Expected Barrel Life

I hope some of you knowledgeable types can educate me a little with this one. I have owned 5 hunting rifles in my life and have never worn any of them out. Sighting in and taking deer and bandit dogs each year uses up about 10 rounds per year. So I don't have a reference for what should be the minimum number of rounds fired a barrel should shoot accurately.

I understand that a lot of factors such as caliber, barrel length, cleaning, exposure, etc. affect barrel life. What I need to know is, on average, when I am looking at a used gun, and someone tells me how many rounds have been shot through it, what numbers mean "broken in," "about halfway used up," and "just about done?"

Thanks

Darel

barrel life

For general hunting rifles, you should expect 5000 rounds of acceptable accuracy (assuming you have a good barrel to begin with), and with a varmint or target rifle you should get at least 2000 rounds before it starts to fall off. Keep in mind that even after these numbers are reached, the gun is not going to start "spraying" it's bullets all over the place, it's accuracy will just slowly begin to fall off.

er

erifle - With some of the break in's that I have read about on here, would that significantly reduce the number of rounds?

Some of the break in's sound a little harsh to me???

ER,

Thanks. That's what I was looking for.

I'd like to know what some think about Jeff's question, also.

Another thing, when I'm looking at a gun barrel, what are the signs of use I want to look at, anybody?

Darel

The throat, or area in front of the bullet where the lands begin, is where the erosion occurs that reduces barrel life. Some calibers are "throat burners", like .243, 6.5-284, and most of the short mags. This area starts to look like dried cracked mud in a borescope after a couple thousand rounds. Sometimes you can extend a barrels useful life by throating it out a few 10 thou with a throating reamer, to clean up the throat.

In my match AR15's I have gotten about 4500 rounds out of 1-8" twist stainless barrels before they start to open up groups at 600 yards. In my 6.5-284 with a Kreiger barrel, I was told by experienced long-range shooters that I would only get about 1000-1500 rounds of useful life.

I can't imagine a normal hunting gun piling up round counts like these. Usually, improper cleaning with resulting wear to the crown and throat from cheap rods and poor procedure is what is wearing out the barrel, not shooting it. Always use a bore guide and a quality rod - not those sectional aluminum rods, which can pick up embedded grit and ruin a good barrel in short order.

The last rifle I purchased I actually went thru a recommended "Break-in" process and I admit I was thouroughly impressed and it was a fairly simple process but did take the better part of the day. It simply involved a good 1 piece rod and bore guide. a few good brushes and patch holders, bag of patches and a bottle of copper solvent. Plus 2 boxes of ammunition. I spent the day, fire one shot, scrub the barrel. Fire another shot, scrub the barrel. To the point that no copper could be seen on a patch. As I said it took some time but that little Remington 700 classic in 7mm-08 is without a doubt the best shooting rifle I have ever owned. By the end of the day I could see a definate improvement in consitency. After a few extra weekends with the reloading press and some experimenting with different bullets, powders and seating depths, I was able to proudly own the first TRUE sub MOA rifle out of the box. No additional work has been performed on the gun although I admit I would like to have a better trigger assembly in the gun. With a 3-9 Matte Black Vari-X III it is without a doubt my favorite rifle. I chose the break-in method I did because while it was labor intensive, it was not as radical as some I read which talked about using abrasive coupounds on bullets and such. No thanks. I also have a Custom SSK XP-100 in 280 JDJ that I went thru the same process. It also will produce true sub MOA groups. I expect even the XP-100 to last a lifetime even though throating could be a problem with the XP due to the hot nature of the 280 JDJ.

break in

I must admit that I do not subscribe to the long-drawn out process that some recommend for barrels. I have experimented, and here's pretty much what I do with hunting rifles and even custom barrels: Shoot whatever factory load is laying around in the right caliber for twenty rounds. Then, clean really well, with at least one pass of the brush for each shot fired. Begin trying proven handloads to see if you get "lucky" with any thing you've already tried. After 20 more rounds, the same cleaning procedure. Oh yeah, I don't wait for the barrel to cool, but I do not let it get too hot to the touch, either. After the second cleaning just like the first, I set the rifle aside to cool completely before attemting any real groups for load development. This may not be enough for some, but I can usually get standard calibers to group into .75", and usually better. Some alot better. Of course, most times this includes alot of accuracy work to the rifle. Most rifles will group better after 100-200 rounds have been through it. It takes a long time to do this if you don't want to heat up the barrel too much. What I'm saying is, at least in my experience, it is not how often you shoot between cleanings, it is how WELL you clean when you do. Like others have said, make sure you have a bore guide and one piece rod, and be very careful around the crown of the muzzle.
(By the way, when shooting any "proven" handloads in another rifle, I always reduce the powder charge 10%, then work up.)

What would work for the great majority of hunters? Don't worry about "break-in" at all. Go to the range, shoot as much as you can, clean well, oil after, clean out the oil, fire a fouling shot, and start shootin'. You won't be able to notice any difference between this and a week-long break-in. And who has time for that. I've got rifles I haven't run a brush through in a long time, and they still shoot fine. No, I don't want a pile of letters from target shooters! This ain't directed at them.

er

an interesting read on the subject of Barrel Cleaning

Take Care,

Thanks all.

Thanks Gun Docc 'cause I was about to ask about the abrasive break-in issue after reading other posts.

Another issue. I look for crisp rifling in a barrel, but someone told me about another kind of barrel that does not have rifling that I'm used to. As I understand it, there are some barrels that are made with a square bore through it that actually twists along the length of the barrel. I have had a guy swear that such a barrel makes a rifle more accurate and longer lasting. Does anyone have experience with this? Wouldn't gun makers use them if they were that good?

I apologize if this is an issue brought up elsewhere. I couldn't find one.

Darel

I have shot out one barrel in my life, and it was a 25-06. This rifle was used in competition and shot an average of 1000 rounds per year for several years.
The way you shoot, it'll never be shot out.