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I recently acquired a late 70's BDL in 222 that had, I thought, just a dirty barrel but now I'm not so sure. After a cursory cleaning I benched it shooting tried and true factory Power Lokt. Best I could get was 2 in group. Back to cleaning....I scrubbed that bore more than any I've ever had with just about everything possible and it still won't shoot.. Looking down the so called clean barrel it almost looks leaded but I know its not. The wood and metal are pretty decent so outwardly it looks like it was pretty well taken care of. The jeweling is worn off the top of the bolt so it has been cycled a lot which makes me wonder if it wasn't a dog town rifle at one time in its career. On the other hand I had an uncle that put 20K through a Rem 722 and it still shot bout as good as new

I've always heard you can't wear out a .222 barrel.....wish I knew the history on this one cause it sure looks it. Pity too.

The only thing I can think of is bedding. Someone did relieve the barrel channel but i tried manipulating forend pressure and no go. Nothing really made any difference. Switched from core lokt to factory psp ......still just patterned.

Can anyone relate concerning the 222 or maybe a trick I could try before moving on?

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Maybe get an aggressive copper agent in there.
Is everything tight?
I've never heard of a shot out .222

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I would try wipe out, patch out.
Back when I was shooting a 223 Remington 40x. I was told it was good for about 3500 rounds. Hasbeen


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Close inspection of the crown may shed some light on the subject. Aggressive cleaning measures are sometimes more harmful than you think.


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Few thoughts. First, do you know whether the rifle ever shot well? An inaccurate .222 would be an oddity but.....

Second, I love Powerl-lokts. You can drive them fast. But they have never shot well for me in a high-mileage or rough barrel. Not one of my gas-ported M16 uppers - and I have a bunch, 1:7 to 1:12 - shoots them well. Whether new or a 20k+ blaster.

Third, do Kroil/paste benchrest cleaning technique. Use a borescope if possible. Did that to an 11.5" at around 18k. It was doing about 6-7" at 100 following ammonia-based cleaning. Yup, just like an AK. Borescope pics were ugly, lumpy deposits, carbon ring, plus some non-fixable ugliness. After the aggressive clean lumps and ring were gone. It then shot five of my best M855 into 2.5", which is about as well as the others can do. Accuracy deteriorated quickly until aggressively cleaned again.

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Originally Posted by Sam_H
Few thoughts. First, do you know whether the rifle ever shot well? An inaccurate .222 would be an oddity but.....

Second, I love Powerl-lokts. You can drive them fast. But they have never shot well for me in a high-mileage or rough barrel. Not one of my gas-ported M16 uppers - and I have a bunch, 1:7 to 1:12 - shoots them well. Whether new or a 20k+ blaster.

Third, do Kroil/paste benchrest cleaning technique. Use a borescope if possible. Did that to an 11.5" at around 18k. It was doing about 6-7" at 100 following ammonia-based cleaning. Yup, just like an AK. Borescope pics were ugly, lumpy deposits, carbon ring, plus some non-fixable ugliness. After the aggressive clean lumps and ring were gone. It then shot five of my best M855 into 2.5", which is about as well as the others can do. Accuracy deteriorated quickly until aggressively cleaned again.


Have no idea on the history of the rifle. Wish I did.

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Try a different bullet, a match grade flat base 53 grain or some other bullet in the 50 grain range, possibly lighter.

Maybe get some JB Bore Paste and Kroil and go to work. A hundred or so passes and see if it looks smoother.

Last edited by 10gaugemag; 01/11/22.

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Bob Bell, the longtime gunwriter and scope guy for GUN DIGEST for decades, fired 12,000 rounds through a SAKO .222. I'd have to look up the details, but I believe all cartridges were loaded with war surplus 4895 powder. When he noticed the accuracy deterioration, Bell had the barrel set back and rechambered to .223. It never did shoot as well as it had in .222, so the barrel was probably truly worn out.

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lo, it was 4895!!


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I would think you can “shoot out “ a 222 barrel. Don’t know how many rounds it would take, but a lot. But sitting in a hot dog town, shooting constantly and getting a barrel excessively hot I would think would contribute to barrel degradation. Maybe find someone with a bore scope and take a look at the throat and rifling.


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Save yourself some time, money and components - go to Amazon and buy a Teslong borescope for $50 and take a look at the inside of the barrel. You will be able to see how bad the throat is cratered, how much build-up of carbon and copper fouling you have, that will at least give you an idea of what you are up against otherwise it is all guess-work.

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I've got a just about washed out Sako HB. You can't seat a 55 in a case and hit rifling.
But it still shoots 5 50gr. Vmaxes under 3/4 an inch.

Remington brass in 222, and I've had lots, is garbage. Runout is horrible. I think their dies are shot.
Winchester is much better brass and I would maybe try that ammo instead.

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Scoring some Lapua ammo would be even better yet.

It would at least eliminate the poor concentricity ammo variable that Remington has.

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Caplock,

Since you don’t know the history of the rifle, here’s a couple things I would check:

Does the serial number on the bolt match the receiver?
Does the action function smoothly, from loading, to firing, to ejection?
How does the wear pattern look on the locking lugs?
What’s the condition of the bolt face?
How does the fired brass look?

Do you have access to another stock, preferably one with an aluminum bedding block? I’ve taken rifles with Sporter-profile barrels and dropped them in an HS Precision with a Varmint barrel channel just to help rule out the existing stock. It looks a little silly, but it can help you eliminate the stock as a potential problem.

Good luck - I hope you can save it!

Rich


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I've had luck with barrels that definitely were at, or close to being shot out...

In a variety of calibers this held true....SR 4759 and Blue Dot loads still made them useable....
to a guy in his 70s, that was good enough, so the barrel didn't need replaced... but then again, the rifle was not expected to last another 10 years or so.

Recently I've had success with Steel Shotgun powder also, in making a barrel with diminished accuracy, come back to life.

I did have a Ruger VT in 223, that I had 18,000 rounds down the barrel, when I traded it off for a new Savage 12 BVSS also in 223, but with a one in 9 twist.

Ran across the rifle at the range two years later, the guy who bought it at the gunshop I traded it in to....

I was talking to him... and he had put 2,000 rounds thru it the previous varmint season... he had a relative who worked at Nosler in Bend, and ended up getting 2,000 Ballistic Tips in 55 grains each season, so now the barrel had 20,000 rounds down the barrel. He was using H 335 for powder. so had the owner I had bought it off of.

I ran 13,000 Blue Dot rounds down the barrel. I asked about the accuracy. We walked down range... three shot groups could be covered with a dime still at 100 yds.

These shot gun powdered rounds don't heat up the barrel very much compared to other rifle powders.


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Originally Posted by drover
Save yourself some time, money and components - go to Amazon and buy a Teslong borescope for $50 and take a look at the inside of the barrel. You will be able to see how bad the throat is cratered, how much build-up of carbon and copper fouling you have, that will at least give you an idea of what you are up against otherwise it is all guess-work.

drover


+1

I bought the Teslong. I also have the Lyman bore scope. The Teslong is a better bore scope by a good bit.


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Originally Posted by Caplock


I've always heard you can't wear out a .222 barrel.....


That is absolutely not the truth.....

About 20 years ago I ran across a rifle that I just had to have, Remington 40x in 222......that barrel was completely toast. I put a new barrel on it and have been happy to this day. Lapua brass,50gr Blitzkings and VVN130 powder

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Originally Posted by boatanchor
Originally Posted by Caplock


I've always heard you can't wear out a .222 barrel.....


That is absolutely not the truth.....

About 20 years ago I ran across a rifle that I just had to have, Remington 40x in 222......that barrel was completely toast. I put a new barrel on it and have been happy to this day. Lapua brass,50gr Blitzkings and VVN130 powder



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

THIS


I dont know how many rounds it takes, but Im working on finding out. I can burn a .223 in about 9000 rounds. I currently have a .222 with that many through it and it still shoots virtually anything into tiny little groups, and many loads to same POI.No signs of quitting, or even burping.


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Ingwe, when you burn a barrel out , is it just the lands or the whole barrel? I imagine you can turn the barrel in an inch and have the bullet touch the lands , or no?
As for me, I burned out a 22-250 in a Rem. mod. 700 . After about 3,000 rounds I just could not get it under 1.25" groups. I bought it used so I dont know the round count. Still shot 1.25" though too.

Last edited by ihookem; 01/12/22.

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