Rifle barrel longevity

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 11:26 am

So, if a bullet spends .002 seconds in the barrel during each shot, and you get 3000 rounds of accurate barrel life, how much actual firing time does the barrel deliver before it loses accuracy? That’s simple math: 3000 x .002 seconds = 6 seconds.

Does this apply to 22LR pistols?

Pat McCoy · Post by **Pat McCoy** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 7:35 pm

RandomShotz · Post by **RandomShotz** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 7:56 pm

Where did you get the figure of 3,000 rounds? That's 6 bricks. Even moderately serious shooters will go through more than that in a year. I find it hard to believe that standard velocity unjacketed .22 bullets do that much damage to a rifle barrel. Are you extrapolating from the expected life of a barrel shooting high powered, jacketed bullets? Or are you just blowing smoke?

pgfaini · Post by **pgfaini** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 8:12 pm

Guest,
How did you arrive at .002 sec.? If you decided that a bullet traveling at 1000fps. takes .002 sec. to travel 24in.(two feet), you're right. But the bullet is accelerating from 0 fps., to 1000 fps. over that 24in. The barrel time would depend on rate of acceleration, which would depend upon the burning rate of the powder, primer flash strength, and bullet hardness and-bore fit among the many factors affecting it. So the barrel time will be at least twice as long.

This response was submitted, tongue in cheek, with about the same relevance to barrel life, and target shooting, as the original posting!:>)

Of more importance, is barrel time with regards angle of bullet dispersion, with a given gun wobble, between the time the bullet begins to move, and it leaves the barrel. That's why "Bloop Tubes" in target rifles, and short barrels in target pistols, have become so popular.

Paul

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 10:48 am

Mainly smoke blowing, but fast moving
http://www.accurateshooter.com/technica ... rrel-life/

timinder · Post by **timinder** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 11:05 am

That's relating to 6mm Benchrest shooting, your typical .22LR target rifle will last much longer, probably nearer 30 seconds :)

RandomShotz · Post by **RandomShotz** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 11:30 am

Okay, that explains it. Those numbers are for barrels shooting hot jacketed rounds. I've never heard of a .22 RF barrel being shot out, although if it has happened, someone on this list will probably know about it. I have heard of them losing accuracy due to long neglect and corrosion or to improper scrubbing with a phosphor bronze brush.

Given the high volume of ammo consumed by the shooters on this forum, I would imagine that barrel life of even many tens of thousands of rounds would lead to a brisk trade in replacement barrels.

Roger

Levergun59 · Post by **Levergun59** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 12:02 pm

Ahhh, what a topic. Each barrel has a life of it's own. The way it is made, the composition and structure of the barrel steel, the round it shoots, the stress in the barrel steel, how hot the barrel gets after rounds in succession and a few more I have forgotten all determine barrel life. Most 22lr barrels outlive their owners and their grandsons, so I wouldn't worry about it.

Bowman26 · Post by **Bowman26** » Wed Mar 02, 2011 5:18 pm

I have heard that Eley has Anschutz rifles they use to do QC testing on each lot and that they have in excess of 1 million rounds through them and are still shooting fine. How true this is I have no idea but I can assure you a high quality rifle barrel is going to last a very long time. You will probably wear it out cleaning it before you wear it out shooting.

It is nothing for someone thats shoots competitively to shoot 5-10 thousand rounds a year or more. These rifles are made to be shot a lot and designed for people they expect will be practicing and shooting way more than the once or twice a year range plinker/hunter.

PaulB · Post by **PaulB** » Wed Mar 02, 2011 6:41 pm

I would think that the "best" answer to this question would be what is the average time for rebarreling for shooters on the AMU and/or the national team. Do they try recrowning or setting the barrel back first before just replacing the whole thing? Do they test in the stock or just the barreled action in a barrel vice? I would imagine that different shooters do it different ways - there is no "standard".