barrel life?

[bullseyebob47]

my friend bought some kind of special barrel with his new ar15. he said the barrel was good for 20,000 rounds. another guy at the range said his s&w ar started to keyhole at 5,000 rounds(steel case ammo), he thinks the barrel is done.

i want to know about how many rounds is a barrel good for in a sar ak, chinese sks, russian sks, mossberg 500 shotguns, glock 19s, cheaper mossberg and savage bolt guns in .223 or .308 and .22lr rifles.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

It depends on the caliber and the rate of fire it was subjected to.

 

[rcmodel]

Shotgun barrels will outlast the oldest human.

As will .22 RF barrels.

Centerfire rifle barrels are another matter.

Higher pressure, and throat erosion takes it's toll sooner or later.

If you rapid fire 30 round mags as fast as you can, your barrel will last half as long, or less then it will if you allow the barrel to cool more often between shots.

Of the numerous firearms you ask about???

No way to answer a question like that.

But a Glock or any other pistol barrel, or shotgun barrel will last longer then you will.

Semi-auto and bolt action rifle barrels?
Depends on the caliber, and how you use them.

rc

 

[USAF_Vet]

What projectile weight? What rate of twist? Far too many variables to answer that sort of question. A low weight bullet will destabilize at a higher twist, as will heavier bullets at a low rate of twist. Key-holing is not uncommon with an AR. What distance was it doing so?

"Some kind of special barrel" doesn't mean anything. What makes it special? What's the manufacturer? What's the barrel profile? A bull barrel will be far more heat resistant than a pencil barrel. What's the barrel length? What length gas system? Factory loads or hand loads?

 

[rcmodel]

And you can never rule out the rifling is just soldered shut with bullet jacket copper fouling from lots of rounds and no proper cleaning !!!!

I've seen more of them then burnt out barrels over the last 50 years !

rc

 

[briansmithwins]

Smaller bores and high velocity kill barrels faster. .223 Remington has both.

I would expect any barrel to have the throat shot out from 10,000 to 20,000 rounds. Bore coatings like hardchrome and nitride push the number to the high end but nothing eliminates the erosion of the throat.

Barrels are consumables, just like ammo. If you shoot enough be prepared to change them.

BSW

 

[Jim Watson]

Service life of a .22 target rifle barrel is somewhere around 50,000.
A friend wore out a .38 Special barrel with target wadcutters, but it took him 150,000.

When I was shooting F Class, the USAMTU team was replacing barrels on their 6.5x284s every 850 rounds, but that was just to be super safe, shooters paying for their own can squeeze out 1200-1400.

I saw a .308 that would not stay on the target at 1000 yards with 4600 rounds. The owner said it was shooting fine the week before.
A friend on the US Creedmoor team can tell a decline in accuracy of his .308s at 2500, but position shooters can go longer before it matters.

Winchester ammunition side had a 97 pump go 250,000 and the London proof house had a Boss double with a million.
On the other hand there was a trapshooter with over 900,000 registered targets going for a million who said he had gotten tired of wearing out Browning Superposed in spite of the "lifetime guarantee" and had gone to the Ithaca single barrel which held up much better; just change the mainspring every once in a while.

But these are target shooters with high expectations.
It will be hard for the OP to wear out those plinking guns.

 

[Driftertank]

Overbore cartridges (big case, small caliber) kill barrels faster.
Rapid fire kills barrels faster.
Chrome (and/or nitride?) linings make them last longer.
Low expectations of accuracy will make a barrel last forever.

If you take a chrome lined military style rifle and shoot milk jugs at 50 yards, you'll never notice a barrel wear out.

If you have a .22-250 and like to prop up 400yds from a prairie dog town and shoot 100rds an hour, you'll need a new barrel every couple of months.

 

[lysanderxiii]

Service life of a .22 target rifle barrel is somewhere around 50,000.

Rimfire, not centerfire.

 

[Nature Boy]

If you have a .22-250 and like to prop up 400yds from a prairie dog town and shoot 100rds an hour, you'll need a new barrel every couple of months.

That's why I can't live in Wyoming. I'd go broke on ammo and barrels

 

[Clark]

Bart Bobbitt, long time national level target shooter has a formula for calculating barrel life.

http://yarchive.net/gun/barrel/barrel_life.html

The only problem is that when a barrel is worn out for him, it would still be way more precise than I could detect.

So buy a $50 benchrest take off barrel and ream out the chamber to 243. Put some 65 gr Vmax bullets in it and go to the range.

You will be getting the best groups at any normal range.... with a worn out barrel.

 

[jmr40]

It also depends on your accuracy requirement. In order to compete at a high level many barrels might be shot out in 2000 rounds or less. That same barrel might be perfectly acceptable for hunting requirements for 10,000 rounds.

 

[Jim Watson]

The only problem is that when a barrel is worn out for him, it would still be way more precise than I could detect.

C.E. Harris wrote of rebarreling .22 sporters with takeoff target rifle barrels.
He shortened them to remove the chamber and eroded throat and made up hunting rifles that were still more accurate than factory and even better than the early aftermarket 10/22 barrels.