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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 21,317
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 21,317 |
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.
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 53,303
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 53,303 |
.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? 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
Member, Clan of the Border Rats
-- “Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it.”- Mark Twain
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Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 10,365
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 10,365 |
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
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 9,919
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 9,919 |
I am astonished by such a low barrel life for an AR!!! 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
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Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 3,344
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 3,344 |
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. 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.
Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven.
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Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 11,020
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 11,020 |
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.
"There's more to optics than meets the eye."--anon
"...most of us would be better off losing half a pound around the waist than half a pound on our rifle."--dhg
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 310
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 310 |
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
Last edited by wtroger; 09/24/16.
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Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 3,905
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 3,905 |
.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? 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 In the Pope Barrels book he gives a count of cast bullets Thru a barrel. Way up there.
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