Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Why does .270 lead to shorter barrel life compared to .308?

I just read that .270 Winchester leads to shorter barrel life than .308 Winchester.

Is this true?

Is it simply a function of the smaller diameter?

More powder through a smaller hole. Pretty simple really.

In really general terms, the more overbore your cartridge is (i.e. the case capacity vs the bullet diameter) the more throat erosion you can expect. Except in extremes, this makes no difference in hunting rifles. The .270 Winchester certainly has no reputation as a barrel burner. It would likely take thousands of shots to see the difference.

I better get started

It's technically true, in that a 270 has a higher ratio of case capacity to bore diameter.

However, as a practical matter a 270 barrel will last long enough that your grandkids won't wear it out unless it's flagrantly abused.

In theory it may be right, but in practicality the great majority don't shoot enough to even consider it. I wouldn't let that get in the way of a particular cartridge I want.

If that is a worry, then the 30-06 will also be harder on barrels. Buy which ever you prefer and try and wear the barrel out by shooting. bGood luck with that project.

Sounds like a sore shoulder coming on!

Most loonys don't keep many rifles long enough to wear out a barrel. Well, maybe in a PD rifle.

I've got a newer FN made 308 fwt if you are getting tired of that old worn out pre 64 270. Trade straight across

I shot out the barrel of a Ruger 270. It took me 22 years and at the time, it was my only deer rifle, so it was shot extensively - like almost every week. I'm guessing at least 10,000 rounds of handloads down the tube. I wouldn't call the 270 a barrel burner...

Unless you are putting lots of rounds thru a very hot barrel, a shot out 270 barrel is pretty rare stuff. Fischer should be proud that he hunted & shot a rifle enough to use up a barrel. I would be.
Thinking about the original posting, I would argue that there are more barrels "shot out" in semi-auto rifle barrels than bolt actions barrels. Probably 100,000 308 built on semi-auto actions for every 270. So...I'm thinking that it would be easier to find a shot out 308 barrel, particularly if you include military stuff.

I shoot hundreds of rounds each year at varmint. Cartridges range from the 6.5x284, .257 Roberts A.I. to the .243 WSSM, down through the .22-250 Rem, .223 Rem, and the .204 Ruger, some are said to be hard on barrels, some easier, but I have yet to wear out a barrel where it becomes unsuited for use. Sure, some open up groups as the throat wears out, but it requires a lot to totally wear one out.

I don't worry about barrel wear, because of Savage actions that I can replace the barrel with a custom made drop-in barrel in a matter of minutes. Even the Remington actions are adapted to the Savage style nut and interchangeable barrels. For the average big game hunter it isn't a worry, the amount of shooting is too small.

Worrying about barrel life is similar to not driving a car for fear the brakes will wear out. What's the point of having one?

wear a barrel out?
Are you kidding?
how many rounds would it take? 20K?
lets say conservativly... 10 thousand rounds.
doing the cost calculator my Fedral match duplicate rounds cost me $0.334 per round.

Thats $3340 of reloads to shoot out a barrel that only lasts 10K round.

I think once I shoot out the barrel of a 308 i can buy another freaking rifle much less a rebarrel job.

JHC! what you people miss-focus on sometimes.





Lets say you go to the range every other saturday without fail.
you shoot a protocol of three rounds and let the barrel cool 10 min. thats 18 rounds per hour. So if you spend 3 hours every other saturday without fail following that protocol it would take you over 7 1/2
years to shoot 10K rounds.
7 1/2 years!!!
put a penny in a jar every day for 7 1/2 years and you will have $2700 bucks.

Is any of this getting through?

The last 270 barrel I burned was about 2005....the old barrel on my pre 64 270 FW was torched. When my smith pulled it you could see the gas cutting and worn throat area pretty clearly.I replaced it with a Krieger.

It was not the first 270 barrel I have toasted;and have shot the throat out of more 7 RM mag barrels,both Douglas and Krieger.

They will go if you shoot a lot.

That is a really good point, but a penny a day for 7 1/2 years is 27.37. Which is still pretty impressive to me. I was getting excited at a new savings technique.

Math.

You're doing it wrong.

I want one of those magic jars!

If I had that jar I'd be putting 100 dollar bills in there and be a millionaire in no time. Just sayin...