The truth about barrel life?

[Njal Thorgeirsson]

The other day I was looking into a Rem 700 in .308 or a magnum cartridge for longer range shooting than the other stuff I own, until I ran across a statement on a forum that informed me that I would be forced to replace the barrel after 1500 rounds. I certainly wouldn't want to spend all that money on a rifle only to have to replace the barrel after 1500 rounds.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has heard things on the internet like "A downside to the .300 RUM is that the barrel will need to be replaced after 1000 rounds" or "A .30-06 will wear out a barrel in 1500 rounds".

So what are some realistic expectations I could have on the barrel life of various calibers?

 

[LeonCarr]

Per Sierra Bullets, a .308 Winchester should go around 10,000 rounds before accuracy suffers. IME typical powder charges for the .308 run 40-50 grains depending on the powder.

Then you have a big boomer like a .300 Remington Ultramag or .30-378 Weatherby that burns twice as much powder with the same bullet weight and diameter as the .308. Yes they have much higher performance, but 90-100 grains of burning powder drastically accelerates barrel wear, especially in the throat area just ahead of the chamber, causing severe "alligator hide" type erosion, which decreases the useful accuracy life of the barrel, usually to around 1200-1500 rounds. Sad but true once you shoot enough to get proficient with one of the big .30s, you are about ready to replace the barrel.

I would get the plain 'ol .308.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

 

[ShadowsEye]

Barrel life is the red herring of caliber choice arguments in my opinion. What are you going to be shooting? If this is a larger bore hunting rifle than realistically you aren't going to shoot it enough in your lifetime to appreciate any loss of accuracy. If it's a long range target gun that you want to shoot for fun on the weekends, get 308, but not because of barrel life, but because it's a hell of a lot more pleasant to shoot. Ammo/reloading components are cheaper, and it can still consistently reach out and ring steel and punch paper at 1000 yards.

 

[50 Shooter]

The throat is what takes most of the beating, what you can do is have enough of the barrel cut off to get rid of the burnt out throat. Have it rechambered and start over again, will save money and get you back in the game quick.

 

[jmr40]

Some chamberings do wear out faster than others but most will last longer than that. 1500 rounds for some of the hotter loads might well be about right. But think about it. By the time you have gone through 1500 rounds, you have spent $1,500-$3,000 in ammo

A 308 or 30-06 should be good for at least 5000 rounds and possibly 2X that much. That is $5000- $10,000 in cheap ammo, as much as $20,000 for premium ammo. If you can afford the ammo, even with handloading, you can afford another barrel.

 

[Ky Larry]

If you think you'll need frequent barrel changes, you might consider a rifle designed for easy barrel change (Savage, Marlin,etc).

 

[JohnBT]

www.riflebarrels.com/faq_lilja_rifle_barrels.htm#Life

Halfway down the page - 'Q. What barrel "Life" in number of rounds fired, can I expect from my new barrel?'

One of the many good points is the one about expectations. A shot-out benchrest barrel is still plenty accurate, just not for benchrest where groups are measured in thousandths.

 

[taliv]

Some chamberings do wear out faster than others but most will last longer than that. 1500 rounds for some of the hotter loads might well be about right. But think about it. By the time you have gone through 1500 rounds, you have spent $1,500-$3,000 in ammo

A 308 or 30-06 should be good for at least 5000 rounds and possibly 2X that much. That is $5000- $10,000 in cheap ammo, as much as $20,000 for premium ammo. If you can afford the ammo, even with handloading, you can afford another barrel.

i generally agree with your premise and would even go farther to state that the price of the rifle and scope pale in comparison to the ammo, but i think your numbers are a bit off.

a good barrel runs $300, and the gunsmithing to get it rechambered, and muzzle threaded and cerakoted will run you another $300. so $600 per barrel, not counting shipping.

for ammo... my recent purchases have been around these marks
$611 for 32lb of H4350 shipped (enough for 5000 rnds)
$150 for 5000 fedgm large rifle primers
$386 for 1000 pc 243 win brass
$240 for 1000 115g dtac

== $2347/5k == $470/k == $9.39/20

this is for "premium" match 6 SLR ammo, and since i expect to get about 1500-2000 rnds of barrel life, i run through about $700-900 in ammo per $600 barrel.

for my 260AI, i got 1500 rnds out of one barrel where i shot it way too hot. i slowed the load and got 2400+ out of the 2nd and 3rd barrels. I am a few hundred rounds into the 4th barrel.

my 223rem service rifle barrels go about 2500 rnds.

i've never shot out a 308win or 22lr

 

[briansmithwins]

Neither .308 or .30-06 are real barrel burners. Generally speaking, higher velocities and smaller bores burn out the throat the fastest.

Even so, a .223 (small bore, 3200fps) should last for general purpose shooting ~10,000+ rounds. By which time the cost of a new barrel will be minimal compared with the price 10k rounds.

BSW

 

[Robert101]

Stop the worry over barrel replacement. It is like buying a circular saw in consideration of the replacement blade. Select caliber and barrel type then shot to fulfillment.

 

[joed]

Some cartridges just don't last as long as others, that's a fact of life. My first centerfire rifle was a Remington 700 VS in .25-06, bought it new in 1977 for $235. I enjoyed hunting with that rifle for quite a few years. We went everywhere and hunted just about anything, even bear.

Five years ago while at the range I noticed every once in awhile I'd see a flyer. The rifle was always good for 1" groups till then. Now groups were 1.5". I suspected the barrel was shot but took it to a gunsmith to see. He told me it was toast. What to do? Sell my old friend or rebarrel.

I spent about a month looking at new guns and the cost of a new barrel. I decided on a new barrel, a Krieger. I dropped it off at a place that builds benchrest rifles about 1 hour away in the fall.

That spring I picked it up. Cost somewhere around $400. First trip to the range it wasn't to impressive, 1.5" groups were the best I could do with it. The second outing with it was amazing. With only 20 round through it the rifle began shooting 5 shot groups under .5". At present it has fired 60 rounds and is still getting better. All this for about $635?

I'd like to wear this barrel out for another too. Problem is it took 30 years to wear out the last one. I figured my first barrel had between 900 and 1000 rounds through it. The .25-06 is an overbore cartridge capable of sending bullets out the barrel at 3500 fps. I never once downloaded or babied this rifle. I shot it and kept it clean.

Don't worry about wearing out barrels. Shoot and enjoy yourself, it will all work out, trust me.

 

[taliv]

nice! but you know, $235 in '77 is prob $1000 in today's dollars. (unless you believe gov statistics in which case it's probably about $400)

 

[scythefwd]

Depending on what you're shooting.. a new barrel can and will be consistently lower than 600. I get shilen select match barrels for 360 shipped in stainless for savage rifles.

Also consider the cost of reloading the round vs. what you're doing with it. I'm moving from 30-06 to .308 win because at the distances I shoot the 06 doesn't provide any real benefits and is an extra 4-5 grains of powder for similar performance.

 

[joed]

nice! but you know, $235 in '77 is prob $1000 in today's dollars. (unless you believe gov statistics in which case it's probably about $400)

Yep, that $235 hurt when I bought it new. My friend at the gunshop wanted me to sell it and buy new when he heard the barrel was shot out. I came close to doing that as I was getting some prices that were quite high to rebarrel. But the more I looked the better it got. The worst price was letting Krieger do the work.

I ended up letting Kelblys of Orwell, OH do the work for a little more then 1/2 of what Krieger wanted.

The experience taught me to not worry about a shot out barrel. I went from a gun that barely shot 1" groups to one that shoots under 1/2" and cleans up so easy that it actually scares me.

I have 2 other guns that I wouldn't hesitate to have rebarreled if they wear out. But now that I have 3 guns and don't hunt as much as I used to, I think they'll last the rest of my life.

But think about a rifle that has $635 in it not counting the scope and has lasted for 35 years. And at present only has 60 rounds down the barrel.

But the lesson learned is don't worry about it, rebarrel. But shop around.

 

[TwoEyedJack]

I had a Win M70 Sporter Varmint in .22-250. My favorite load was over 40 gr. of 760 and a 55 gr. softpoint at about 3850 fps. This load was scary accurate and my personal best on a ground squirrel was shot at 440 yards. When it opened up to 1.25" for 5 shot groups, I had the barrel looked at and sure enough the throat was badly eroded. I got estimates for a new barrel and was pretty shocked. So I sold it to a coyote hunter who thought 1.25" was great and bought a Savage. I still run hot loads and when this barrel wears out I can get a new barrel and put it on myself for half the cost of rebarreling a Winchester, Remington, Tikka, etc. The Winchester was prettier.