11-12-2021, 11:59 PM
(This post was last modified: 11-13-2021, 05:08 PM by Oso Polaris.)
The general consensus for Barrel Burners is:
22-250: 1000 rounds
243Win & 6Rem: 1500 rounds
6.5 Creedmore & 260Rem: 2500
Keep in mind these are baselines/guidelines (not hard rules), and actual use (frequency of firing/#shots in a string, powder load volume) will significantly effect each barrels life. Barrel Burner is a subjective term I believe most people consider it at the point where peak accuracy drops off due to throat/barrel erosion causing groups to open. The magnitude of a group opening up is dependent upon the use of the rifle. Barrels that shoot beyond these guidelines may still be sub MOA and more than acceptable for normal use, but unacceptable for competition.
Advances in metallurgy has greatly improved barrel life. Bartlein recently introduced a new barrel steel that supposedly 2x-3x barrel life. If concerned about barrel life then download your charge weight (dont chase max loads), or select a smaller cartridge (6.5 Grendel vs 6.5 Creedmoor), and lastly reduce your rate of fire. Basically, anything that decreases the amount of heat the barrel has to endure will extend your barrel life.
When I shoot Bolt rifle, I am shooting no faster than a shot a minute for my load development, and then I let the barrel cool off to ambient temperature between groups. However, everyone throws this type of discipline out the window when it comes to AR15s. There is a subconscious switch that gets kicked over this rifle was designed to shoot fast, it was designed for long shot strings or why else would it come with 30 round mag. Everyone treats it like a 10/22 and ignores fact that barrel on AR is no different than barrel on bolt rifle. Same use/abuse rules apply and affect its accuracy. I am just as guilty - My trick to over-come this issue is to use a 10-round magazine at the range and load no more than 5 rounds at a time. Lastly, If you are using a factory barrel then these guidelines are less meaningful (barrel consistency varies considerably for factory mass produced barrels.
22-250: 1000 rounds
243Win & 6Rem: 1500 rounds
6.5 Creedmore & 260Rem: 2500
Keep in mind these are baselines/guidelines (not hard rules), and actual use (frequency of firing/#shots in a string, powder load volume) will significantly effect each barrels life. Barrel Burner is a subjective term I believe most people consider it at the point where peak accuracy drops off due to throat/barrel erosion causing groups to open. The magnitude of a group opening up is dependent upon the use of the rifle. Barrels that shoot beyond these guidelines may still be sub MOA and more than acceptable for normal use, but unacceptable for competition.
Advances in metallurgy has greatly improved barrel life. Bartlein recently introduced a new barrel steel that supposedly 2x-3x barrel life. If concerned about barrel life then download your charge weight (dont chase max loads), or select a smaller cartridge (6.5 Grendel vs 6.5 Creedmoor), and lastly reduce your rate of fire. Basically, anything that decreases the amount of heat the barrel has to endure will extend your barrel life.
When I shoot Bolt rifle, I am shooting no faster than a shot a minute for my load development, and then I let the barrel cool off to ambient temperature between groups. However, everyone throws this type of discipline out the window when it comes to AR15s. There is a subconscious switch that gets kicked over this rifle was designed to shoot fast, it was designed for long shot strings or why else would it come with 30 round mag. Everyone treats it like a 10/22 and ignores fact that barrel on AR is no different than barrel on bolt rifle. Same use/abuse rules apply and affect its accuracy. I am just as guilty - My trick to over-come this issue is to use a 10-round magazine at the range and load no more than 5 rounds at a time. Lastly, If you are using a factory barrel then these guidelines are less meaningful (barrel consistency varies considerably for factory mass produced barrels.