Seems to be a lot of concern about barrel wear. I just wonder who shoots enough to warrent the concern.

I don't shoot as much as several folks on this site shoot but have worn out quite a few.

I do have the good fortune of living with some good dog shooting within minutes and have for years. And on top of that I'm an old fart.

Never shot one out myself.

But I have several around the house.

Gunsmith sends them home with my kids.

6 mmwasp

I'm not being critical. The essence of this ? Was asked during the past yr or so. I'd like to be refreshed.

I have done plenty enuff shooting to wear out more than 1 but I've had many rifles come & go to spread out the wear.

Even at that my first Rem M Six in 270 W has been shot enuf that the accuracy is NOT what it was but still sufficient for deer hunting.

Jerry

Sorry I missed that thread

I've shot out a few. A 270 was the most recent.

Shot the throat out of an M14 barrel assembled on a Springfield M1a reciver. The chrome was flaking away. I'm not sure that counts since it wasn't normal throat erosion, it was a problem with chrome lined M14 barrels.

The most recent bound for the scrap pile.



my 17 needs a new one before gopher season. but I've been using take offs on it, just need to head space and it'll be back up.

No danger of me ever shooting a rifle barrel out, i dont keep one long enough.......Ha!........Hb

Have 2 25-06's that are pretty much done. Still get good enough accuracy out of them for hunting though so, I'll keep shooting 'em.
My Dad shot out a BAR 270 years ago. Swapped it off for a 30-06. Bore on that 270 looked like alligator skin that needed lotion or something from all of the cracks in the bore.

I shot out a 221 fireball barrel, I ran out of fingers and toes so I stopped count the rounds no telling how many went down that barrel but I can tell you it was a lot.

Ive shot out more than a few...all on varmint rifles, most were .223s, and one .22-250.

These were shot at colony varmints, so it was high volume that led to their demise.Heres the quick synopsis:

Shooting them really hot and dirty seems to be a bad thing ( ! ) Like 500+ shots between cleaning and getting them too hot to touch. A normal CM .223 at this level will show signs of fading at about 9K rounds...+ or -

Signs of fading IME seem to progress as follows, rifle gradually works its way out to shoot MOA from 1/2 MOA then it just almost suddenly pukes...out to 2-3 MOA throat wear is visible to the naked eye before this happens.

The .22-250 I burnt showed these signs at about 3000 rounds.

I have had sporting rifles, 243-375 shoot up to 4500 rounds NOT hot and dirty, and still maintained good accuracy and barrel life, never burnt out a big one.

A good quality barrel, cared for, lasts a bunch longer. I currently have a Hart on my fave .223 that I have rarely subjected to the hot and dirty torture test,take care of it, and its on 10 K rounds now with NO visible signs of wear or accuracy degradation. ( third barrel on this rifle alone....)

Currently working on burning a .204...got 2500 rounds through it and can start to see throat erosion, still shoots great...and its been shot hot and dirty....

Overall it seems to be the amount of powder burning down the thing that does more damage than the bullets. My gopher shooting pard has a 17 hornet with 12K rounds and no signs of degradation.

FWIW.

Just one that I still own a .243 Win, accuracy is still okay for hunting deer. However, I can't seat a 100 grain bullet where I can reach the lands anymore. Most of the time when I change a barrel it's because I'm bored and want something else. I don't own a bore scope so the only way I know is by chasing lands.

I need to get better at keeping track of rounds...but it is way too much work.

I would really like to know what my .17 Rem is at. Current barrel is probably close to 10,000, but I don't do much high volume, barrel burning shooting with it. It has just been shot a lot at jack rabbits, prairie dogs and such. We don't have the high volume dog towns in western Wyoming. I also don't know what the throat looks like...but I should probably start looking at such things.

To the OP, I have done it (the same 17 as mentioned above...before I rebarreled it). My experience is like Ingwe's...accuracy suddenly goes tits up.

I have shot out numerous barrels.

Lots of factors at play.

That said, most recreational/non competition shooters are are unlikely to shoot out a typical hunting rifle barrel.

High volume prairie dog hunters, ground squirrels,etc, can wear a barrel out in a fairly short amount of time.

I shot kangaroos for fifteen years from 1995 to 2009, this was my sole source of income...except when I damaged a vehicle and had to go shearing for three months till the bastard thing was fixed.
I shot/burnt out more than a few barrels and there is no big deal with it, use the spare whilst the main rifle was being re-barrelled, and when the action/bolt wore too loose (from dust) it was no small thing to buy another.
Sporting shooters are always a good source for clean actions as they are rarely worn out, rather they are more often abused or neglected, which is not a problem if the action is still tight.

The fellow that I preferred to do my work was Peter Van Meurs from Pro-cal Trading at Bannockburn in Victoria...Peter was absolutely reliable and his work was perfect for my needs, and it didn't hurt that Peter and his lovely wife were some of the very best people you could meet.

It is interesting that there was no gradual disintegration of usable accuracy, rather the guts dropped out of them all on a single night, took them out the next night (with a spare in vehicle) and if it played silly buggers again I shipped the barrelled action off to Peter...always got them back with-in two weeks.

It should also be noted that I shot mainly open country so generally used Remington 40Xb in 6BR or 22BR topped with either an old 24x that had those miserable high turrets replaced with low click turrets by Leupold, or a 24BRD that had a .27" subtention dot in a cpc with low 1/4" turrets done by Premier reticles in the States.
As a result my rifles weighed on average around sixteen pound, which wasn't a problem as I let the Toyota carry them for me.

Those blokes that shot a lot of scrub or bush seemed to really like Sako L461, I used a couple but found them too light for myself...And Saint Arnold didn't make a trigger for them.

As an aside, I settled on the 6 or 22BR as it performed somewhere near to a 22-250 and sounded more like a 223, and didn't leave me brain-dead/punch-drunk after a nights shooting out of a vehicle...lot to be said for that.

My last work rifle.





I see the local roo shooters going out at night and all I can think is "Thank Christ I don't have to do that anymore".

I often put 100 bullets down a tube shooting paper and practicing different shooting positions. However I have shot out more 243 barrels than all the rest and have a 6MM Remington that is just about done. I have shot out one 270 barrel and one 22-250 barrel. I usually have several 223's on hand and have yet to shoot one to the point of anything more than a bit of visible throat wear. My 6MM-284 bit the dust in less than 1200 rounds. The real truth is that rebarreling is not that expensive or hard to get done. I think short necked cartridges are harder on barrels but can't really say for sure other than the 243 seems to be the worst barrel eater for me.

Shot out 1, 6.5x284 barrel. Current 22-250 barrel is on its last legs.

That is exactly how my 257 Weatherby went out after 3K rounds.

Shot out a 300WBY barrel. I sent thousands of rounds downrange with my first 30-06 and it's accuracy started out at about 1/2 moa and sluffed off to around 1.5-2 moa in about 6 years time. This was before I started handloading, so it's possible I could have chased the lands and got better accuracy from the old girl..

Holy moly!

I was unaware you could do that!

No, no...it's true, someone else reckons he can count to ten as well.

7RM, 7WSM, .243, .25-06, .22-250, etc, etc.

Barrels are like brake pads. Driving habits affect wear patterns and longevity, but all brake pads wear out eventually. Same goes for barrels. They're a wear item.

Yep, I've done a few... I'm one my 6th new re-barrel, only 2 of those were shot out.

A Ruger 77 V 22-150 purchased in 1974 is on it it's third barrel. Targets are Prairie dogs, Woodchucks. coyotes and 13 lined Ground squirrels.

I load it to 'kiss' and shoot and seat bullets out to follow throat erosion to a point accuracy is not acceptable.

I had a Ruger 77 Varmint rifle in 223... guy I bought it from had documented 5,000 rounds down the barrel.. he was a hard core sage rat shooter...had quite the arsenal... he was selling it off after his arthritis got the better of him...

I put another 10,000 rounds using Blue Dot loads down the barrel... paid $300 for the rifle... and local gun store offered me $400 for it, toward trade for a new Savage 11 BVSS.. which ran me an additional $125! too good a deal to pass up...

ran across a guy at the range a year later who had bought it...

I was asking him how well it shot for him...
told me he had put 2,000 rounds thru it the previous varmint season.. as he had family who works at Nosler and had given him 2,000 55 grain ballistic tips...as he did annually...

We walked down range to look at his target... 3 shots coverable by a dime still...he was using a bread and butter load of H 335....

I took the Savage deal as I wanted a one in 9 twist.. I was debating to rebarrel that Ruger... but upgrading for $125 only was too good of a deal... really the only reason I let it go...

Those Blue Dot loads do stretch out a barrel's life quite a bit...

Up until about 8 years ago I competed heavily in NRA National Match course and John C. Garand CMP matchs.
I put over 12,000 rounds through a colt AR Hbar and was still shooting pretty good, high expert scores. It was roached however.
Went threw about 5 M1 barrels ---- thousands and thousands of rounds.
Burned out a 6mm remington barrel
Currently working on burning out the 30-06 barrel on my rem 700, It's taking a very long time!!!!

The Savage 110E in .22-250 that Dad gave me had over 1500 rounds through it at the time and would still shoot 5-shot groups you could cover with a dime.

Several years later it was shooting patterns several feet in diameter. I would clean the barrel and it would be good for 2-3 shots and then back to patterns.

Sold it to a guy that wanted the action. Used the money to buy another rifle. No regrets about the exchange because I didn't have a lot of money back then. Now the kids are out of college and my wallet and I'd rebarrel the Savage. And buy the other rifle.

I don't know if I shot out a barrel but I'm pretty sure I've "cleaned out" a barrel to ruin.

About 300 shots on a 22-6mm Ackley and 75 gr Amaxs would not make the target. 1/7 twist stainless barrel. Dale

BTW - many people "think" they have shoot out a barrel when they haven't (bad crown, or other dings)

Bob, what rifle and how many rounds did it take?

The only barrels I can honestly say that I have seen that were shot out, were M60 machine gun barrels when I was in the USArmy.

Saw this post and thought WTF, when did I post that? Hell, I don't even own a rifle like that. Then I realized our screen names are REAL similar.

That said, I did shoot out a Ruger 77 in 270. Round count was about 4000. I shot a lot of groundhogs and deer with it over the years but I think what did the damage was my teenage years. I had a 100 yd range in the back yard and a reloading setup in the basement. Load a box, shoot it off quickly, load and repeat.

Dale (the one who's been here awhile)

Actually, that would be 20 as I have ten of each...... bore scope showed first several inches of barrel with some rifling left but most gone.

Shot out:
1 WW factory 270
1 280
1 7RM

The 280 & 7 went pretty quickly because I was running heavy/hot loads.
The 280 was fine one day and then I couldn't hit a 24" target at 250 yards.
The round count for the 7 RM was about 30% of the 280 and it was done.
I shot the 270 on rabbits and rockchucks beginning at age 18. Took it into a guy with a Hawkeye and he said there wasn't much rifling for the first 10". Funny thing, it still made 1.25" groups. Today it is a 35 Whelen.

A Sako 7 Rem mag, 1700 rounds

264 win mag. Bought it used so no telling how many rounds were through it. It would shoot 5 within a quarter (coin) at 100 yards then all of the suddenness 2-3" groups. Had a gunsmith true the action and rebarrel to 300 win mag which is my main hunting rifle. Current barrel has about 500 rounds through it in 5 or 6 years. Trying to shoot out current barrel so I can go with a heavier contour.

.22/243. Less than 1500 rounds.

Couple a hundred give or take..



Actually only one 264 Win barrel never kept track of the round count but if I had to guess somewhere around 1500-1800.

I have. Not counting military service.

Two 270 Winchester barrels. That rifle is now on it's 3rd barrel

One 375H&H. That rifle is now on it's 2nd barrel

One 44 Mag revolver. Rebarreled by Ruger in 1977.

And 3 other rifles and a few other handguns that have enough erosion to easily see with a bore scope, but they are still shooting well. They may be in line, but have not been rebarreled yet. Probably will be in the next 3-4 years.

I finished off a Husqvarna .30-06 barrel that my late uncle had started. Dumbest thing I ever did. There's no reason I can see to shoot a big game rifle that much. I can stay in practice and good form with rimfires and varmint rifles.

Have shot out several, a Cheetah, my .22-250 is on its third barrel.. A .264.. My old .300 is on its 3rd barrel.. It will out last me unless something unusual happens.. Lots of $ to do that, but it was as they say, one hell of a ride..

Barrels are like brakes on a car. If you drive it, they wear out eventually. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't drive your car.

I replaced a 270 win barrel at about 1800 rounds, but not because it was shot out. Just wanted to do a 280 Ack.

I smoked a 7 mag barrel with not all that many rounds. It seemed like a real tight barrel and my loads were pretty warm.

It now wears a Criterion barrel and is unbelievably accurate.

I have an NULA in 7x61 Sharpe & Hart; an extremely accurate rifle with most bullets I've tried and I've tried many, too many in fact.

I kept track of actual rounds fired through about five-hundred, beyond that I had to refer to my range notes and count groups, almost all of which were logged in. At approximately 900 rounds, accuracy suffered a small but noticeable decline. Still great hunting accuracy. At approximately 1200 rounds, I might get an occasional 3/4" group, but most were on the order of 1 1/2" or greater.

The bore-scoped throat looked bad. I called Melvin Forbes and before I told him how many rounds I had fired, he asked, "Have you put a thousand rounds through it yet?" He knew very well how long a 7mm Magnum barrel would shoot with excellent accuracy. Less than I thought.

Mr. Forbes put a new Douglas barrel on it about three years ago and now it's due for a third one, but I'm about finished with load development.

When I was actively competing in high-power silhouette I would shoot out a barrel within less than a year - 243, 260, 7/08. But to be fair they got run hard and hot - 5 shots in 2-1/2 minutes, a minute break and then another 5 shots in 2-1/2 minute. The 7/08 would last the longest, usually around 2000 rounds before they went, the 243 and 260 were gone around 1200 - 1500 rounds. In every case when they went bad they seemed to go from acceptable accuracy to BAD almost overnight.

I have two 223's that are both on their 3rd barrels, accuracy on both of them are honest 5 shot half-inch group rifles, in every case around 5000 rounds they started opening up to 3/4 to one inch with the odd flyer, at that point they were rebarreled. They were both run long and hot in the PD fields though.

I have a 22 l.r. with over 75000 rounds through it and it is still shooting great so no worries there.

drover

In the course of over 40 years of competitive high power rifle shooting, I have worn out more than a few barrels. What most people understand as "worn out" is actually throat erosion.

I normally started with a 26" barrel and, after about 2000-2500 rounds, when the 600 yard scores start to suffer, I would have the chamber cut off and the barrel rechambered, which would make it good for another 2000-2500 rounds. Usually the barrel shot better after rechambering than it did originally.

I used mild loads, particularly those used for short range (200 yards), which includes strings of rapid fire: 10 shots in 60 seconds in a sitting position, starting from a standing position, so the actual time available to fire is about 38 seconds, given that it takes about 12 seconds to get into position, and eight or ten seconds to reload after the first two or five rounds.

At 300 yards, the time limit is 70 seconds and the ultimate position is prone, also starting from standing, but the bullet weight and the load is generally heavier, resulting in greater recoil to recover from and greater potential erosion.

I have never "shot out" a sporter barrel, but I don't use particularly hot loads and avoid "over bore capacity" cartridges, both of which contribute to throat erosion.

I don't have enough spare time to shoot one out.