barrell wear

[go8dalejr]

I have a sako L579 forester in .243 I bought off a guy fired 4 times to
sight in when new in early 70s never seen daylight till now still had
original box of shells. My only use is target and coyotes load my own
shells have loaded some 55gr ballistic tips with 4064 to book specs.
Should I be concerned about barrell wear or not says muzzell velocity
4025fps in book but I doubt that much maybe 3800. Light loads are all
I am interested in but I dont want to ruin this baby. Should I back my
powder charge down how much? Also can you tell the year of the rifle
by the serial#?

 

[Black Snowman]

The .270 Sako my Dad regrets trading off was a tank. Unless you plan on putting 10,000+ rounds through it I doubt you need to worry. More likely to devalue it by handling it around than by wearing it out.

 

[Art Eatman]

I have some 1,000 or so rounds through my Sako .243. No dropoff in accuracy. All have been max loads, but I rarely shoot more than a three shot group with cool-down time between. Otherwise, it's been purely a hunting rifle. Some load development, of course...

However, pushing the max with those 55-grainers might be hard on the throat, particularly if you get into prairied dog shooting. For the normal stuff, of a few rounds per hunt--or less--you shouldn't have excessive burning.

If you're gonna mess around with a fair amount of paper-punching, I'd drop down to 3,500 to 3,700 ft/sec.

Art

 

[Steve Smith]

No doubt, the .243 is hard on throats, but it's a rifle, not a Van Gogh painting. Shoot the damned thing, as much as you want. You can always have a new barrel put on, and dad will appreciate you shooting it for your lifetime.

 

[go8dalejr]

Thanks for the input I think i will drop my powder charge down a bit for
targets they dont move to fast, and keep a box of maxes for coyote's.