Barrel Life?

[papajoe222]

I'm looking to purchase one more rifle for punching paper and was wondering about barrel life. Shooting .308 and .223, I was never concerned, but I've been looking at .243 or 6mm and was wondering which has a longer life span. I know that the faster I push them, the more wear per round, but I rarely load anywhere close to max.
Thoughts?

 

[Jim Watson]

6mm WHAT?
Remington? No difference.
Others, pretty well dependent on powder charge.

 

[Jessesky]

Also, it’s not velocity that wears a barrel faster. It’s max charges in general. All else being equal, a max charge of a heavier slower bullet will cause more wear than a max charge of a lighter faster bullet. A heavier bullet has more inertia and takes longer to make the initial jump, causing the intense heat and pressure to occur near the throat longer. Longer heavier bullets also have a larger bearing surface typically.

A barrel has a lifespan of say 2 seconds. But drawn out over thousands of shots. So the longer each shot takes to get down the tube, the shorter the lifespan (All else being equal)

There are SO many variables, pretty much the more overbore a case is for a given caliber, the more wear it will cause. The two rounds are pretty equal in life with the 6mm being marginally shorter assuming all else equal. But we are splitting hairs here.

 

[buck460XVR]

In most cases, with standard for caliber bullet weights and velocities, the cost of the ammo it takes to wear out the barrel, far outweighs the cost of a new barrel. IOWs.......If you can afford to shoot out a barrel, you can afford to replace it.

 

[BubbaB]

http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/?s=barrel+life&submit=Search

 

[Steve S.]

Once the average Joe gets their rifle sighted in (say 50 rounds), everything after that is confirmation or hunting with maybe a little range time mixed in just for fun. If a .308 is discharged 50 times a year at average strings with cooling, 60+ years down the road, one may need a new barrel. It is interesting to see so many shooters concerned about barrel life when most will never live or shoot enough to see a worn barrel. But, it is a question that gets asked all the time,

 

[Hangingrock]

If it were I and it isn't I'd opt for the 223 Remington with a 8" rifling twist rate. I shoot the heavier match weight bullets.

 

[murf]

choose either one. find the lower accuracy node for your chosen load and shoot. the lower pressure will extend the life of the barrel.

luck,

murf

 

[SilentStalker]

The difference between .243Win and 6 Creedmoor barrel life is negligible. I’ve got one with 2200 rds on it and it’s still going strong but many start noticing accuracy loss supposedly as early as 1600. Id say 3000 would be about max.

 

[jmorris]

What range are you wanting to shoot your paper and what are your expectations?

 

[jmr40]

The more powder you burn, and the smaller the bore you push the bullets through the faster you wear out barrels, loading them hot, or just at beginning levels just isn't that much of a factor. A 308 is known for around 5000 rounds of match grade accuracy and at least double, maybe triple, that for hunting. A 243 or 6mm Rem is using roughly the same amount of powder and burning it in a smaller bore so barrel life is going to be less than 1/2 what you'd expect from a 308. But unless you are a competitive shooter you aren't likely to shoot enough to wear out even a barrel with a life expectancy over 2000-3000 rounds. And if you can afford to shoot $3000-$4000 worth of ammo through a gun, you can afford to replace the barrel.

Some cartridges like 25-06 and many of the magnum cartridges shooting 24-26 caliber bullets while burning 60-80 gr of powder really burn barrels up quick. Less than 1000 rounds in some cases.

 

[mljdeckard]

I just built a .243. I plan to start looking for a replacement at about 2000 rounds.

 

[WestKentucky]

Do it right from the start. Cool the barrel effectively on whatever you get, and don’t put in long sessions with barrels too hot to hold or you will burn out your barrel quickly. I question the use of fluting, however it does 2 things effectively... it cuts a little weight, and it provides more surface area for air to absorb heat being transferred away from the core of the barrel. Fluting looks cool to, so I guess it gets points for aesthetics and for knocking a slightly bigger hole in the bank account.

 

[If1HitU]

Thanks for sharing the link BubbaB nice read.

 

[LiveLife]

And this on extending life of barrel - http://www.schuemann.com/Portals/0/Documentation/Webfile_Barrel_Cleaning.pdf