Re: bullet weight influence on .243 barrel life?
Joe Hendrickson's words:
Barrel life with the 243 Winchester is all about powder choice.
Yes, some barrels last for less than 1000 rounds, but that is 75% due to powder choice and 25% due to barrel choice.
I finished this year's National Championships with over 2800 rounds through my barrel. I shoot the same rifle both XTC and Long Range. It is chambered in 6CM, which is simply a 243 Winchester with a 31 degree shoulder (243 Winchester has a 20 degree shoulder). My scores at 600 this year were 199-12x, 200-14x and 200-13x. By the X counts you can tell the tube is still shooting very well. I will shoot this barrel for about another 1000 rounds. I shoot naked bullets with the 115’s at around 3200 fps from this barrel. The load is 49.0 grains of H1000 with the bullets jumping .040”
I don't believe the shoulder angel has much to do with barrel life.
What does affect barrel life, is the burning speed of the powder and the makeup of the powder. I shoot only very slow burning, single based powder. My choice is Hodgdon's H1000. H1000 is in Hodgdon's extreme family of powder and thusly is not sensitive to temperature changes over a huge range of temperatures.
H1000 has proved to be very accurate with good velocity. N165 is a very good choice also.
It is important to note that I’m getting 3500 to 4000 rounds out of every barrel WITHOUT rechambering. And when I say I’m getting 3500 to 4000 rounds that is without any signs of accuracy falling off. I replace the barrels at the end of the year just so I don’t start a new year with an “old” barrel. I don’t know how long these barrels actually last.
I have been doing shooting this recipe for over 10 years. I’m getting this barrel life, first with the 243 Win, and now with the 6CM. Barrel life is similar between the two cartridges.
I am shooting only cut rifled barrels, Bartlein is my current choice, but Kreiger barrels are just a good. To get a little more technical, I shoot only .237” dia bores and only straight 4 groves. I have found that the 5 grove shaped rifling is problematic at the velocities I shoot, furthermore the .236” diameter bores create pressure issues over time. (I don’t know why)
This is a little insight into how I load for and shoot the 243 with great barrel life and good success. I’ve been doing this long enough to know that it works consistently barrel to barrel.
Many shooters don’t believe my results. I’ve stopped trying to convince shooters it works. I just shoot it and enjoy it. I don’t sell anything, or do I benefit in any way from sharing my experiences or results.
My feeling is that with a 243 Win sized cartridge a shooter can obtain more velocity AND longer barrel life than a 6XC, 6BR or similar cartridges with the same or better accuracy. Just burn more powder of the right type.
Joe
By the way, velocity is important. 80% of the time my additional velocity means nothing, but 20% of the time it is the difference between winning and not.
