barrel life extender?

nemesisenforcer

Is there any treatment/product/process I can use to extend the useful life of my barrels from 22lr on up to .30-06?

I already clean them, don't shoot them hot and take care of them as best as I know how, but I also know that wear and erosion can come on awfully fast and I'd like to be able to prevent that as long as possible.

Any suggestions?

bpost

You will wear your 22LR faster from cleaning it than shooting it. Your centerfire rifles, are caliber specific, accuracy can start to drop off after 700 rounds for benchrest competition or last 5,000 for hunting purposes, maintaining one minute of deer for a lifetime.

midnightrunpaintballer

yep. cleaning too much without shooting much can wear your barrel faster. You can switch to moly coated bullets to prolong barrel life (in the benchrest world, doing this will give you another 100 shots or so before accuracy depletes lower than competition standards.) For a normal joe, shoot, clean, enjoy, and don't worry. like said above, a rifle will stay hunting accurate for a lifetime unless it is abused.

Riomouse911

I'm not a competitor who shoots thousands of rounds a year through one gun (More like thousands through many different guns), but I've never worn out a barrel and ruined the accuracy as far as I can tell (or honestly, by ability to shoot). I don't have any high-burners like a .264 Win, a .30-378 Weatherby or a .220 Swift, (.270, .257 Robts and .243 are about the fastest barrel burners I own) but I do put a lot of rounds quickly though the AR's, and they're clicking along ok.

Now if I was a benchrester where 1/10" can be the difference between a podium 1st and an also-ran 4th, then I would worry.

Sounds like you're doing the right things, the guns you describe will be fine for several lifetimes if you keep it up.

rhope

Years ago I remember reading a question in some gun magazine about barrel life and the cost of replacing a worn out barrel.

The answer was basically "If you shoot enough to wear out a barrel, the cost of the ammunition you have burned up to wear out that barrel will have been many times the cost of a new barrel, so be happy you got to do all that shooting and go buy a new barrel".

JustC

there is no majic cure or method. Firecracking are erosion will appear in time, no matter what you do. NOT shooting hot will prolong their arrival, but they will arrive none-the-less.

Rocky Raab

As a general rule, the "hotter" the cartridge, the fewer shots before the barrel is toast (which only you can define.) In other words, the more powder you force down a hole - and the smaller the hole - the more erosion you create.

Hotter also refers to actual heat. Shooting a barrel until it glows is not conducive to longevity. I know of at least two varmint rifles (a 220 Swift and a .22-250) that were ruined in less than a day on the prairie dog fields. Both were fired over a hundred shots an hour with no breaks. Smoking hot - literally.

Figure barrel replacement cost on a per-shot basis and most of them are pretty reasonable. A round like the .30-06 should get 10,000 shots or even more.

mond

Do not
- over load re-loaded ammo , keep to a medium load.
- c/f rifle clean bore every outing, (bore snake).
- c/f rifle let barrel cool every 5 shots (on targets/range)
- r/f rifle do not clean barrel too regular (1-2000 shots)
- keep bore dry. NO lube ! [:0]

I have 1970's rifles that are still/ & shoot like new, with sub 1" groups @ 100+yds [:)]with re-loads & all mine 22H - 308 get used regular daily, or weekly.

jonk

Don't overclean. A bore snake or GOOD bore guide will help. I only clean after shooting if using old corrosive ammo. Otherwise I run an oily patch through after shooting, then a dry one before the next time out. Which flies in the face of what mond says, I know. [:I] I figure, good enough for the Swiss army, good enough for me. When I DO clean thoroughly I let the bore cleaner (I like WipeOut) do the work, rather than abrasive scrubbing.

Much more wear is done by cleaning rods and such than by bullets or powder.

bpost

Another issue is what gun is it?

If it is a AK or SKS just dump some used motor oil on it and you are good to go for another year or 3,000 rounds.[:D]

If it is a high dollar 300 yard fly swatter, the rules change to a more gentlemanly form of care.

nemesisenforcer

I was looking for a barrel care product; much like TW25B increases the life of working or moving parts on guns, or the fail zero surface treatment makes parts basically tremendously hard and consistent and wear proof. I know the basics and adhere to them but was wondering if there was something else I could use to improve a barrel's resistance to wear and tear.

midnightrunpaintballer

shoot rubber bullets[:p]