Was going to post this in the .243 Ackley thread but the results were interesting enough that I thought it deserved a bit more prominence in its own thread.
I rebarreled a worn out .243 with a brand new Remington factory take-off barrel - a c-m barrel from a CDL, having it set back 1/2 turn and the chamber recut to re-establish headspace. The M700 action was trued up at the same time. This was part of an experiment to see if a factory barrel could be almost or just as accurate as a custom after market in a trued M700 action
It was.
I measured the distance to lands (DTL) of the new chamber, then 600 rounds later I measured again. It had receded by .070".
At that point I took this same barrel and had it chambered to .243 AI, again setting it back 1/2 turn. I measured DTL again for several bullets. This rechambered barrel now has exactly 632 rounds through it. Just measured DTL with three separate bullet types and the measurements show that the throat had receded .061" (give or take about .002" depending on my measuring accuracy).
The rifle has never been fired enough to get really hot, neither as a .243 or a .243 AI. 3 shots in a row (say in 1 1/2 to 2 minutes) are the norm with some 5 shot groups in about 4-5 minutes thrown in. No rapid fire 10 round strings or anything.
One of the reasons I wanted to AI the chamber was to mitigate the standard .243's voracious appetite for throats. It did, but I would not say appreciably. .061" is less than .070", but not enough to AI the .243 for that reason alone. There were other reasons for AI'ing the .243 which aren't important here but they have lived up to my expectations.
Anyway, I think the "experiment" was pretty well controlled so the results are pretty valid. Same barrel start to finish, same powders , mostly H4350, some IMR4831 or RE-15 loads, all from the same 8 pound jugs start to finish, same rate of fire, same measuring device, etc.
I have a stainless .243 caliber Pac-Nor super match barrel sitting in the closet waiting to go on this rifle when the current barrel is worn out. Going to have to go do some rapid fire and burn the hell out the throat now so I can justify putting that Pac-Nor on. Oughta be fun!
I rebarreled a worn out .243 with a brand new Remington factory take-off barrel - a c-m barrel from a CDL, having it set back 1/2 turn and the chamber recut to re-establish headspace. The M700 action was trued up at the same time. This was part of an experiment to see if a factory barrel could be almost or just as accurate as a custom after market in a trued M700 action
It was.
I measured the distance to lands (DTL) of the new chamber, then 600 rounds later I measured again. It had receded by .070".
At that point I took this same barrel and had it chambered to .243 AI, again setting it back 1/2 turn. I measured DTL again for several bullets. This rechambered barrel now has exactly 632 rounds through it. Just measured DTL with three separate bullet types and the measurements show that the throat had receded .061" (give or take about .002" depending on my measuring accuracy).
The rifle has never been fired enough to get really hot, neither as a .243 or a .243 AI. 3 shots in a row (say in 1 1/2 to 2 minutes) are the norm with some 5 shot groups in about 4-5 minutes thrown in. No rapid fire 10 round strings or anything.
One of the reasons I wanted to AI the chamber was to mitigate the standard .243's voracious appetite for throats. It did, but I would not say appreciably. .061" is less than .070", but not enough to AI the .243 for that reason alone. There were other reasons for AI'ing the .243 which aren't important here but they have lived up to my expectations.
Anyway, I think the "experiment" was pretty well controlled so the results are pretty valid. Same barrel start to finish, same powders , mostly H4350, some IMR4831 or RE-15 loads, all from the same 8 pound jugs start to finish, same rate of fire, same measuring device, etc.
I have a stainless .243 caliber Pac-Nor super match barrel sitting in the closet waiting to go on this rifle when the current barrel is worn out. Going to have to go do some rapid fire and burn the hell out the throat now so I can justify putting that Pac-Nor on. Oughta be fun!