How Many Rounds Before Barrel Wear?

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How many rounds can you shoot out of a Barrett M82 A1 .50BMG before wearing it out?
I was asked this question by a friend and I told him I didn't know but will try to get an answer for him.
 
For an authoritative answer, I would try contacting Barrett at 615-896-2938 or via their online contact page: https://barrett.net/support/contact-us/

Maybe they'd be willing tell you whether they or DoD have a official specification for this rifle's barrel life. It's not mentioned in the PDF of their user manual.

I don't suppose many civilian shooters have worn out an M82 barrel, given the cost per round for quality .50 BMG ammo.
 
Actually 50cal used to be remarkably cheap to shoot. You could literally buy API and APIT pull down tips by the truckload and 50 powder is way cheaper by the pound though obviously you use 5x-10x as much.

the Barrett isn’t super accurate. It would prob take several thousand before you could tell a difference.
 
Actually 50cal used to be remarkably cheap to shoot. You could literally buy API and APIT pull down tips by the truckload and 50 powder is way cheaper by the pound though obviously you use 5x-10x as much.

the Barrett isn’t super accurate. It would prob take several thousand before you could tell a difference.
Years ago I bought 32 lb surplus 5010 for 112$ delivered. Makes you feel old. Lol
 
Wearing out meaning what? It should be a barrel burner but you would get a few thousand at least because the rifle is not particularly accurate in the first place.
 
I've put about 300 through my M99. I haven't noticed any changes in accuracy yet.

Its big enough that even in a semi action, you're probably not firing fast enough or long enough to heat up the barrel to a deleterious degree.

That 50 barrel is a doozy.

So don't worry about it until you can't hit what you're trying to hit.

Like I've said before. The barrel is designed to take a couple of thousand degree plasma and a very fast and tightly fitted projectile (high frictional heat).

So the instant you fire a shot you do damage to the barrel.

Barrels are wear/replaceable objects period. Matter of when not if you need to replace it.

If you’re careful you can stretch it out. Maybe decades or centuries if you really push it. But sometime you'll need to.

Best example I ever heard of this is the WW1 Paris gun. A 15" naval gun with extensions added to the barrel to give it a 75km+ range.
The shells had to be fired in a VERY exact order. Since the huge (multi hundreds of pounds of propellant) eroded the bore so severely that the shells were made in incremental size increases to keep up with the wear.
 
Best example I ever heard of this is the WW1 Paris gun. A 15" naval gun with extensions added to the barrel to give it a 75km+ range.
Actually, the "Paris Gun" was only an 8 inch (well, 211mm).

And it wasn't it size that made it wear so rapidly, it was the ridiculously high muzzle velocity of 5,400 fps with a hot propellant and full bore projectile that did it.
. . . . couple of thousand degree plasma . . . .
There is no "plasma" in a rifle bore or chamber.

"Plasma" requires the gas to be ionized, the gas in a gun barrel keeps the electrons under control quite effectively.
 
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Please correct me if I am wrong, but isn't it the throat and leade that wear out and not the barrel per se?
 
Both the throat wears away and the bore becomes larger in diameter as material is worn away. The throat erosion will happen first since it is thinner and exposed to the most heat compared to most of the barrel. Copper build up should not be confused with bore erosion since the less of the rifling there is, less copper can be scrapped off the bullet and deposited in the bore. Accuracy going downhill will let you know when the throat or bore is going going gone.
 
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The Garand Collectors Association - empirically determined:

1. That an M1 rifle bore will erode, at the Throat, at a rate of ~ one gauge number (0.001") for every Two-Thousand (2,000) rounds fired. (assuming sustained RoF)
2. That the Muzzle will erode at a rate ~ One-Third (1/3rd) of that.




GR
 
Please correct me if I am wrong, but isn't it the throat and leade that wear out and not the barrel per se?

The leade is machined into the barrel just as a hole is in the ground. When the leade is washed, the barrel is toast. We replace tires long before the bead or sidewalls are worn out - but when the tread goes, the whole tire goes.
 
[QUOTE = "lysanderxiii, post: 11825106, member: 229421"]
It depends on the propellant and bullet type.

Hot propellants will erode the throat faster. Cooler propellants and steel jackets will erode the muzzle faster.
. [/ QUOTE]


Explain what hot gunpowder means?
Vihtavuor - 130 is hot.
Vihtavuor - 160 cold.
Right?

I heard the opinion that gunpowder on a double base burns the throat stronger, such as Vihtavuor - 550.
If the bullet is in the jam, the throat wear more heat.

I'm sorry about my other. Writing through translate.google
 
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this chart was posted a long time ago

here's a chart that was posted some years ago with an index of powder flame temperatures. there's a better list out there somewhere with pistol powders. and i think quickload has one.

https://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/smokeless-powder-flame-temp.4000162/

this link has a spreadsheet you can download that predicts useful barrel life. it includes a list like the above if you hover over the heat cell.
https://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/excel-formula-predicts-useful-barrel-life/
 
this chart was posted a long time ago

here's a chart that was posted some years ago with an index of powder flame temperatures. there's a better list out there somewhere with pistol powders. and i think quickload has one.

https://forum.accurateshooter.com/threads/smokeless-powder-flame-temp.4000162/

this link has a spreadsheet you can download that predicts useful barrel life. it includes a list like the above if you hover over the heat cell.
https://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/excel-formula-predicts-useful-barrel-life/

Taliv, Thank you very much
 
The Garand Collectors Association - empirically determined:

1. That an M1 rifle bore will erode, at the Throat, at a rate of ~ one gauge number (0.001") for every Two-Thousand (2,000) rounds fired. (assuming sustained RoF)
2. That the Muzzle will erode at a rate ~ One-Third (1/3rd) of that.




GR
That's is from the Army's testing and is based on M2 Ball with a gilding metal jacket.

They also have other tests that show the muzzle will wear faster with steel jacketed M2 ball.
 
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