I shoot a 6x284 Button rifled Hart BBL also a 22-250AI Cut rifled Rock Creek BBL. Both barrels were examined by the gunsmiths that put them together and both smiths said "There is excessive throat erosion in both BBLs" !!!! Problem is they both still shoot great? Under 1/2MOA or at least they still shoot better then my self. Question Why do they still produce great accuracy?
When is a barrel "Shot out"
- Thread starter Worker
- Start date
Roger T
Member
As long as the rifles are shooting to your accuracy standards then by all means keep shooting them. I would be placing an order for a couple of barrels to beat the wait time for them. That way you'll have them when you can't chase the lands anymore. BTW curious, how many rounds on the 6-284? The first setback on one of my Hart 6-284s 12 twist (for 87 gr v-maxs) was at 1850 rds. 2nd setback was at 3280rds.
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Roger I'm terrible at record keeping.I think I have under a 1,000 rnds.And its a 10"twist. Under 750 rnds for the 22-250AI
Good point lefty....consider the source...
F
f d shuster
Guest
Barrel "life"
Worker: I've shot out a number of barrels over the past 15 yrs., so have at least a little knowledge. If you know what your chronographed velocities were when new, with the same load, you will see a very noticable lower velocity. A new 223 (Krieger) went from 2950 to 2775 at 4500 rds fired. Prior to that I began to notice more copper fouling, and in NRA hi-power match competition, would call the shot a 9 or 10, 'scope it & I'd be looking at a 6 or 7. Unexplained flyers is another indication. When really severe keyholed shots are common. With my "Hawkeye" now, I'm better able to monitor the progress of barrel "burn-out", and believe me, it's not pretty, or for the faint of heart. The barrel is another expendable item, same as powder, primers, bullets, etc. Cost of replacement can be included in the cost to fire each round. The good news is, when re-barreling, you have, in effect, a new rifle.
Worker: I've shot out a number of barrels over the past 15 yrs., so have at least a little knowledge. If you know what your chronographed velocities were when new, with the same load, you will see a very noticable lower velocity. A new 223 (Krieger) went from 2950 to 2775 at 4500 rds fired. Prior to that I began to notice more copper fouling, and in NRA hi-power match competition, would call the shot a 9 or 10, 'scope it & I'd be looking at a 6 or 7. Unexplained flyers is another indication. When really severe keyholed shots are common. With my "Hawkeye" now, I'm better able to monitor the progress of barrel "burn-out", and believe me, it's not pretty, or for the faint of heart. The barrel is another expendable item, same as powder, primers, bullets, etc. Cost of replacement can be included in the cost to fire each round. The good news is, when re-barreling, you have, in effect, a new rifle.
L
Larry Elliott
Guest
Got to agree with everyone else, if the barrel shoots well enough to satisfy your needs it's not shot out. I've gone through a few barrels in the past several years, and as has been mentioned velocity will go down and/or pressure will increase with the same load if the throat gets rough. I've experienced that with a .223 that had seen quite a few hot loads. A .243 I had shot really well for maybe 8 or 10 shots, but then started spraying bullets at about 1800 rounds.
What's "shot out" by competitive BR standards is still a great barrel for most other uses, including sending little furry critters to the big hayfield in the sky.
What's "shot out" by competitive BR standards is still a great barrel for most other uses, including sending little furry critters to the big hayfield in the sky.
E
eshell
Guest
Not shooting short range BR, my first indication of a shot out barrel has been increased roughness in the throat and more difficult cleaning (hard to completely remove copper fouling). This was quickly followed by occasional fliers, then followed by noticeable and severe degradation of accuracy. Until I realized what was going on, I accepted blame for a lot of the fliers. . .
K
keithcandler
Guest
You have to remember that gunsmiths have to make a living...
When I was in the p. dog wars, we set back the hart unturned blanks on the 243 AI's at the 1700 round mark. We would cut off an inch to an 1 1/2", which would usually bring back the lands to sharp and crisp on the first set back. Now on the second set back, no telling how much would have to be cut off, up to 4". We always started off with a 30" unturned blank. By the time we got to the third set back, the barrel became a 6 BR, with usually a 23-25" barrel, which still shot bug holes.
I might mention that we hammered the heck out of those Hart barrels, dumping out a box of 50 and firing them as fast as we could acquire targets, day after day after day. We cleaned the 243 AI's in 150 rounds increments, and waxed our bullets which really kept down the SD and the copper.
We only shot 760 and AA2700 in our 243AI's with 70g bullets at 3800-3850 which allowed us to never full length size our brass.
85g bullets maxed out at 3550 with extreme accuracy and with their additional bearing surface, copper fouled the heck out of the barrels, shortening our shot strings.
When I was in the p. dog wars, we set back the hart unturned blanks on the 243 AI's at the 1700 round mark. We would cut off an inch to an 1 1/2", which would usually bring back the lands to sharp and crisp on the first set back. Now on the second set back, no telling how much would have to be cut off, up to 4". We always started off with a 30" unturned blank. By the time we got to the third set back, the barrel became a 6 BR, with usually a 23-25" barrel, which still shot bug holes.
I might mention that we hammered the heck out of those Hart barrels, dumping out a box of 50 and firing them as fast as we could acquire targets, day after day after day. We cleaned the 243 AI's in 150 rounds increments, and waxed our bullets which really kept down the SD and the copper.
We only shot 760 and AA2700 in our 243AI's with 70g bullets at 3800-3850 which allowed us to never full length size our brass.
85g bullets maxed out at 3550 with extreme accuracy and with their additional bearing surface, copper fouled the heck out of the barrels, shortening our shot strings.
John Kielly
Shari's fan club
Two laws of shooting:
- The barrel will die just a few shots short of completing the most important match of the year/decade/millennium.
- Stock length needed will be ¼-½" longer than you just cut it to.
C
chino69
Guest
.243 ai
Keith,
1700 rds. is close to what I've seen with past .243 AI barrels; I've gone through several. I retire them around 1500 to 1700 rds. by giving them to a buddy who continues to shoot them hot. The throats are gone, the rifling looks like a dry Saharan lake bed, but they still shoot. I've gone through Harts, Douglas, and Pac Nors.
Chino69
Keith,
1700 rds. is close to what I've seen with past .243 AI barrels; I've gone through several. I retire them around 1500 to 1700 rds. by giving them to a buddy who continues to shoot them hot. The throats are gone, the rifling looks like a dry Saharan lake bed, but they still shoot. I've gone through Harts, Douglas, and Pac Nors.
Chino69
M
Montana Pete
Guest
Sometimes when there's evidence that the barrel is shot out regarding accuracy, you can go over to bullets with a long bearing surface and sustain the original accuracy for somewhat longer.
I have a 30 06 that appears shot out in the throat. I can use the Sierra Matchking 200 gr or 220 gr. BT bullets and sustain good accuracy at this point. (On the bullet weights I'm going by memory--hope I'm accurate.)
You would want to load the bullets out about as far as is practicable.
Anyone else have this experience?
I have a 30 06 that appears shot out in the throat. I can use the Sierra Matchking 200 gr or 220 gr. BT bullets and sustain good accuracy at this point. (On the bullet weights I'm going by memory--hope I'm accurate.)
You would want to load the bullets out about as far as is practicable.
Anyone else have this experience?