barrel life

[gonewest]

I'm getting into reloading and trying alot of different rounds in my .270 rifles. I have to ask if i should be concerned shooting them alot. When I shot factory ammo 20 shots a yr was alot. Now I've been shooting that out of each rifle per trip to the range. I won't be going over 3100fps and under 2750fps. I try and shoot 3 then shoot the other rifle while the other is cooling so I'm not pushing things real hard but I realy don't want to burn out a barrel. Will I be all right sticking to this practice or should I cut down? Thanks for any input.

[timsesink]

The fact is everything wears down eventually, barrels due to their exsposure to extreme heat and pressure really have only a 3 second life (if you add up all the tiem a round is in the barrel). The nice thing is that a .270 not an extremely overbore cartridge and therefore it burns through barrels relatively slowly say to a 22 swift. If you're shooting once a week a box of 20 and letting it cool in between groups she'll last a few years still.

[noneck180]

Barrel life is like asking "how long will my engine last in my vehicle" there is just to real answer. If you like shooting go for it. Barrels are made everyday, keep the one you have clean and cool, this should prolong the life of it..your looking at 70+ trips to the range at 20 shots a trip ..

[mjohn7]

My 308 has over 2000.
I would think you should get the same with your 270 if as said, you let it cool arfter 3-5 rounds.

[SHORTMAG]

You should get a lifetime of service out of your gun if it ain't abused. I got my first 270 in 1987...Browning A-Bolt Stainless Stalker. It was unveiled at the shot show the year before. I had to have it Reloaded for it right away. Did my share of shooting with it since then.....I'll bet there's at LEAST between 3000 and 3500 rounds thru it....tested quite a few loads and powders over the years.....100 gr yote loads, 130 gr deer and bear loads up to 150 moose loads. My son has been using it the past 6 years...practicing a fair bit in the off season......this gun will still group sub MOA at 100 yards !!.....mind you all my loads I developed were for accuracy..(55gr of IMR4350 fav load)..not the speed.....cuzzzz everyone knows that speed kills...BUT accuracy kills more!!

[huntinstuff]

I retired the .22 bolt action I used for competitions after its 47,000th round even though it still shot MOA at 100yds.

I retired my Savage 99 in 308win in 1988 after its (at least) 4000th round..Didn't have to retire it, might still use it someday....

I turned in my Armalite .223 after its 13,000th round for rebarreling/re-issue although it was still sub MOA at 100yds..There were times you could have badly burnt your hands on the barrel it was so hot.....

I had a Gen 2 Glock 40cal. that had over 56,000 rounds thru it and it was still like new......and it shot fast and without a lot of mercy and care.

With care, your rifle should last you a lifetime. Clean it, oil it and shoot it. Your grandkids will use that rifle someday I bet....

[Bubba68]

I have a question that kind of relates to this....When do you know a barrel is wearing out. Im taking a stab in the dark and saying it loses its accurace? Sorry for the stupid question but a stupid question is a question not.....

[huntinstuff]

Originally Posted by Bubba68

I have a question that kind of relates to this....When do you know a barrel is wearing out. Im taking a stab in the dark and saying it loses its accurace? Sorry for the stupid question but a stupid question is a question not.....

When she aint what she used to be.....u bet.

Everyone tells me its my eyes, but I always blame the gun...

Accuracy for sure. Lands wear, throat wear. A ding in the crown will do it too.....

[Cappy]

So long as you avoid getting your barrel too hot it should last a few thousand rounds. A .270 Win like it has been said is not really an over bore cartridge (the relation between casebody and case mouth diameters) and therefore heat isn`t as focused as in say a 6.5-284. The rule of thumb is if you can`t hold the barrel it has gotten too hot and needs to cool.

I have over 4k rounds through my .308 Accuracy Int'l and it will still shoot into less than 0.5MOA on the flip side i watched a guy toast his barrel in 1k. He did it after sitting on the range one summer day running repeated 10shot strings with no cooling off periods. His barrel was still holding accuracy but the fire-cracking was very obvious when bore-scoped and the next group could have been the last.

I have about 500rds through my 260AI it is a little over bore and it can still hold 2" 3 shot groups at 500yds (yes on calm days and only most of the time ...i've been known to yank a shot or 2). I only shoot 3 shot groups because it is over-bore and I want the barrel to last as long as possible.

I had the opportunity to be on the range when a rifles barrel did go. It was a .308 winchester with an unknown round count through it, but we guessed at the very minimum 5k but more likely closer to 7500 if not more. Shooting was fine then all of a sudden a 2" group and then one hovering around 4". We scrubbed the barrel absolutly clean of all copper and tried again. First group a little over 1" then back out to 4-5". We did notice up to this point that for the 1000 or so rounds preceeding this the rifle began to avg closer to the 1" mark as opposed to the 0.5" mark it had earlier in it's life.

Shooting out a barrel is a good thing....it means you are out shooting.

[bingo1010]

i would also add that the barrel will foul more as it goes. the firecracking strips the copper off the bullet. and the easier it fouls the sooner the accuracy will suffer. the occaisional scub with jb or iosso will smooth things over. rebarrelling is relatively cheap when you think about it, by the time the barrel is toast you have spent several thousand dollars on time, gas, and ammo costs. considering you can put on a quality barrel for around 600 dollars

[gonewest]

Thanks guys sounds like I should be alright as long as I don't go over board. I know we talked a while back about using WIPEOUT to get out the copper fouling. I have been using some about every 2-3 times out. (40-60) shots If I don't use wipeout when I come home from the range I just dip some HOPPES on my brush and give a scrub then follow with a dry patch them a light oil patch. How often does everyone else use WIPEOUT? Its messy but it sure gets the crudd out.

[bingo1010]

clean your gun when the groups start to open up, it really varies from one gun to the next.

[Cowtown guy]

Originally Posted by bingo1010

clean your gun when the groups start to open up, it really varies from one gun to the next.

x2
Why mess with something that isn't broke. A very clean barrel can have a different point of impact than a dirty one. I know mine are quite different.

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by Cowtown guy

x2
Why mess with something that isn't broke. A very clean barrel can have a different point of impact than a dirty one. I know mine are quite different.

My hutig rifles get cleaned occasioanlly , then rezeroed.
However, the POI is not so extreme on most of them that I have to worry about it.
On my competition rifles , I decopper as soon as t egroups open up to where I notice them in a ten shot group.
POI is not a worry on these guns, as they rezero easily, and conditions change from hour to hpour in a match sometimes that my guns rarely are set atr the end of a match to where they were at the start!

I think people get huntig rifles and competition rifles confused and mixed up sometimes when talking about stuff like groups and cleaning.
There is no need to fuss over a 300 yard rifle the same as a long range target gun, simply because the two are used in different applications.
Cat

[trooper]

I was told a good quality barrel should last you 10,000 rounds and about 5,000 or 6,000 before it starts to show an accuracy loss. I fire two three shot groups or one five shot group and then break for 5 minutes. (I usually clean the barrel between groups.) this may not be followed by everyone, but it works for me. The important thing is As long as you keep that barrel cool.

[Booner Sniper]

We have a steel match here that has 52 targets per team of 2 shooters. You have 10 mins to clear the course, which ranges from 100- 300 yards on targets that are 3"x5". This means we are throwing a lot of lead down the barrel in a short time, the barrels get extremely hot. Our club has had this shoot for 15+ years. I have had my 6.5x55 at this match many times and use to worry about what it would do the barrel. We just shot this match last weekend, I checked my zero and it was shooting a 3 shot group under 1/2 moa, then I checked it a couple days ago after the match and it was shooting the same thing. Just a lil something to think about!

[gonewest]

So what your saying is for to watch the groups you get then if they open up its time to use Wipeout. Very good I just wondered because one of my guns was really starting to open up an I thought it was the shell, or me an age of eyes, or a combination of the two. Then I read about wipeout and I tired it it was messy but it took 3 tries to get it completley clean it made a big big difference. The gun was almost 25yrs old an was strickly a hunting gun but I was so happy to see it comeback.

[bingo1010]

for the record wipeout will not get your gun completely clean no matter how many times you use it. i like wipeout and it is an easy way to clean the majority of crud out of your barrel, but it is not a wonder drug. i have a borescope and can say that with some backing. it will remove the copper but it doesn't do a real good job on the carbon. and more often than not guns are fouled in layers, carbon/copper/carbon/copper.... as i clean some of my older guns i see this. i use sweets for the copper till i see/get no more on the patch. look in the barrel and see carbon, remove the carbon (i use slip 2000 carbon killer), look in the barrel again and see copper.... so the process continues. that beeing said if you do clean a gun down to bare steel it can take a number of shots to settle down. in the bigger cartridge rifles they seem to settle quicker than smaller ones. after my brother totallly cleans his 6BR it takes around 15-20 rounds to settle if i remember correctly. so totally clening abarrel is not something that needs to be down / should be done every cleaning time either. but i believe that if you want to know the true accuracy potential of a rifle you should start with a completely clean barrel, and go from there.

[gonewest]

Thanks bingo I'll try that.