Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Barrel life expectancy per cartridge

There should be some type of spreadsheet out there but all I've found so far

22 LR's - 5-10k

223 size = 3-4k rounds

243-308 Mediums = 2-3000 rounds

30-06 size = guessing - 1700-2500 ?

300 Mags - 1000

Too many variable involved to make predictions. First you have to define "barrel life" and then you have to consider the number one enemy to the barrel, heat and pressure.

Everyone has a different take on what they consider acceptable accuracy which will increase or decrease the numbers. For instance, 22 LR's can go much further than 5-10K, while 223 types can burn out in less than 1K. A lot of it depends on how well you treat the barrel.

Sharpshooter,

I believe the numbers you posted are seriously under real life expectations!

Don't know, that's why I posted them... Saw them on a barrel maker website.

I think correlations can be drawn in extrapolating pounds of powder burned down a bore.

I should keep better round count records.

You can contact Sierra. They ran some tests a few years ago to gage between SS and chromoly barrels. Best I recall they considered both barrels "gone" in the area of 4-5000 rounds.

It may be they were considering erosion to the throat rather than wear in the bore, don't recall. I've seen barrels where they were re-chambered after cutting off about 1" of shank that returned to "life" after erosion was eliminated.

And the amount of time over which that powder is burned (quick, successive shots until the barrel is too hot to touch will decrease barrel life significantly)...

The military figured 5000 max for .30-06 prior to the rifle going overseas, 10,000 for training in the US. Of course, this is based on combat accuracy.

A chrome plated AR barrel will last several times the figure given. I don't think you can wear out a .22 rimfire.

Spotshooter,
Hang around with highpower rifle shooters and you will hear that the .223 shooters expect about 10,000 rds from a barrel.

The .308 Winchester crowd expects 6,000 rds.

I have heard that the .243 Winchester and 7mm Magnums might be around 1500-2000 rds.

I purchased a used barrel from a state champion which had 6,000 rds through it. It got rechambered to a 300 Winchester Magnum
and now is an elk hunting rifle. The owner is very satisfied with it!

The target shooter did not want to go to the National Match at Camp Perry and chance that the barrel would go bad at a national championship. It still shot fine when he took it off at 6,000 rds.
This was a high quality match barrel to begin with (Kreiger)which probably is a big factor?

I could not fathom a reason to slum CM on an aftermarket tube.

It has been a long time since I read it BUT the first figures that I heard went 8,000 to 10,000 as the expected life of a barrel. It does vary with the cartridge used however. My .222 Remington was used by a previous owner to the point that the barrel had to be shortened and rechambered. Don't know how many rounds he put down it but I have put at least 2,000 rounds through it.

Barrels live far longer than them that don't shoot,would try to make you believe.

I find than an interesting extrapolation.

I remember being told that on a hot day it was possible to burn out the barrel on a .30 caliber machine gun in less than one can of ammo by simply firing one continuous burst, but I never had the guts to try it.

Sharpshooter I'll tell you what I think, here goes: This is on the average hunting rifle with various bullet weights being shot during that time. If someone goes out and just shoots the holy grail out of a rifle and never lets it cool or doesn't clean it properly etc. This is all going to affect barrel life down the road ok.

1. 22lr = 9000

2. 223 = 4000 to 6500

3. 243 = 4000 to 6500

4. 30-06 = 4000 to 6500, .308 = 4000 to 6500

5. 300-mag = 3500 to 5000

Years ago I found a prairie dog town that offered my friend and I a chance to shoot for 12 hrs straight. I was alternating between two different rifles.
My friend had a new .222 Remington and hundreds of rounds of ammo
which he proceeded to shoot up over the weekend.
He claimed the barrel was never the same after that.

It isn't how many rounds but how fast between shots that will get the barrel sooner than later

Depending on the upkeep, I would guess a .22LR would go in the neighborhood north of 10-15k rounds and still give "minute of squirrel" accuracy.

Of course, on centerfire rifles, there are a lot of variables to keep in mind, with the most important being heat. This is even more true for high velocity centerfire cartridges, specifically those with muzzle velocities over 2800-3000fps. Let the barrels heat up too much on these rifles, especially a small caliber such as a .22-250 and .243, and you can ruin a throat in less than 1k rounds (if not 5-750 rounds). Keep the barrel cool, and you can expect a barrel to give sufficient accuracy out to 4k+ rounds.

Now, "acceptable accuracy" is subjective. A deer hunter, quite frankly, is likely to never shoot out a barrel. In fact, its more likely the barrel would rust out before it was shot too much. A bench shooter, on the other hand, may consider a barrel ruined after groups begin opening up .2-.3". Actually, I have talked to a few shooters who were rebarreling after groups "opened up" to .5" at 100 yards.

Reality is, very few of us will ever shoot enough to truly ruin a barrel. I have heard it told from several 'smiths that more barrels were ruined from improper cleaning than any other method, shooting included.

I shot high power rifle for 9 years. In that time I managed to win state championships, regional matches,and some national matches.I went distinguished in 1996, and have a high master classification in over the course and long range.

In my experience with the 223 I saw about 3500-4000 accurate rounds in over the course competition. At close range,(inside 500 yards), the caliber seemed to last much longer. But I shot the 600 yard line a lot on sunday with the 3-600 matches. Douglas,Hart,Shilen ect all died around the same time. Talking to the USAMU guys, that's what they found out as well.

In my 300 win mag LR rifle, 2000 rounds was where I started to see fliers at the 600-1000 Yard Line.

When I went to the 6.5x284,my barrels died around 800 rounds. It's a great cartridge, but a real barrel burner in the LR game.

I read an article years back by Kevin Thomas in Precision Shooting Magazine when he was employed by Sierra, and I "believe" he said the 308 barrels started throwing fliers at the 200 yard line at 3200-3400 round count. This was after firing 10 round strings with the totals fired in one minute.

I can't imagine a 300 Win Mag lasting to 5000 rounds, not with that short neck and all that powder. I think I maybe got 1500 rounds out of my 25-06 before the throat washed away.
I think my first CRMO 223 barrel off my Savage lasted 3000 or so shots. Actually, the last group it shot was a .415 but the throat was out too far to use the magazine any more. It's in the stash to be set back and put on something, someday.

if I don't get some bullets pretty soon my barrels are going to last forever...

It seems to me that should the .308 figures be even near accurate that seems to translate to:

6000 rounds through the barrel........

@ 20 rounds per box we have 300 boxes of ammunition........

Each season IF and I say IF you fire 5 boxes (100 rounds) in practice and actual hunting per season........

The rifle, with care, will last 70 seasons !!

The grand children will fight over "Dad's" old rifle.

LOL

I am 67 and just entering my "mid-life" crisis. and I can't find a place near Houston to hunt hogs without maxing a credit card.

Have never shot a barrel out, but understand that the worst thing for barrel life is ultra high velocity. If you must have close to 4,000 ft/sec at the muzzle, your barrel won't last long...maybe as little as 1,000 rounds, or less, before accuracy suffers. So your small-bore wildcats and magnums are likely to require re-barreling far sooner than slower chamberings.

Geeezzz! Last year between late Feb and early June, I put 12,000+ rds through my 22LR in the squirrel fields. That is in single shot mode, and I hope it can endure that for many more seasons. Not sure the camming surface on my Ruger 77/22 bolt is going to survive though.

There are a lot of variables to this, so it is difficult to come up with numbers. But here are some variables:

Bullet weight - Heavier bullets wear barrel faster than light bullets.

Barrel material/fabrication method - It's generally agreed that cut rifled barrels last longer than button rifled, and hammer forged lasts longer than cut. Walther claims their stainless material lasts longer than 416, and chrome lined lasts longer than plain. HK & Noveske claim their polygonal rifling lasts longer than conventional rifling.

Velocity - High velocity wears faster than the same bullet moving slow.

Bullet style - It's been noticed that many barrels that won't shoot boat tails will still shoot flat base.

Cleaning method - Using poor cleaning methods can damage a barrel, especially the crown.

Fire lapping - It is claimed that fire lapping extends the life of a barrel.

Then last, but certainly not least, Your accuracy standards - A barrel that is too worn for benchrest use might be just fine for whacking P-dogs or for 3-gun competition.

I once had a winchester Mod 70 varmmint in 22 250. I pushed it to about 1,500 - 2000 or so rounds and gave up on it. Sold it as a donor action to a fellow. I was very careful to tell him that it was pretty shot out and he understood perfectly but then said he never intended to shoot it at all. The throat was so burned out I could not seat 60 gr bullets so that they could find the lands. You culd see the wear by looking into the end of tje receiver. I babied that barrel too. Used a moderate load of 4064 and never let the Barrel get hot. Shot targets nice and slow. Even when heavily worn I could coax 1" or so groups with the right loads.

I don't understand what you said. Care to explain?
Butch

Heat and pressure are the number one causes. The part of a barrel with the least amount of wear is the muzzle end, where the bullets are going the fastest.

I have an Australian friend who put 9000+ rounds through a 243 hunting kangaroo and pigs. He gave the rifle to his brother when he emigrated to Canada.

His brother used it for another 5000 rounds, then finally gave up on the rifle.

For them, it was accurate enough for 14,000 rounds.

Ted

Wow 12,000 rounds at Squirrels in 4 months.!!!

In a well stocked field after the young have emerged, one can easily do a brick a day and have a couple of hours left to go. Pretty much load and shoot all day long. Despite warnings, visiting shooters always run out of ammo thinking they were stocked for a two day weekend. One rancher whose fields I work, will furnish ammo to those that can really shoot.

Just my two cents but I believe it has more to do with the person shooting it.I have seen to many people shoot to many rounds before cooling.

Never really heard a highpower shooter ever say 10K from a 223. Most I know say 3500 to 5000 max typically.

I babied one though a Krieger once... and won the LA state leg match with it on its last match, at something over 12K rounds and barely shooting MOA and just over....

243 you can get under 1000 rounds depending...

Jeff,
Have you ever run Tubb Final Finish through a barrel on a regular basis? Did you get more rounds out of a barrel then?

Don't know about them all,but I have had 22 LR that I know I had shot well over 10 bricks thru them and they still shot fine.
My .308 has several thousand thru it and it stll shoots 3/4" groups.

Look at:

yarchive dot net/gun/barrel/barrel_life.html

for an interesting article and discussion. The article is not dated, but I've been aware of it for at least five years, probably longer. Bart Bobbitt, the article's author, explains his formula for Calculating Rifle Barrel Life in detail.

Look at:

bulletin.accurateshooter dot com/2010/11/handy-excel-formula-predicts-useful-barrel-life/

for an article, a program download, and some discussion.

I have never understood stainless steel.
In the machinist books it ain't as hard as carbon steel but it sure is hard to work with in the shop.
And it seems everyone agrees that stainless barrels last longer.

I don't understand why.

Wow, you resurrected a 7-year-old thread??

With regards to stainless steel, there are a lot of different types of stainless steel. Barrels are typically made of 416 stainless which is a martensitic stainless and quite easy to machine. Some of the austensitic steels tend to work hard very readily and need heavy cuts with a big machine or they will go rock-hard on you. Fasteners are typically made from 304 ss and it is prone to work hardening.

As far as using a CM barrel, I use them occasionally myself. They are stronger and can be blued if that is the type of rifle you are building. Who wants a SS barrel on a exhibition grade rifle?

I much prefer CM actions over SS too.

I'm no expert on barrel life but I'll bet if you don't ruin it with a cleaning rod, 20-30K out of a 22 rimfire is no problem. Out tactical rifles typically went about 4500 rounds (308) before needed new barrels. I have worn out two 6.5-284 barrels in less than 900 rounds and one in 500 rounds. I think R17 is really hard on barrels.

.22RF barrels will last several lifetimes of steady shooting with very judicious cleaning, ie: basically once in a coon's age. Back in the pre-war era, serious rimfire match shooters insisted on soft steel versus harder alloy steel for their barrels. Winchester catered to that by offering the M52 with a choice of low carbon or nickel steel barrels. Was that due to magical qualities of soft steel and lead? Don't know, but my personal theory is that it was easier to machine the soft steel and as such was easier to get a smoother finish in the bore which in turn aided accuracy. Boutique barrel makers of the time such as Harry Pope held to the use of low carbon steel for rimfire target rifles too. I wonder if one could specify a soft steel .22 barrel from a current barrel maker, and if it really would make a difference in this day and age?

you get close to 3k rounds on an AR barrel in match shooting you better be only shooting it on the short courses and have a new one ready

I am astonished by such a low barrel life for an AR!!!

There's a youtube video of a guy that destroyed an AR barrel in ~850 rounds. The caveat was an M16 lower and non stop mag dumps until the barrel literally began to droop and blew up at the gas block.

The hot high pressure gasses from the cartridge will wear out the chamber of a barrel eventually. The more hot gas you run through the bore and the hotter the barrel is when you run that hot gas through the bore the quicker the throat will be eaten out of the barrel.

Given the cost of ammo, barrels are the cheapest part of the equation. Shoot your rifle until the groups start to open up and then rebarrel.

Funny, we were just talking about Dave Maurer's Media, and case cleaning solution a coupla' days ago.
I hauled a 200 M. rimfire array down to Tucson Rifle Club's range at Three Points some years back,...and in the process of putting on a little shoot after the main BPCR event, was lucky enough to get some trigger time in with his original Pope ballard, ....I guess Pope ran the thing hard, and the guy that got it from Pope ran it harder,....than Dave got hold of it, and has probably exceeded BOTH of their aggragate round counts.
....The thing will pretty much still shoot into one hole.

....dunno' where this .22 barrel life idea springs from, and can't get on board that train.

GTC

I have a 243 with a Shilen barrel on that has 2700 rounds out of n it and it will still do 3/8" or less at 100 yards, have a 6BR with over 4500 rounds out of it

When you start getting fliers that you can't call with your match rifle you can keep shooting it or switch the upper. Barrels are cheap in the mix

I like chrome-moly for actions and barrels too and I thought it was because I thought that the action was stronger than the stainless ones. Now with the nitride finishes the world is getting better all the time.

Working with stainless in the shop at work has whooped my can a time or two and I have ruined more drill bits fiddling with that stuff. I suppose if I consulted with the machinists I would could figure it out better.

Cobalt drill bits seem to hang in there better. But you simply cannot stop cutting until you're through or work hardening will get you.

Also the use of center drills is most helpful, with their inflexible bodies and short center drill.

When I was in Boy Scouts we borrowed the gun clubs 22lr target rifles. They where CMP issued Remingtons probably 513's for summer camp. We would put 10,000 rounds through these rifles every summer and did for years and I have no idea how many rounds went through them the rest of the year. They would shoot one hole groups if you where up to the task. We never cleaned them. Shot Remington 22lr Standard velocity ammo. My guess is the round count was well above 50,000

In the Pope Barrels book he gives a count of cast bullets Thru a barrel.

Way up there.