I have seen in dozens of barrels. The MK4 & the 1912 look good now, same for the 6BRA
 
Can also use lock ez. The graphite fills the cracks. It supposed to reduce the number of shots before a clean bore settles down. In the end, barrels are a wear and tear item.
 
I would also like to know if this barrel is chrome lined. If so, you will just need to replace it. Chrome lining is a playing process and one it starts to shoot out, like fire cracking or just plain wear, lapping won't bring it back to life, it will just take off more of the chromium lining. If it is a plain non lined barrel, then yes, lapping can get more useful life out of it.
 
how much damage do you think is caused when you shoot 40 rounds through a 223 barrel one after another in one sitting and the barrel got really hot ?
Not much, depending on the diameter and length of the barrel. I have shot 100 rounds one after another (about 5-7 seconds apart) in 24"-26" long heavy A/R barrels and in a bolt gun with a Remington Varmint contour with no adverse affect (other than would be attributable to the round count) on accuracy after 3,500 rounds in each. I stop when I can't hold onto the barrel. If it were a sporter barrel, I'm sure yours got a lot more toasty than mine. That said, if 40 rounds were enough to cause damage to a barrel, machine guns would be toast after a few magazines.
 

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