.223's and burnt out barrels

model 70 · #1 08-15-2005, 06:31 PM

how easy would it be to wear out a .223rem barrel vs. a much slower round? would you have to let the barrel cool longer between shooting round? on a slower traveling cartridge, does the barrel heat up as fast? i LOVE shooting my old mans .17rem due to the low noise and recoil factor aswell as it's ability to make full pop cans go SPLAT but i fear i'm wearing the barrel thin. plus, i want a plinker/varminter of my own and the .223 seems like it would serve both purposes nicely.

reload · #2 08-16-2005, 08:40 AM

Mocel 70

Heat is what hurts barrels, if you don't get the barrels very hot they will last longer. If you shoot 5 rounds and either switch rifles or let the barrel cool you will find that you can a barrel for a long time with a lot of rounds fired thru the barrel. Good Luck

Rocky Raab · #3 08-16-2005, 10:53 AM

I once read (but can't find again) that the total heat content of the powder in a 223 isn't enough to damage a barrel.

The theory was that it isn't the velocity of the bullet or the pressure of the firing that erodes barrel steel, but the total heat content of the burned gas. As the BTU content of smokeless powder is finite and known, there is a charge weight minimum that can "burn" barrel steel. That minimum charge weight is (if I recall correctly) somewhere near 35.0 grains. Plus or minus a bit, depending on powder type.

Cartridges with less than 35 grains charge weight therefore cannot "burn" or erode barrel steel. In rounds that small, it's physical wear from friction - or chemical wear from corrosion - that "wear out" barrels.

The .223 falls in that range of rounds that hold less than the magic 35 grains. The .22-250 holds more. As many have noticed, a 223 will last darn near forever, while a 22-250 wears out after several thousand shots.

Maybe there's something to that theory.

model 70 · #4 08-16-2005, 04:51 PM

damn! .22-250=several thousands rounds??? that .223 i wanna get will last forever then. i dunno if i can wait too long between shootings though.

Evan03 · #5 08-17-2005, 01:37 AM

my 2506 has seen some hard use while varmiting and punching paper. it almost always gets to hot to touch on good rock chuck day or paper plinkn. its had more than few thousands rounds down its throat in the 5 or maybe six years ive owned it. still no loss in acuracy.

probly get another thousand through it before its all said and done.

but theres something about me that never worries about heating up tube. ive actualy put so many rounds down it that i can feel heat coming off it while shooting. but i just keep going and have to remind myself not to touch it. its even had things melt on it before.

billy ahring · #6 08-17-2005, 09:00 AM

Never buy a used gun from Evan!!!!!!!!

Not flamin' ya buddy just funnin' around

Billy

Rocky Raab · #7 08-17-2005, 10:52 AM

Nor a used truck! I've ridden with him.

WHOOOEEEEE can that boy throw mud and water (and ice and snow, and....)

For all - when I said "several thousand" above, I may be misleading you a bit. Gilt-edged accuracy might deteriorate within 2,000 to 3,000 shots, but the results wouldn't be noticeable except to guys measuring groups with a micrometer. What most of us would call "good" accuracy might continue until perhaps 8-10,000 rounds. That's a lot of shooting before we need a $250 replacement barrel.

In cartridges with less than about 35 grains of powder, we can probably double those numbers. Matbe even triple them.

Catfish · #8 08-19-2005, 12:31 PM

A frlitive of my wifes has a .222 Rem. that he bought in 1960. Since then it has rode in his pick-up and fired 1,000`s of rounds of ammo. Acouple of years ago he told me it just would shoot any more. I took it home and run 50 patches of Sweets 7.62 through the barrel and the last was as blue as the first. He had never used a copper soulvent on the barrel. Since I was tired of swabbing the barrel I took the gun out and shot it. I fired a 1/2 moa group with it and said that`s good enough for who it`s for, took it back in the house and put a coat of finish on the stock and took it home. I`ll get the rest of the copper out of the barrel when it quits shooting again, in another 20 years.

I`ve never seen a .222 barrel that was shot out, or for that matter a .223 barrel. If you don`t reload the .223 is probibly the round that you can find ammo for more places than any other round.