300 Win Mag - barrel life?

[bax]

I have a Bartlein barrel mounted on a Remington 700, about 26-inch, 1:9 twist. I shoot either 240 SMK or 230 Berger hybrids at around 2700 fps MV. I use 7828 because the gun likes it but based on some notes I recently saw here, I will probably try H1000 again. This weapon can shoot better than 1 MOA at 1k - I get 4 out of 5 or 5 out of 5 on a 12-inch target. This barrel has about 2,400 rounds through it.

I am wondering how many rounds you all are getting before you call it a tomato stake. What do you shoot - bullet, weight and MV? How do you decide it's toast - group size, flyers, inspection?

I'm thinking that you guys want tighter groups than I do and you shoot with higher MV than I do so you toss your barrels sooner. But maybe that is just a wrong guess.

 

[NFAJohn]

tagged.

My 300WM is a 26" Krieger 5R in truck axle contour and I'm at 1400 chunking the 200gr eldx 2985. Rifle started off in the .2-.3 range and has come up to .6-7. After this hunting season I'm considering chunking it for a 1:9 to launch the heavies.

 

[briang7511]

tagged.
View attachment 6989391
My 300WM is a 26" Krieger 5R in truck axle contour and I'm at 1400 chunking the 200gr eldx 2985. Rifle started off in the .2-.3 range and has come up to .6-7. After this hunting season I'm considering chunking it for a 1:9 to launch the heavies.

try measuring the distance to the lands, may have to chase them a bit.

 

[NFAJohn]

try measuring the distance to the lands, may have to chase them a bit.

I've chased some , but am nearing the point of exceeding the length of my internal box mag....rifle is used for hunting and I really don't want to single feed. It's a pig to carry, but man it hammers these Texas deer and pigs.

 

[briang7511]

I've chased some , but am nearing the point of exceeding the length of my internal box mag....rifle is used for hunting and I really don't want to single feed. It's a pig to carry, but man it hammers these Texas deer and pigs.

not sure what mag you are using but there are different mags that are longer than aics mags which may help you. or try a different bullet, iknow the 230 bergers were long in my rifle, but 215s ran perfect in mags. 208 bthp or amax were also great choices, the bthp i could push faster than amax. using H1000.

 

[NFAJohn]

not sure what mag you are using .

Internal box mag. I have an issue where when cycling the bolt it will contact the adjustable cheek piece at the setting I normally leave it at.....when the rifle goes back to get a new tube I'll have that addressed along with setting the rifle up to run detachable mags. Rifle was built by a local guy and was my first custom build, some of the fit and final polish, like the damn bolt hitting the cheek piece, need to be cleaned up. It's been a laser beam and I've thoroughly enjoyed it, but some small changes are in order. My wife and I build cosmetically matching rifles for out wedding, she has a sporter stock but all the same finish in 7STW, so i want to keep the finish the same otherwise knowing what I know now I'd chunk it in a chassi.

 

[mdmp5]

Bax, I was shooting a 26” 10 twist Bartlein with 210 SMKs over H1000 for a few years and the barrel outlasted the caliber (I rechambered). Thing was money out to 1k as well; shot just as well as my 338. About ¼” groups at 100 pretty consistently too. The only thing I can say about the life is that I was going about 2830 for about 1000 rds and never once changed my seating depth. Borescoped, rifling was clean.

When the barrel is toast, you will know, don’t worry. Especially since you already have 2400 thru it. Any significant regression of precision from here can be assumed to be due to shooting the barrel out. For confirmation, borescope the throat and check for fire cracking. That barrel has had a great ride so anything from here is gravy.

I shot out a chrome lined FN SPR 308 barrel with about 3500 rds or so, and the accuracy was so bad I couldn’t hit a basketball at 200 yds. Fire cracking was blatantly evident on inspection.

 

[bax]

When the barrel is toast, you will know, don’t worry. Especially since you already have 2400 thru it. Any significant regression of precision from here can be assumed to be due to shooting the barrel out. For confirmation, borescope the throat and check for fire cracking. That barrel has had a great ride so anything from here is gravy.

Thanks for the info. I'm trying to understand what I should expect. Seems like it is performing well so far.

 

[briang7511]

Thanks for the info. I'm trying to understand what I should expect. Seems like it is performing well so far.

unexplained flyers
accuracy loss, groups open up

 

[mdmp5]

Thanks for the info. I'm trying to understand what I should expect. Seems like it is performing well so far.

You’re already on the right side of the bell curve with 2400. I think it should be finished by 3000 at this rate. Typically I hear guys saying their 300 makes it to ~1500, max 2000.

 

[GBMaryland]

Old thread...

But...

So I took the bore scope to my TRG-42 yesterday after noting that my patches were showing copper build up....

After ~600 rounds, the barrel looks like a moonscape... all cracked. Heh. It shoots great, but it's shocking to look at it and see all of that.

I guess 300WM is just hell on barrels.