Range Report Bartlien Barrel Issues

Painterbolt

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Minuteman
Nov 9, 2017
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Lakehills, Texas
So I'm pretty stumped on an issue im having on my rifle chambered in 308 using a match reamer. Gun was a quarter moa rifle until all of a sudden it opened up to around 3 inches. I've tried multiple loads including factory ammo. Had the barrel rechambered and cleaned it thoroughly with boretech to insure there was not excessive copper fouling. Rifle has a max of 2,000 rounds down the barrel. Any ideas on what could be causing this? Crown also has no dings.
 
I have a few questions for you.
Assuming the rifle was put together correctly.
a. What and how did you clean the barrel if possible describe your cleaning process.
b. Who did the chamber job and why.
c. Have you borescoped the barrel to check for throat erosion and fire cracking.
d. What is your load
 
Go over all of the things attached to it. Scope rings, scope base, torqued properly and didn’t come loose, bipod, ensure barrel is still free floated and nothing making contact with it.
 
A. I never use brushes, just run a wet patch of usually boretech till it comes out clean.

B. Smith said there was mild threat erosion from what he saw on a bore scope and I just asked him to the chamber it.

Attached a copy of my load data for load that was working good for awhile. It was using 185 bergers
 

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I'd get the crown recut, and maybe consider a firing pin spring replacement/clean out inside the bolt. That's less likely to be helpful if other loads are shooting OK. If it was mine, it would get diamond lapped. Also take it out and check the chassis contact. You can blame the chassis and sell me that real cheap. Please. Anyway, it certainly does not make any sense, given the components and previous performance. Try changing loads - different powder, bullet. Check the bore to make sure you didn't shoot with a patch in the barrel. That will cause a bulge, usually near the muzzle, which may be subtle, but accuracy will never return. It was NOT MY FAULT when that happened to me.
 
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You need to check for a carbon ring at the end of chamber. You need to use a brush to remove any deep inbedded carbon and copper.
What boretech stuff are you using.
Mild throat erosion is a relative term. Throat erosion will grab copper and you probably have firecracking also which will grab carbon and copper abd reduce accuracy.
Also 2000 rounds even if it's a 308 if not taken care of will sh*t the bed.
 
Beat me to it. After all the usual suspects clean for a carbon ring. Just went through a similar mess here. Some powders do this more than others, so worth a check. They do NOT come out easy!
 
Sounds like a dirty barrel carbon and copper build up.
Many rounds in shot without cleaning.
With that many rounds through you barrel you are going to see a increased amount of larger sized groups. Cleaning will help for a while then the groups will open up again that's the signal the barrel is shot out.
 
Yes sir get the proshot. Not the cheap ones,
Have a solid rod 30 caliber type.
Also a bore guide.
I start out this way.
Use a patch with a carbon remover several patches, softens stuff up.
Brush with your copper remover on it. New brush will be hard to push through barrel make sure brush has a good amount of solvent on it.
several passes more solvent on brush.
Let sit for a few minutes.
After sitting run some patches through it with gun scrubber or brake cleaner on it. It patch comes out blue repeat with your copper remover. Again use some patches. keep repeating till blue is gone.
I also wash the brush off to remove the solvent.
I also pass a few patches of carbon remover through the barrel to remove any carbon left.
I also have a large brush with solvent to clean out the throat area to remove the carbon ring.
Again when done with that and your satisfied the barrel is clean pass several patches with gunscrubber or brake cleaner to remove any remaining solvent.
Then 1 or 2 dry patches to dry barrel.
Then your done.

Question is your barrel stainless or chrome moly.
 
Okay I'm going to run a brush through it. I'm using the boretech for removing copper. I noticed that the accuarcy fell off during one of my f class competitions, accuarcy was perfect till the 3rd relay.

Don't be afraid of brushing. I predominantly shoot F-class and scrub my barrels with a bronze brush after every shoot and bore paste every 300 rounds - barrels on my 280AI and 6BRAI have never complained. My 280AI has 1500 rounds down the tube and the throat is still looking good with under 1moa at 800 metres. You definitely want to avoid the carbon ring, if you have that, you'll need to borepaste it.
 
There is not enough information given by the OP to completely diagnose the situation here. Typically with a weak firing pin spring, you tend to see vertical stringing and not usually widened groups. In addition to the carbon ring, you might also look at the ammo in terms of run out and neck tension, specifically the consistency of both.
 
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Just my .02 but this isnt a Bartlien Barrel Issue. A barrel doesnt go from being a solid .25 moa to 3+ all of a sudden and it be a barrel manufacturer issue. It is either something that happened to the barrel or something has come loose in the rifle system. Have you tried contacting Bartlien? Frank Green is a wealth of information and could likely diagnose what is going on with your rifle over the phone. Are you running a brake or a can? Maybe pull the barreled action from the chassis and see if it is rubbing somewhere or something keeping the action from sitting down into the chassis completely? What action are you running? Could the scope rail be loose? What do your groups look like 3 in 1 hole and 2 in another or completely scattered?
 
Just my .02 but this isnt a Bartlien Barrel Issue. A barrel doesnt go from being a solid .25 moa to 3+ all of a sudden and it be a barrel manufacturer issue.

I agree wholeheartedly. Tying a manufacturer’s name to problem that is NOT of their doing is misleading and unfair to their product AND reputation. Stating the name of the barrel and other parameters in your post is helpful but your thread’s title has implications beyond what’s being asked.
 
Sorry didn't mean for it to come across as blaming Bartlien. I use there barrels extensively and named dropped them cause I know how good of a barrel they make which would help in diagnosing the issue knowing I used a quality barrel. I've had the barrel rechambered, looked at by different smiths no one can find an issue. Smith even had a barrel camera and wasnt able to find an issue. So plan now is to just get a new barrel and try again.