Who’s had a barrel with an extra long life?

[jr600yd]

Ok who’s had one? I do and it’s been outstanding. I shoot F class (open) with a 6XC, well it didn’t start as a 6XC. Here’s the story. All bullets were moly coated if that means anything.

When I first started in F class I shot a 6BR at 600yd matches. Did real well made HM. Took about four years. Got to thinking about the 9’s I shot. Hummm..... if I had another 100fps they would probably have been a wide 10. I shoot about twenty midrange matches per year and average seventy rounds per match including sighters so that’s about 1,400 rds a year (not counting practice) X four years comes out to about 5,600 rds. Barrel is still shooting under .5 but it’s getting a little long in the tooth so I had it rechambered to 6BRX. Time goes by, 6,300 rds later the barrel will still hold the 10 ring at 600yds X’s are hit or miss so I had the barrel rechambered once more to 6XC. Accuracy is outstanding and under good conditions scores high even at 1,000yds with 1,700 rds down the tube.

Like I said all I shot were moly bullets. Some sware by this others sware at it. They work for me. I know what your thinking “tell me about the barrel!” Ok, it a Krieger 1/8 medium Palma 30”

 

[watercam]

Shot a Palma Match with an English shooter a few years ago. He had a Palma gun that had logged well over 20,000 rounds. His throat was so long from erosion that he was jumping several inches to the lands. It was a 14" twist and he was shooting the older 2155 version of the Sierra Matchking and killing me with it! I doubted him at first until I looked down the bore and you could see the unrifled throat area. Don't know what steel they used over there but when it was built but I want some!

 

[ClassCat]

I had one that shot Moly and had about 4000 rounds on it. It took 3rd place in Best of the West and won both Heavy and Light 200 yard Aggs.

 

[jamesdmock]

The late Jef Fowler (HOF shooter) told me that he shot a McMillan barrel in three consecutive Nationals (he won all three). He said that the barrel had 12,000+ rounds through it after the 3rd Nationals. He gave the barrel to Clay Spencer. Clay split it for inspection and said that there were no rifling for several inches. It was chambered in 6 PPC and Jef shot 2015 and T-32 powder along with the 63 gr. bullet that he made. It was an amazing barrel. James

 

[Prose]

Got a couple 223’s with about 10k never rechambered but loaded mildly still about .5 moa or better but one is starting to go.

Also got a 17fb pushing 4k with well above max loads. Don’t believe that one has too much left in it though.

 

[K22]

I had a 222 Rem Model 700 with a little over 5,000 rounds. Still grouped, 5 shots, in about an 1.25". Not good enough for varmints so I rebarrelled to 223 Rem.

I currently have a Rem Model 700, 243 that has 3,739 rounds thought it. It holds about a 1 3/4" group but I'll get an occasional flyer out to 2 1/4". Good enough for deer where I hunt but I intended to rebarrel soon. Never shot max loads through it and never shot rapid fire strings either when I practiced with it. Cleaned every 30 rounds fired.

 

[mikecr]

The folks seeing 'extra' barrel life are those who are not reaching & counting on best performance from their barrels to begin with. Those who do, do not end up with same performance for 2x to 10x normal barrel life.
There is no magic there,, it does not happen.

 

[Capt. Oblivious]

I think with more and more people accessing borescopes we will also see more barrels lasting "longer".

 

[mikegaiz]

I have a varmint gun in 243 on a Sako action with a Hart ss barrel that has over 7000 rounds that will still hold 1in. group at 100 yds. It has shot only molly bullets and H380 ball powder. Seeing it through a bore scope will scare you, but it still shoots. I think it is the combination of molly and Ball powders. I do not shoot molly in competition as it is hard to keep a molly barrel in tune when shooting only five and ten shot groups. If you shoot long strings is is accurate.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

A good piece of steel is a wonderful thing. Beautiful machine work and perfect dimensions are great, but nothing replaces steel quality!

 

[pirate ammo]

not the right place,,but Krupp Frg,made some damn good steel,,

 

[jamesdmock]

The folks seeing 'extra' barrel life are those who are not reaching & counting on best performance from their barrels to begin with. Those who do, do not end up with same performance for 2x to 10x normal barrel life.
There is no magic there,, it does not happen.

I would say that winning the NBRSA Nationals (3-gun) is pretty impressive. To do it with the same barrel is phenomenal. I would say that Jef DID count on the barrel performing.

 

[TonyinKY]

5500+ rounds on a 30BR Long, Krieger barrel, always Danzac coated bullets since break-in. Still bores a hole. Still shooting original bullet seating depth. I'll never shoot a PPC again.....well....probably not.

 

[mikecr]

I should have qualified my assertion. There is accurate barrel life, and then 'accurate enough' barrel life.
Accurate barrel life being best from the barrel,, like a competitive 6PPC passing best at around 900rnds.
Now a 6PPC is a tiny little round, well capable of 1/2moa 10x longer than that.
For a varmint hunter this may be accurate enough.
The example 243 mentioned above, with an accurate barrel life of ~1200, still at 1moa with 7,000.
When you're predicting barrel life, this would be accounted for, with anomalies dismissed.

If there are hummer barrels out there that last way longer than normal, then my assertion that it does not happen is of course wrong. The questions then become: HOW? IS IT CONSISTENT? AND CAN IT BE PREDICTABLY REPEATED? Much like the assertions of shrinking MOA with distance.
That someone hit a winning streak could be entirely about their shooting. A compensating load. Pure luck. Or maybe in some way or combination it didn't just happen as implied.

How important would it have been, for all of us, if a magic unicorn barrel was tested and cause defined?
I've never heard of this being done.
If I ran across one, I'd define every attribute of WHY it still shoots so well. Patent it. Go to someone like Loather Walther, who can do anything ever done with barrel making, and have a lot of barrels (20 min) made to the defined specs. Confirm a few with testing and sell the rest for a fortune.

 

[CubCouper]

Buddy Mike had an early Bartlein PPC that was still tough to beat at 12000 rounds (as measured by boxes of primers!) before it gave up. A bullet dropped down the barrel would stick about 5 inches from the chamber. Moly bullets, clean once per day.

I'm at 3600+ logged rounds on my current PPC barrel (Lederer) and it has been first or second in every two gun it has shot (12 weekends this year), including a solid win at the last outing and a .16 agg the weekend before that. Bare bullets. Clean between yardages.

 

[JohnKielly]

I've had a couple of .308 barrels that lasted well beyond expectations at peak performance. Both shared a singular characteristic - lands .300"; bore .308" - no squeeze.

 

[coldboreshot]

In regard to the previous comment here about those who have experienced extended barrel life are not reaching and counting on best performance from their rifles to begin with, is a bit inaccurate. I had a factory Savage large shank 6BR stainless barrel that had changed hands 3x between friends which was used on 3 different F class rigs with Savage target actions and between the 3, the barrel sustained in excess of 5000 rounds and is still going with the 4th owner. Granted, the bullets were always Sierra moly 107MKs, with a powder charge of a higher-end node. The barrel claimed a national record and numerous match and individual relay claims. I would consider that, "best performance". Side note; the 4th owner still has the original 210pcs of Lapua brass, still in use. (Did I pronounce Lapua correctly???).

 

[Beau]

There's no easy way to pick a barrel that is going to last other than by fabrication method, but you can help a barrel live longer by using lighter for caliber bullets, bullets that fit your bore & seal it (no steel jackets), cool burning powders and moly/Danzac/etc coatings on your bullets.

 

[mike a]

Do you think cleaning more frequently helps? Carbon is gritty stuff. Seems a clean bore would wear less than dirty.

 

[Beau]

Do you think cleaning more frequently helps? Carbon is gritty stuff. Seems a clean bore would wear less than dirty.

Not really. What wears a bore the most is heat in the throat & gas cutting.