300 Win Mag barrel life & reloading

[Richard.Howe]

Morning all...and merry Christmas!

I was just given a new A-Bolt by my grandfather in 300 Win Mag. However, reading some info on the web and this site has made me question the barrel's life expectancy (~1500 rounds).

Is this a real number???

I'm new to the concept of barrel life. Does this estimate assume full-power loads? Could I lengthen the barrel's life by downloading? Moly-coating? Anything?

Finally, what is the failure mechanism when I hit the barrel's end-of-life...is it just a gradual loss of accuracy?

Thanks all, new member and my first post!

Rich

 

[hardcorehunter5]

first off make sure you follow brownings procedure for breaking in the barrel. It is meant to increase barrel life and make it easy to clean. The only way to tell if the barrell is toast is by the accuracy you are able to get with it. I say just shot it and maintain it well and you really don't need to worry about barrell. Maintainence is the key to long life. keep them in the ten ring

 

[cheygriz]

The fastest way to burn out a barrel is rapid fire. When shooting for practice, or sighting in, or working up reloads, allow AT LEAST 2 full minutes between shots! If necessary, cool it down even longer. Your barrel will outlast your shoulder if you do!

There's no point in downloading. Why do own a magnum if you don't want magnum performance?

Keep it CLEAN and keep it COOL, and it will last for a very long time.

 

[Jaywalker]

Welcome.

I don't understand all I know about barrels, but Boots Obermeyr believes that cut-rifled barrels outlast hammer-forged (like the A-Bolt and most other factory rifles) and button-rifled. He also believes that stainless barrels wear more quickly than chrome-moly barrels. I have no opinion, and would hesitate to argue with the man if I did. Fifteen hundred rounds seems a little short, though, when bench-rest barrels seem to last 2500-plus, I understand. There, we're taking about being "shot out" when they're no longer competitive, perhaps tenths of an inch. That shouldn't apply to a hunting rifle.

I do think that more barrels have been ruined by over-cleaning than have ever been shot out, though I have no evidence of it. Bad cleaning will appear as shallow, perhaps rounded rifling near the muzzle, I understand, though I haven't seen it. Learn to clean from the breech, pushing a patch out the muzzle - then remove the patch - don't drag the grit back through again, and don't go the other direction, dropping the grit into the chamber. Use a quality, one-piece coated rod (or carbon), and not the jointed aluminum cheapos. (I use the coated flexible Otis that I pull from the muzzle end.)

Edited to say: There are differences of opinion as to whether "barrel break in" has any validity. It probably doesn't hurt, unless it's done using bad cleaning techniques.

More edits: Another evidence of a hammer-forged barrel wearing out appears to be pitting. These are the impurities in the steel appearing as the steel wears away.

Most people grow tired of rifles long before they're worn out. I have a heavier 300 Win Mag rifle than yours, and I guarantee I'll never get it to even 1500 rounds - recoil is noticeable, even in mine. If this is your first rifle, let me echo the advice of another forum member - don't sell your first rifle when you tire of it - you'll want it later.

BTW, I shoot mine with a PAST Recoil Shield on my shoulder. It costs about $30, and has already paid for itself.

Jaywalker

 

[redneck2]

Unless you shoot real "screamer" loads...

you'll get maybe 2,000 rounds (or more it you follow the above advice)

that's 100 boxes of shells. Unless you've shot a .300 Mag, you probably don't realize how much pounding that is. Most guys probably only shoot maybe 10 rounds at the most before they've had enough fun for one day.

Worst case, you can get a new barrel screwed on for a few hundred bucks and shoot again. I'd guess that, for every barrel that's shot out, there's a hundred that get less than 20 rounds a year

 

[Tag]

by the time you've put 2000 or so down the pipe you will have spent a good $3000 on ammo. A few extra hundred for a new barrel figures in just fine.