How long is a barrel good for on centerfire 17’s

[bobtails]

I’m not getting into the debate of what does it matter “ that’s why barrels are threaded “ I am simply wondering on a quality 17 caliber barrel shooting 25-30 grain pills around 3800-4000 fps and assuming you watch your barrel and don’t let it heat up. How many rounds should one expect. I’m thinking of coyote calling bolt action rifles that doesn’t ever see any heat to speak of. I’m very curious. Is it 1500-2000, 3000-5000?

 

[STS]

I've shot out one .17 Mach IV barrel, and am a little over half way through a second one. It lived at 3850 fps and at about 3700 rounds I began to see 1 or 2 out of 10 bullets 'smoke trailing' from damaged jackets. The last day I shot it was in a dog town, and every bullet was trying to come apart on the way to the dogs. I used that barrel in p-dog towns and I can assure you I did not baby it. I took it off when it had a documented 4060 rounds through it. Surprisingly the accuracy was still about .500 to .750 at 100 with the bullets leaking molten lead all the way to the target. They will last far longer than most people think.

 

[pacificman]

I had a .17 Remington that would shoot 25gr. v-max at 4165fp. average velocity. It was a very accurate shooter too. I shot sage rats only and let the barrel cool when warm. At just a bit over 3000 rounds the groups opened up enough that I knew it was time for a new barrel. The throat was so far gone that a bullet would be completely out of the case before being near the lands. Groups went from less than 1/2 MOA to over one and a half MOA. My target told me everything I needed to know. I really do think that if velocity was a bit slower with good accuracy I might of gotten less wear on the throat and barrel....But I have to say that there is nothing quite like a bullet going over 4000fps with extreme accuracy...LOL.

 

[Hal]

Pacificman what powder did you use to get the high velocity and accuracy with in your .17 Remington ?

Thank you
Hal

 

[JSH]

Another cartridge I did a lot of asking to those that liked it. After visiting with a lot of folks, keep the 4K and + FPS to a bare minimum and life increases a lot. I am still tinkering with mine, I want a case full of powder and 3900-3950 with 25-30 grain bullets.
I am fairly new to 17R, a lot and I do mean a lot has changed since it’s inception years ago. I will venture to say the majority of “old” articles is pure BS by today’s standards. I have shot in conditions that it’s not supposed to work, I have shot at distances that it is supposed to fail. All I know is it has been quite satisfying and surprising for what it is, time will tell.
I like the analogy I read a while back on some cartridges “if you have a hot rod, you have to put tires on it fairly regularly”.

To answer the question, a high quality barrel to begin with, staying at or under 4K, I would think minute of coyote (good hit) would be 3000ish.

 

[pacificman]

Pacificman what powder did you use to get the high velocity and accuracy with in your .17 Remington ?

Thank you
Hal

I'm pretty sure it was IMR 4198 and I think it was about 19 grains or so...can't remember exactly the amount but load work up would be advised as this powder would be considered a faster burning powder. I might add that the barrel was a heavy Pac-Nor ....great barrels!

 

[Hal]

Pacific
Thanks for the reply.

Hal

 

[searcher]

I had a .17 Remington that would shoot 25gr. v-max at 4165fp. average velocity. It was a very accurate shooter too. I shot sage rats only and let the barrel cool when warm. At just a bit over 3000 rounds the groups opened up enough that I knew it was time for a new barrel. The throat was so far gone that a bullet would be completely out of the case before being near the lands. Groups went from less than 1/2 MOA to over one and a half MOA. My target told me everything I needed to know. I really do think that if velocity was a bit slower with good accuracy I might of gotten less wear on the throat and barrel....But I have to say that there is nothing quite like a bullet going over 4000fps with extreme accuracy...LOL.

I'm curious - did you find it necessary to chase the lands to maintain accuracy on that .17 Remington? I'm a bit surprised a the relatively low round count most are getting on the larger .17's.

 

[pacificman]

I'm curious - did you find it necessary to chase the lands to maintain accuracy on that .17 Remington? I'm a bit surprised a the relatively low round count most are getting on the larger .17's.

I did not chase the lands on my .17Rem. I wished now that I did just to see how much wear the throat acquired as I shot it. I do check the throat wear on my rifles more often now. I wonder if by moving the bullet closer to the lands as I shot it if it would have made a difference in throat wear. It remained accurate and seemed to quit shooting overnight....I have heard that to keep accuracy it's advisable to keep the bullet in the sweet spot to the lands as the throat wears. I did not have to do that with my .17 as accuracy was always exceptional till the end.

 

[SSL]

No idea how many rounds I have through my .17 Remington, but it's quite a lot, still shoots little bitty groups from a bench. and the throat is only mildly burned. Bought it used from a guy who used it on Pennsylvania groundhogs for several years and I've had it for about 15 years now for groundhogs and ground squirrels. I never shoot it hot (and neither did its previous owner), keep it clean and run 25-grain bullets between 3,900 and 4,000 fps with CFE223 and AA2700. Zeroed at 250-yards, it is only 1.5 inches low at 300 and never over 1.75" high from muzzle to 250.

 

[DiRTY DOG]

My factory 17Rem CZ 527 burned out in about 1000 rounds of 25gr HPs. It started tumbling bullets.

 

[rickiesrevenge]

How would shooting out the throat make bullets tumble?

 

[bobtails]

My factory 17Rem CZ 527 burned out in about 1000 rounds of 25gr HPs. It started tumbling bullets.

How hot was your load ?

 

[SD guy]

I'm curious - did you find it necessary to chase the lands to maintain accuracy on that .17 Remington? I'm a bit surprised a the relatively low round count most are getting on the larger .17's.

If longer barrel life is important to you giving up a bit of velocity may be advisable. Id encourage a 17 fireball with 30 grain projectile at near 3600 FPS 25 grain projectiles at near 3800fps

 

[L.Sherm]

How would shooting out the throat make bullets tumble?

My guess is it had to do more with it being a 10 twist after some wear instead of a 9 twist

 

[DiRTY DOG]

How hot was your load ?

It started keyholing at about 600 rounds of 24.7gr H4320. Shot great before that. I tried all the stuff, no crown damage, it was already bedded and free floated, tried all the good cleaners at the time, Sweets, Butch's, Montana Xtreme, JB, etc, even chamber plugging and soaking with #9. Tried everything. A new barrel from PacNor was the only thing that worked.

 

[bobtails]

It started keyholing at about 600 rounds of 24.7gr H4320. Shot great before that. I tried all the stuff, no crown damage, it was already bedded and free floated, tried all the good cleaners at the time, Sweets, Butch's, Montana Xtreme, JB, etc, even chamber plugging and soaking with #9. Tried everything. A new barrel from PacNor was the only thing that worked.

Wow the thats a pretty low round count to start having troubles

 

[L.Sherm]

9 or 10 twist

 

[JSH]

To my understanding rifling in 17’s is shallow when compared to other calibers. That was the reason Calhoon went with the .19, probably why the 20’s can do what they do also, both have a more standard rifling.
As I mentioned above the understanding of a LOT of things today with small calibers is way different than 20+ year’s ago.
I know some of the early factory 17 Remingtons shot real well and lasted a fairly good amount of time, while others experienced the exact opposite.

 

[bobtails]

9 or 10 twist

Mine are all 9 twists