Time for new barrel?

[vonb]

Time for a new barrel? This is a Rem factory chromoly .243 Win barrel. Round count is uknown. It still shoots 3/4-1MOA.

 

[Dgd6mm]

It looks like a really good cleaning may have given it the ability to serve you better.
I could be wrong, I'm just going by the pictures.

 

[Webster]

Time for a new barrel? This is a Rem factory chromoly .243 Win barrel. Round count is uknown. It still shoots 3/4-1MOA.

Depends on the accuracy you want for what you use it for. If you buy a barrel buy a well known top grade. Kreigher, Brux, Bartlein, Hart, Shilen plus a few others.

 

[JBT47]

If 3/4-1 moa is satisfactory to you then keep shooting it. If you want better accuracy then get an ABC, Krieger, Lilja, etc. and have a good smith chamber and fit new barrel in whatever short action caliber you may want that shares a .473” bolt head. With a new barrel you can get the twist rate you want for the bullets you want to shoot. I suspect that factory .243 has too slow of twist rate for the 103gr and up long range boat tail bullets if you want to use the rifle for long range.

 

[Dgd6mm]

Urbanrifleman pre fit.

 

[urbanrifleman]

Urbanrifleman pre fit.

I cut a 243 Rem 700 prefit for a customer last month. Absolutely hammered. I was VERY happy.

 

[G Liles]

Needs a good cleaning.

 

[K22]

This is reminiscent of my very old Rem 700, 243 which had over 3,000 rounds down the bore. It still held about 1 moa (with tuned reloads) which I considered satisfactory. In other words, still very serviceable for hunting.

Depending on the application you have for this rifle, a 3/4 to 1 moa might be just fine, it would be for me as a hunting rifle since I never consider the 243 Win as ideal for high volume target shooting.

 

[snert]

What does the target say

 

[JEFFPPC]

Needs cleaned ie Iosso'd for sure. After that does it still perform to satisfy you. Don't worry to much by what you see once it's cleaned. I have an idea you also have a carbon ring. A name gunsmith once told me not to fuss about the first 10 inches of the barrel the accuracy comes from the last 10 inches. I agree. I believe far more barrels with competitive accuracy left in them are discarded than absolutely shot out.

 

[Iowa Fox]

Urbanrifleman pre fit.

Yep!
Get a LD Scott vice and have urbanrifleman spin you one up. Remage that is.

 

[ebb]

It sure looks like it is time, that's a lot of fire cracking. But if it still shoots as good as you need, start looking and enjoy it till it breathes its last breath. When it quits it will be obvious its done. This will give you some time to hunt a solution. If you have been happy with the factory barrel accuracy, maybe hunt for a take off. I had a friend that used to post here that would set up head space by varying the thickness of the recoil lug on Remington guns. I bought 2 300RUM noddle barrels and got several different thickness lugs from PGT and found one that worked perfect with my headspace gages.

 

[TaperPin]

I had a very similar Rem 700 243 bought for $125 with a rough bore including a lot of rust pits - it may have never been cleaned before I bought it. It was handy having a moa rifle for plinking that could be loaned out without causing any anxiety - short of blowing it up, nothing could be done to hurt it worse than it already was.

It was loaned out constantly and even inexperienced hunters/varminters/plinkers shot it better than paper groups would suggest. It’s the only rifle that I didn’t mind trusted friends loaning to people I’ve never even met. We must have exuded confidence in how well the person would shoot it, because for a decade it had the track record of a guided missile.

A close shooting buddy bought it for all it‘s good karma and I’ve missed it ever since. With the number of young relatives in our family increasing, it’s time to replace it. The next battle worn 1980’s Rem 700 that lived a rough life behind a pickup seat is going home with me.

Having said that, a new custom barrel is such a joy to shoot if the thought has crossed your mind, it’s a good time for a new barrel.

 

[mike a]

Nee

Time for a new barrel? This is a Rem factory chromoly .243 Win barrel. Round count is uknown. It still shoots 3/4-1MOA.

Coyotes don’t own borescopes!

 

[ebb]

Mike, that has just become my favorite expression. Good one.

 

[ronsatspokane]

What you are seeing is called fire cracking. Very common in competition barrels where strings of fire of 20+ get the barrel very hot. I've seen barrels used in varmint hunting with similar fire cracking. Heat a cool cycles cause this. Every barrel will end up with it over time. Not a problem in most cases. I had one barrel that was fire cracked a third of the way toward the muzzle and it still shot 3/4 MOA. I replaced it because it was not accurate enough for competition. That "shot out" barrel would probably have lasted the average hunter a life time and they would be delighted with the accuracy it provided if I'd moved it to a hunting gun.

P.S. That's pretty clean for a fire cracked barrel. Just shoot it.