Rimfire barrel life

B J Atkinson

B J Atkinson

Member
I have two rimfire benchrest rifles, both with Lilja stainless match barrels in them. The older one has done around 3500 rounds, and through a bore scope I can see the frosted line extending at the 6 o'clock point in the barrel. It still shoots very well. The other barrel has done around 500 rounds and is so far unmarked.

My question is this. How many match quality rounds should we expect from a Lilja barrel?
 
Brendon,
The barrel I was using last year has 50,000 plus rounds through it and while these days its not accurate as some of the other guns it’s competing against, it still gets the job done.

Peter
 
Barrell Life

Rimfire barrells will last upwards of 200,000 rounds.
The secret of in the long life is how they are cleaned. The cleaning rod and jag
ruin most accurate barrells. One must be sure to use a rod guide, a polished stainless rod, and never let the rod touch the lands/groves at the muzzle. Avoid coated rods as
they can get grit imbedded in the coating and then the coated rod acts as a lap
against the bore. This info came from a gunsmith who is an ARA National Champ.
ED
 
G'day
From a fellow Aussie

Brendon could you explain what you mean by frosted line.I know you know alot more about shooting and barrels than me so I'm interested to learn about what you are seeing.

Thankyou for your time.

harro
 
ED COLLIER said:
… and never let the rod touch the lands/groves at the muzzle. ED
Click to expand...

Might I ask for an explanation as to how that is to be accomplished, given that one…

a) "shouldn't" pull a dirty patch back thru the bore so as to avoid leaving the "crud" in the action area

and

b) a proper fitting bore brush cannot be pulled back thru the bore w/o destroying it

Richard
 
I want to know how to keep the rod from touching the barrel at the muzzle end after you push the patch through....especially if you have a tuner on it??? Who takes their tuner off every time???

Chadflys
 
To Deadwooddick

Hi To avoid draging crud back into the barrell, Simply renove the used ratch off the jag, or better yet remove the entire jag and withdraw the rod from the breech; replace jag and a clean/wet patch and push it through. Hope this helps. ED
 
ED,

I was questioning;
…and never let the rod touch the lands/groves at the muzzle.
Click to expand...

I still do not see how such contact can be avoided… once the patch/jag or brush EXITS the bore. The rod, will always touch the bore (lands but not grooves).

Richard
 
get a small flat rubber washer from a plumbing supply house put it on your
rod about 1/2 inch from the end behind the jag. one that fits easily in your
bore. when you unscrew your jag it will keep your rod from hitting anything
metal and will give your rod something to ride on as you withdraw it. rubber
won't hurt steel.
 
chadflys said:
I want to know how to keep the rod from touching the barrel at the muzzle end after you push the patch through....especially if you have a tuner on it??? Who takes their tuner off every time???

Chadflys
Click to expand...

I take my tuner off every time i clean, and do not use a brush. I use Carb-Out and Pal. The rod is exposed just enough to take the patch off the jag and am careful and gentle pulling rod back. Make sure your jag is tight enough so it's not working itself loose, a loose jag will cause damage. Use a proper bore guide and a good rod and pay attention when you clean and you will be good.


Joe
 
harro said:
G'day
From a fellow Aussie

Brendon could you explain what you mean by frosted line.I know you know alot more about shooting and barrels than me so I'm interested to learn about what you are seeing.

Thankyou for your time.

harro
Click to expand...


If you have access to a bore scope, have a look inside any rimfire barrel that has done a couple of thousand rounds.
At the 6 o'clock position you will notice that there is a frosted line that extends down the barrel. As the barrel has more rounds through it, it gets progressively worse. Now, as to what causes this has caused many an argument. Some say it is the accumulation of crud that sits in the bottom of the barrel channel - burnt powder, primer residue etc - it's there all right.

It's hard to spot with the naked eye, but borrow a Hawkeye and check it out.
 
From another Aussie

I have a 4 groove Shilen Ratchet barrel that is no longer able to put a group together. I have used Eley match EPS exclusively and I have found the same as Brendon that the bottom of the bore is sand blasted for most of the barrels length. The problem started with just the odd shot dropping out of the group vertically for no apparent reason. I started blaming the ammo.Then it started shooting erratically with any batch of EPS and also Tenex This barrel has had under 5000 rounds put thru it.I then inspected a relatively new factory Anschutz 54 a BRNO Mod2 with a Maddco barrel(appx 12000 rnds) and an Anschutz 64 that has had around 10000 rounds thru it. They all show varying degrees of sandblasting in the bottom of the bore with the lands on the top of the bore like new.I also have a 1967 BRNO Mod2 that has had thousands of rounds thru it over the last 40 odd years mainly using high velocity hunting ammo. This barrel hardly shows any of the sandblasting in the barrel compared to the above rifles. From what I have seen on other sites Eley supposedly changed their priming mixture some 5 years ago and it is now more abrasive.I have emailed them to try and confirm this. Lapua ammo also feels abrasive when you patch out the barrel. I am still researching the abrasiveness of other ammo but can guarantee that there is wear happening to the barrels in varying degrees.
I like most other shooters would not believe that you could wear a .22lr barrel out in such a short time. The real test of adverse wear is whether it will still provide predictable accuracy. Those unexplained shots could be the first sign of problems.
 
jhar
You could be right about the primer compound. As I’ve said the barrel I was using last year has over 50,000 rounds through it but 99% of that would have been with RWS and it has been scrubbed out with a bronze brush after each target all its life and its never had solvents in it. Yet that gun won two SSAA nationals and equalled one and broke 5 national records last year. If it’s not the number of rounds down a barrel maybe it is the brand of ammo that is causing the problem with some barrels.

Peter
 
Bore erosion

All 22 RF ammo manufactured today uses Ground glass in the priming mixture
If you go back to the time Eley was in paper boxes they were the most used
match ammo. The priming compound that Eley used at that time would not erode the bore at 6:00 o'clock.
There were a lot of smallbore shooters that would not fire any ammo in their rifle if it was not Eley.
There were a lot of barrels that shot only Eley and continnued to group well and show no signs of erosion after 200,000 rounds\

I have been told the reason for not using the old formula is it is not as stable in the way of safety as is the new formula with glass

dege41
 
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actually i don't know, just figured it wouldn't, just thought it would
be easier on it, than scraping the crown with the end of the rod.
your thoughts? please share. thanks tom. maybe a delrin washer
would work better?
 
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I've wondered....

I've wondered about some ammo leaving a LOT of 'stuff' in the bore after each or only one shot. Some burn clean, or assumingly so when the bore is inspected and little or only a slight dusting of residue is left after shooting. Just think, EACH bullet shot is pushing whatever was in front of it, out the bore.
IF an ammo were made to leave minimal or no residue [possible?], would that extend the life of the bore. Of course two things must be considered, accuracy AND 'no residue'. May not be possible.
Those articles in PS about studys of wear at the 6 O'clock position in the bore were interesting.
 
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