6mm GT Barrel Life
- Thread starter jrbet83
- Start date
I doubt anybody's burnt one out duder, brand new and Corona and all have likely slowed it down.
Try asking @NorCal Vu he had one of the first barrels in the wild.
Try asking @NorCal Vu he had one of the first barrels in the wild.
The reamers have been out for almost a year and brass for over 6 months. I’m sure there’s a few out there, and plenty who have shot them enough to know if their throats are mimicking closer to their creedmoors or more closely to bra,brx, dashers. You could just say you don’t know, but do appreciate the bump.
I’ve been keeping eyes out. Only heard of a couple barrels burning out around 2500.
Though, this is just my personal opinion, it’s been out long enough that people should have burned them out. If they were getting 2500+ on most barrels, people would be screaming it from the roof tops. Likely means 1500-2000.
I personally ran into a hiccup with alpha brass which caused me to shelve it for a bit. Now that I’m stocked on hornady brass and making my own lapua, I’ll get back to running it again.
Though, this is just my personal opinion, it’s been out long enough that people should have burned them out. If they were getting 2500+ on most barrels, people would be screaming it from the roof tops. Likely means 1500-2000.
I personally ran into a hiccup with alpha brass which caused me to shelve it for a bit. Now that I’m stocked on hornady brass and making my own lapua, I’ll get back to running it again.
Heavy bolt lift all the way down to 31.7gr varget. In several barrels across three actions. Had similar issue with alpha dasher brass. Showed pressure much earlier than lapua.
To be fair, some people are having a lot of success with alpha. Seems hit or miss.
That's unfortunate. I thought they were one of the better brass makers out now. I guess I figured that consistency would be part of it. But bad lots of product do happen.
That is effectively the same barrel life as 6CM loaded with slow powder running 105s at 2900fps out of a 26" barrel. I have all of the gear for 6GT, just need a barrel, and the cartridge pretty much makes no sense. Especially with Varget being so hard to get right now.
Plenty of other powders than varget work. H4350 will get you the same speed at lower pressure. If you go off his chart a 6BR sounds pretty good, ha ha.
I have 2487 on my barrel. I have the first lot of Hornady brass that has about 6-7 firings on it. My load has stayed the same, groups stayed the same. Accuracy has stayed the same. At 2k I cleaned the copper out. Took about 30 rounds for it to tighten back up but it’s back to shooting as it has been.
Other than that, I do a deeper cleaning as I notice a nice carbon ring about every 500 rounds which is consistent with several other GT shooters I shoot with on a monthly basis.
33.2 Varget with 109 hybrids loaded .080 off. 2870fps. I’ll be getting another one spun up over the winter as I’m done shooting matches for the year but I plan on shooting the piss out of this one until spring or it finally goes.
I’ve seen a few people closer to 3K that hadn’t noticed any issues at the time. I’d imagine it’s somewhere between 2500-3000 on most barrels unless you’re running them really hot.
Other than that, I do a deeper cleaning as I notice a nice carbon ring about every 500 rounds which is consistent with several other GT shooters I shoot with on a monthly basis.
33.2 Varget with 109 hybrids loaded .080 off. 2870fps. I’ll be getting another one spun up over the winter as I’m done shooting matches for the year but I plan on shooting the piss out of this one until spring or it finally goes.
I’ve seen a few people closer to 3K that hadn’t noticed any issues at the time. I’d imagine it’s somewhere between 2500-3000 on most barrels unless you’re running them really hot.
Very good info! ThanksI have 2487 on my barrel. I have the first lot of Hornady brass that has about 6-7 firings on it. My load has stayed the same, groups stayed the same. Accuracy has stayed the same. At 2k I cleaned the copper out. Took about 30 rounds for it to tighten back up but it’s back to shooting as it has been.
Other than that, I do a deeper cleaning as I notice a nice carbon ring about every 500 rounds which is consistent with several other GT shooters I shoot with on a monthly basis.
33.2 Varget with 109 hybrids loaded .080 off. 2870fps. I’ll be getting another one spun up over the winter as I’m done shooting matches for the year but I plan on shooting the piss out of this one until spring or it finally goes.
I’ve seen a few people closer to 3K that hadn’t noticed any issues at the time. I’d imagine it’s somewhere between 2500-3000 on most barrels unless you’re running them really hot.
Any updates on barrel life? Has the OCD brass solved the soft Alpha brass issue? Does the Alpha brass work with standard GT reamers or need more room in the neck?
Ive been generally trouble free but my buddy had tons of issues. 6br is so proven and lapua brass makes it a no brainer.
I don’t shoot the alpha brass so can’t come t in that but I have just over 3k on my barrel bad it’s still shooting great.
I'm on the 3rd firing of the non-ocd Alpha brass in a standard reamer in 3 different barrels from 2 different smiths ( Stuteville and Hawk Hill). Also ran some ocd brass in them as well. Haven't had any issues.
How many firings are you guys getting with Hornady brass? If I go Alpha, I’ll make sure to get OCD brass for harder brass. Speaking of Alpha, are the primer pockets ridiculously tight like their Creedmoor brass
I like the idea of being able to use Varget and H4350 class powders in the GT making it easier to find a powder when needed.
I’ve shot straight BR and love the cartridge, want a little more grunt to move those plates at distance. In heavy mirage it can be really hard to detect a hit if you have the wind to your back and not hear an audible report.
I like the idea of being able to use Varget and H4350 class powders in the GT making it easier to find a powder when needed.
I’ve shot straight BR and love the cartridge, want a little more grunt to move those plates at distance. In heavy mirage it can be really hard to detect a hit if you have the wind to your back and not hear an audible report.
I am right at 10 firings on 50 pieces of Hornady brass. So far so good and no issues other than it’s soft and shows pressure in the form of ejector marks where the OCD brass does not.
What speeds/charges are you running? Did Alpha fix the tight as fuck primer pockets in the OCD brass?
35.5gr H4350 for both 108eld and 109 Berger running 2860-2880fps.
I only loaded and tested 5 pieces of the OCD brass and do not recall any excessive resistance when seating cci400 primers.
So I pulled my barrel when it was just under 3500 rounds. Like 3480 ish or something. Still was shooting great. No loss in speed or accuracy but pulled it just for piece of mind. I am Pretty confident you’ll be getting much better barre life from a GT than a 6cm.
It is highly variable. You can smoke a 6CM and 6GT in under 1k rounds if you try. Conversely, you can limp them both to 3k rounds if you try. How hard do you want to push the load and what kind of shooting do you plan on?
115gr DTACs over 35.8grs of Shooters World Long Rifle, CCI 450.
Starting velocity was 2850fps, it slowly trickled down.
I'll probably chase the lands a little and rework the load. Verify it at yardage and then save it for the PRS Finale in New Mexico in November. Got a new barrel coming for it. Maybe shooting in the cooler weather post Finale it'll get through the winter. But I'll play it by ear.
Can someone comment on the 6GT in lieu of its original design intent?
It seems if people are running it de-tuned (slow)
to me this was supposed to be 3K fps with good mag feeding
etc
It seems if people are running it de-tuned (slow)
to me this was supposed to be 3K fps with good mag feeding
etc
Why do you feel this was intended to run 3000fps?
The trend in precision rifle is away from fast moving over-bored rounds. Initial development was used with a lighter bullet, but like all the good 6mms, its a versatile round.
My personal opinion on the round is that shooters should take advantage of the extra case capacity over the Dasher and BR variants by running higher BC 109/110gr bullets, or heavier, at velocities equal to or greater than the Dasher running 105s.. A heavier bullet at 2850fps to 2950fps seems ideal for this round.
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Thanks It may be have been a poorly worded comment on my part...
im pretty sure this(or other articles saying the same thing)is where ppl get the idea the gt should run 3000 plus...i did not spend a bunch of time searching this was the quickest reference i could find.
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i was skeptical about the GT(for several reason and still am about the barrel life)but followed the development of it anyway. i ended up buying a prefit here on the PX to play with to see if it would actually run heavier bullets at those speeds...i do not have any 115s but i ran 109s up to 3025 in hornady brass before it start showing any pressure...i settled on a load at 2940 for 1 match and will drop in down to 2900ish when i get back to it later this year and shoot it over the winter to see how the barrel life compares to the claims ive read about.
I think low 2900's is a sweet spot for the 109's. I think I can probably get a little more velocity out of my 115s, I just haven't tried yet.
From a wind perspective, the 105gr Hybrid would have to be going 3100fps to match the wind hold of my 115gr DTACs at 2850fps in a 10mph. That speed is pretty easy going for the 6GT and DTAC, whereas 3100fps for the 105 is pushing it pretty hard. You're going to give up some barrel life and load consistency pushing that fast.
Just one reason I lean towards the heavier bullet with this round.
From a wind perspective, the 105gr Hybrid would have to be going 3100fps to match the wind hold of my 115gr DTACs at 2850fps in a 10mph. That speed is pretty easy going for the 6GT and DTAC, whereas 3100fps for the 105 is pushing it pretty hard. You're going to give up some barrel life and load consistency pushing that fast.
Just one reason I lean towards the heavier bullet with this round.
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I’ve shot several different 6mm cartridges and none have lived up to a lot of the barrel life claims I’ve read…my actual barrel life’s are more in line with what @Birddog6424 says but I think a lot of that depends on how it’s ran and the persons accuracy expectations.
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