lwh723
Member
What would be the average barrel life of a .22-250. Lets say average velocity loads with moly-coated bullets.
-Luke
-Luke
barrel life
- Thread starter lwh723
- Start date
- Status
Should be around 8,000 rounds or so, but it depends on the alloy steel used in the barrel. Barrel life has increased in the last 70 years. in the 30's a "hot" cartridge might burn out a barrel after a few thousand rounds. In 30 years I have only seen two shot out barrels, a 9mm Luger and a 25/06 from the 60's.
Art Eatman
Moderator In Memoriam
A more specific answer might be found via one of the varmint hunter websites. A lot of those guys burn up a ton of ammo on prairie dogs, and a fair number of them use the .22-250.
Art
Art
12-34hom
Member
22-250
@ 3000 rounds.
Some of the factory 22-250 "varmint" rounds are hot to begin with.
Also, depends on what type of steel the barrel is. Chrome Moly vs. Stainless Steel.
Also, depending on how you treat the barrel while shooting your rifle [ie.. how many rounds you put thru it in a session and how hot does it get] and the methods used afterwards while cleaning it.
Other factors come into play if you reload..
12-34hom.
@ 3000 rounds.
Some of the factory 22-250 "varmint" rounds are hot to begin with.
Also, depends on what type of steel the barrel is. Chrome Moly vs. Stainless Steel.
Also, depending on how you treat the barrel while shooting your rifle [ie.. how many rounds you put thru it in a session and how hot does it get] and the methods used afterwards while cleaning it.
Other factors come into play if you reload..
12-34hom.
Steve Smith
Moderator Emeritus
Depends on distance, too. You will see a barrel die at 600 yards much earlier than it will die for 200 yards. Technically, all the groups are opening, but it is more obvious at longer ranges.
I get 7000-7500 rounds from a 30-06 target w/SS barrel.
My 300 Win. Mag. usually goes south between 1000 - 1200 rounds.
I would suspect the 22-250 to fall somewhere in between, but closer to the 300 WM.
As has been stated, there are many variables which come into play. The 30-06 is used across the NM course which entails rapid fire strings and severe heating of the barrel. The WM is a hunting rifle and is not subjected to the extreme heat.
As Steve pointed out, your first indication of a barrel in its twilight is occasional, unexplainable fliers at long range.
Regards,
hps
My 300 Win. Mag. usually goes south between 1000 - 1200 rounds.
I would suspect the 22-250 to fall somewhere in between, but closer to the 300 WM.
As has been stated, there are many variables which come into play. The 30-06 is used across the NM course which entails rapid fire strings and severe heating of the barrel. The WM is a hunting rifle and is not subjected to the extreme heat.
As Steve pointed out, your first indication of a barrel in its twilight is occasional, unexplainable fliers at long range.
Regards,
hps
Steve Smith
Moderator Emeritus
hps1, you are getting better barrel life at 600 than most .30-06 shooters I know!
FWIW, with the .223 loaded hot for Highpower Rifle, most get an average of 4500 rounds before unexplained fliers at 600 start to show up. Mosttimes, you can still shoot that barrel for another year of practice or reduced course (another 1500 rounds) and have great targets.
I'm guessing a .22-250 would die at about 2500-3000 rounds at 600, and MAY go 5K at 200 without too much difficulty. Haven't shot a .22-250 much but I know its a barn-burner.
FWIW, a treatment of Final Finish's "fine grits" toward the end of its life, coupled with a re-adjustment of where you seat your bullets relative to the rifling may get you another 1K beyond a death if it was dying early.
FWIW, with the .223 loaded hot for Highpower Rifle, most get an average of 4500 rounds before unexplained fliers at 600 start to show up. Mosttimes, you can still shoot that barrel for another year of practice or reduced course (another 1500 rounds) and have great targets.
I'm guessing a .22-250 would die at about 2500-3000 rounds at 600, and MAY go 5K at 200 without too much difficulty. Haven't shot a .22-250 much but I know its a barn-burner.
FWIW, a treatment of Final Finish's "fine grits" toward the end of its life, coupled with a re-adjustment of where you seat your bullets relative to the rifling may get you another 1K beyond a death if it was dying early.
Steve:
You're probably right, but my 7000 round barrel is as good as my 67 year old eyes
. I probably accept responsibility for some fliers that once would have been blamed on the rifle. Besides the eyes, arthritic neck/back tend to encourage me to shoot fast and get the heck off the line. Used to wonder why they had a Sr. division, now I know .
One other way to squeeze a few more rounds out of a worn barrel is to have it set back to remove worn throat. Had a worn out 26" Mod. 70 SS bbl. cut off and fit to an 03-A3 for a practice rifle. Have probably 1000-1200 rounds thru it and it still shoots good, but the slow lock time on the A3 is one ring outside of call on offhand compared to the Mod. 70.
Regards,
hps
You're probably right, but my 7000 round barrel is as good as my 67 year old eyes
. I probably accept responsibility for some fliers that once would have been blamed on the rifle. Besides the eyes, arthritic neck/back tend to encourage me to shoot fast and get the heck off the line. Used to wonder why they had a Sr. division, now I know .One other way to squeeze a few more rounds out of a worn barrel is to have it set back to remove worn throat. Had a worn out 26" Mod. 70 SS bbl. cut off and fit to an 03-A3 for a practice rifle. Have probably 1000-1200 rounds thru it and it still shoots good, but the slow lock time on the A3 is one ring outside of call on offhand compared to the Mod. 70.
Regards,
hps
Kimber Kid
Member
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2003
- Messages
- 33
On my Remington 22/250 I could no longer touch the lans after 3000 rounds. It still shot well but it fouled easily and had to be kept very clean to group. I also enjoyed that rifle very much and feel I got my money's worth out of it.
Unexpected Flyers ?
At 600 yards you can have unexpected flyers from a new barrel. Also barrel erosion can vary greatly due too the type of powder used and even the design of the bullet. The US Army rated the service life the 03 with a nickel-steel barrel at about 10,000 rounds but of course this is service accuracy not target accuracy and the 30/06 is not considered an "overbore"(hot) cartridge. All things being equal, the more overbore a cartridge is the shorter the barrel life.
At 600 yards you can have unexpected flyers from a new barrel. Also barrel erosion can vary greatly due too the type of powder used and even the design of the bullet. The US Army rated the service life the 03 with a nickel-steel barrel at about 10,000 rounds but of course this is service accuracy not target accuracy and the 30/06 is not considered an "overbore"(hot) cartridge. All things being equal, the more overbore a cartridge is the shorter the barrel life.
Steve Smith
Moderator Emeritus
With a good rifle and good ammo you had better not! If that were true I guess I and all my fellow Highpower shooters have been fooling ourselves or we've been exceptionally lucky.
I agree with your other comments though and the .22-250 is definitely overbore.
RTownsend. It is not always linear. It depends on how worn the barrel is. The early sings are at distance and I won't keep a barrel in service if it starts to
In a sport where you count on no fliers and you know how good your hold is, you know when you get a flier. IOW, if I know I have a 10 ring hold and I fire a good shot but I get a 7 and the wind was the same, I know it was a flyer. (and I will be hoppin mad, too) Happens a few times and its time to switch barrels or relegate that gun to 200 yard matches or practice. At 200 it will usually hold 1 MOA for a good long time but even if it doesn't I still have another MOA to drop without losing a point (10 ring is 2 MOA) so a flyer at that distance won't kill me.It has been my experience that about 2,000 to 2,500 rounds is max in a 22-250if you take care of it properly, failure to do so can result in some barrels being ruined at less that 1,000 rounds.
So what ruins barrels. Two things. Overheating them by not letting them cool down between each and every shot and not cleaning them properly. A build up of burnt powder and copper fouling can also hasten the end of a barrels life.
Another mistake is always loading them to the max. An animal such a gound hog doen't know if he was hit by a bullet traveling 3,600 fps or 3,800 fps. Throttling back a little will increase your barrel life quite a bit as compared to always loading it to the max.
So what ruins barrels. Two things. Overheating them by not letting them cool down between each and every shot and not cleaning them properly. A build up of burnt powder and copper fouling can also hasten the end of a barrels life.
Another mistake is always loading them to the max. An animal such a gound hog doen't know if he was hit by a bullet traveling 3,600 fps or 3,800 fps. Throttling back a little will increase your barrel life quite a bit as compared to always loading it to the max.
Explanation: Not all unexpected flyers occur because of the barrel, especially at 600 yards for 45- 60 grain bullet, the wind might be blowing at 4mph from NW at the bench and from a totally different direction downrange and as you know the conditions can and do change between shots. I competed against a friend who's 22-250 would constantly shoot 1/2 inch, 4 shot groups and yet one of the 5 shots was ALWAYS a flyer that opened the group to 3/4's of an inch. His (new) Remington 700 Bull barrel was more accurate than my 50 year old custom 220 Swift but it wasn't the Barrel that caused the "unexpected" (I expected)flyer. We both would take turns shooting insects at 75 - 150 yards, more fun than shooting sporting clays
Steve Smith
Moderator Emeritus
Your bullets were insufficiently light to come to such conclusions in wind, IMHO. Beyond that, if the wind moves your bullet and you know that's why it was not where you aimed, it was not a flier. Wind moves bullets all the time. That's not the issue. If the wind is the same, and you know the shot was good, and your load is consistent, and your barrel and bullets are good, then you should not have fliers.
In this case I would not call the 3/4" shot a "flier." I would fire that rifle perhaps 20 or 30 times at the same target (you would obviously need a different aiming point so you didn't ruin it with all the rounds) and I would determine whether that 3/4" shot was indicitave of the true group that the rifle would shoot. If you are shooting a 3/4" rifle and you throw one out to 2" away at 100, then that is a flier. Something is wrong.
When I have discussed "fliers" in this thread I have been talking about shots that fall well outside of the long term grouping ability of the gun.
In this case I would not call the 3/4" shot a "flier." I would fire that rifle perhaps 20 or 30 times at the same target (you would obviously need a different aiming point so you didn't ruin it with all the rounds) and I would determine whether that 3/4" shot was indicitave of the true group that the rifle would shoot. If you are shooting a 3/4" rifle and you throw one out to 2" away at 100, then that is a flier. Something is wrong.
When I have discussed "fliers" in this thread I have been talking about shots that fall well outside of the long term grouping ability of the gun.
I agree Steve
I agree with your conclusions but I felt the bullet weights listed were the norm for a 22-250, which IMHO are not very good for shooting at 600 yards. I admit I have a limited shooting ability, but firing at 600 yards with a 150 grain .30 caliber bullet, I'd get more than one flyer. The longest range I have ever fired was with an M16 at 500 meters, my observations were that the entire firing line must have been using smooth bores. It would have taken a tape measure to get a group size. But I bow to your greater experience and expertise, where I live the only way to get a clear 600 yard shot is on a lake or by shooting straight-up.
I agree with your conclusions but I felt the bullet weights listed were the norm for a 22-250, which IMHO are not very good for shooting at 600 yards. I admit I have a limited shooting ability, but firing at 600 yards with a 150 grain .30 caliber bullet, I'd get more than one flyer. The longest range I have ever fired was with an M16 at 500 meters, my observations were that the entire firing line must have been using smooth bores. It would have taken a tape measure to get a group size. But I bow to your greater experience and expertise, where I live the only way to get a clear 600 yard shot is on a lake or by shooting straight-up.
JohnBT
Member
There is some interesting reading at www.riflebarrels.com in the FAQ on barrel life(the FAQ link is in the upper righthand corner of the page.) JT
Part of what Mr. Lilja had to say on accurate barrels and varmint-accurate barrels:
"As a very rough rule of thumb I would say that with cartridges of .222 Remington size you could expect an accurate barrel life of 3-4000 rounds. And varmint type accuracy should be quite a bit longer than this.
For medium size cartridges, such as the .308 Winchester, 7x57 and even the 25-06, 2-3000 rounds of accurate life is reasonable.
Hot .224 caliber type cartridges will not do as well and 1000-2500 rounds is to be expected.
Bigger magnum hunting type rounds will shoot from 1500-3000 accurate rounds. But the bigger 30-378 Weatherby types won't do as well, being closer to the 1500 round figure.
These numbers are based on the use of stainless steel barrels. For chrome-moly barrels I would reduce these by roughly 20%.
The .17 and .50 calibers are rules unto themselves and I'm pressed to predict a figure.
The best life can be expected from the 22 long rifle barrels with 5000-10,000 accurate rounds to be expected.
Remember that predicting barrel life is a complicated, highly variable subject. You are the best judge of this with your particular barrel. Signs of accurate barrel life on the wane are increased copper fouling, lengthened throat depth, and decreased accuracy."
Part of what Mr. Lilja had to say on accurate barrels and varmint-accurate barrels:
"As a very rough rule of thumb I would say that with cartridges of .222 Remington size you could expect an accurate barrel life of 3-4000 rounds. And varmint type accuracy should be quite a bit longer than this.
For medium size cartridges, such as the .308 Winchester, 7x57 and even the 25-06, 2-3000 rounds of accurate life is reasonable.
Hot .224 caliber type cartridges will not do as well and 1000-2500 rounds is to be expected.
Bigger magnum hunting type rounds will shoot from 1500-3000 accurate rounds. But the bigger 30-378 Weatherby types won't do as well, being closer to the 1500 round figure.
These numbers are based on the use of stainless steel barrels. For chrome-moly barrels I would reduce these by roughly 20%.
The .17 and .50 calibers are rules unto themselves and I'm pressed to predict a figure.
The best life can be expected from the 22 long rifle barrels with 5000-10,000 accurate rounds to be expected.
Remember that predicting barrel life is a complicated, highly variable subject. You are the best judge of this with your particular barrel. Signs of accurate barrel life on the wane are increased copper fouling, lengthened throat depth, and decreased accuracy."
- Status
Similar threads
