Life-expectancy of smallbore-barrel

S

Sanglen

Guest
Some question regarding the estimated life-time of a smallbore barrel:

Are there any general rules as to the life-expectancy of a small-bore barrel? Is there any way to determine (for a normal shooter, not working as gunsmith) the wear of a barrel and based on that interpolate the expected number of shots that the barrel has left? Are there any consensus regarding different brand? Does, for instance, a Border last longer then a Shilen? Any particular good/bad brands from a wear-poínt of view?

How many shoots is normal for a good quality barrel? It seems that older barrels from the 60-70ths had a much better steel-quality while todays barrels have a significantly shorter life-span. I recently heard about an "of-the shelf Anshutz" which died at 7500 round....

Any good products on the market which is used to measure the wear on a barrel?

Best regards/Sanglen
 
50,000 to 100,000 rounds is not uncommon for the life of a barrel.
Some may last much longer than that. Cleaning technique is going to play a major role here. A barrel that has quit shooting may be saved with a new chamber or crown.
Steve
 
Yeah I have heard those figures as well. I do however think, as I wrote above, that these are figures that were more true some years back when the steel was better. Besides 50-100 000 is still a bigg gap. For me ( I shoot about 15 000 rounds per year) that represents 3,5 years when I have to train with the naggging feeling that my barrel might be deteriorating and affecting my results...

I rarely have the economical advantage of bying more then 20-25000 Tenex (or Midas) a year, which means that I spend almost every preseason trying to find good ammo. Is there any way (besides fireing your reference-ammo, and comparing that to your old groups from an "early" barrel-year) to determine that a barrel is about to "die"?
 
A borescope could tell you some things. Some of which might or might not tell you of wear. It would show cleaning problems, lead or pitting for sure. I would look at the X count on your targets. If they are getting worse consistantly across several lots of ammo you might have a problem. A new barrel is pretty cheap compared to a few cases of ammo. Try a new one, you can always put the old one back on.
Steve
 
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I'm not so sure that the steel was better way back when. Perhaps the prevalence of stainless barrels today could cause the appearance of quicker wear? GG
 
I'm never wrong, so listen up(G). Some barrels still look good and give up shooting. Others look terrible with lands missing on one side for inches in front of the chamber and still shoot good. So you can only tell by shooting. Always try to save some known good ammo for both comparing to new test ammo and for checking barrel performance. I've seen a barrel go in 35,000 rounds due to mis-cleaning and others perform past 100,000. No way to predict in my opinion.

My one fault in life was I didn't care if cleaning ruined my barrel as long as I was winning. After all, when it goes bad I'll just get another one, right. WRONG, I Have tried a bunch of barrels none as good as the one I ruined. Have a pretty good one now, not great but pretty good and I have gave up on finding the holy grail as it is expensive and not that important anymore. But at least this one should last a while as I take more care in cleaning.

Some of the early target rifles prior to the 50's (not sure when the change occurred) were made with a softer chrome moly steel. But at some point barrels started being made with the same steel as centerfire. I think all stainless barrels have always been made with the same steel as centerfire. Many of those early rifles were never cleaned and shot pretty good. Not as good as if they were cleaned regularly but good enough for the old NRA position and prone targets.
 
A lot

depends on your cleaning method. Some people have ruined killer barrels with there agressive cleaning methods and lack of knowledge there of.
 
Slug the bore, and let the slug tell you what's going on inside. A borescope could scare you if you have a lot of rounds through it. Bill Calfee talks about a barrel glazing after so many rounds which would loose accuracy in a barrel.

I use the bore scope to look at how well it was chambered, where the lands and grooves start in the chamber and where they are at the crown in a new barrel. It also helps to see if I'm on track in the cleaning department.

As Steve states barrels are cheaper than putting a lot of rounds through and loosing confidence.

Take Care,
Joe
 
Rich In Kansas said:
My one fault in life was I didn't care if cleaning ruined my barrel as long as I was winning. After all, when it goes bad I'll just get another one, right.
Click to expand...

Rich, I don't agree that constitutes a fault. Just a fact you were not born with. So, not only are you never wrong, but you are faultless to boot.

Thanks for the info. GG
 
Yeah, you guys are right, better to try to find a new barrel that shoots good well before the old one dies. You cant put a price on confidence...and since a new barrel is sheaper then Tenex (and definitely Lapuas new X-series, gonna test it in Hannover next week...) there´s no point in waiting to long. Thanks for the input, good stuff:)
 
Anschutz barrel

Well, in my booklet I got with my Anschutz 2013 is written that the barrel would get seasoned around 10.000 shots. Proper cleaning is a necessity.
 
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