22-250 barrel life?

[1 farmer]

I got a 22-250 barrel last year for my TC Encore. How come everyone I talk to about a 22-250 say that the barrel life doesnt last long in this caliber because of the high velocitys. Any truth to this?

[Yak Angler]

There is an interesting article in the July 2009 issue of field and stream that relates to approx barrel life in different calibers. The nuts and bolts of it are gunpowder ignites at 5000-6000 degrees F and every shot taken errodes the rifling to some degree. They list approx barrel life for 22-250 as 2500 rounds.
for comparison sake they list
.223 3000-4000 rounds
.270 3000 rounds
7mm remington magnum 1500 rounds
30/30 6000+ rounds
30-06 4000-5000 rounds
300 wsm 2000 rounds
300 weatherby 1000-1500 rounds
338 winchester magnum 2500-3000 rounds

The reason they list some calibers barrel life is shorter then others is the more powder burned in relation to barrel size. So small barrel sizes like a 22-250 that use a large powder size relative to their bore size will suffer a shorter barrel life. The variables to the equation are

powder type-some burn hotter then others
type of barrel steel--stainless is better then chrome-moly
chamber pressure--higher pressures are worse
how you shoot- letting the barrel cool betwen shots helps to lessen errosion

The entire article might be available on the field and stream wedsite but i haven't checked yet.

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  Farmer, When I was shooting alot of p. dogs, I kept strict account of my rounds fired in each rifle....I had a good .22-250 that shot out after about4,400 rounds. At 5000 my .222 showed a little wear. It is still grouping well with over 7000 rounds though it.. I would think with a slower rate of fire, barrels may last a bit longer... I know with larger calibers the throat shoots away and the speed drops off, then accuracy...Right now my old .22-250 has about 2000 rounds though it  and I expect another 2000. My .22-250 Ackley has about 2500 rounds and is shooting as good as ever although the throat shows erosion...Hope this helps....

[Graybeard]

Those numbers from the article strike me as being rather low and also making little common sense either. I think the writer should do a bit more shooting and a whole lot less pontificating. Seems to be a lot of that going around with the current crop of writers. I fear their level of experience at doing other than writing is way too limited.

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  Graybeard, you have that right.......

[Yak Angler]

The article was written by David Petzal

Not sure who he is but they make it sound like he is a competition shooter. The barrel life figures he listed according to article were from " a gunsmith friend of mine gave some of the following figures, to which i've added my own guestimates"

So i think like some of you listed results will definitely vary and i think this article is more opinion based then anything else but also likely has some truth to it as well.

That being said it appears the initial stages of errosion only cause a small drop off in accuracy he states the difference would be going from a 1.5" 300 yard group to a 3" 300 yard group so unless your punching paper or praire dogs it won't really matter for medium to large game hunters. I don't think any of my rifles are capable of a 3" 300 yard group and if they are i wouldn't be the one pulling the trigger to get them

[Reverend Recoil]

Reduced loads will extend the life of barrels.  With cast lead bullets, a rifle barrel will last a long, long time.  It might out last its owner.

[DannoBoone]

According to a statement from Sinclair Int'l. that came in the package of one
of their bullet comparators, a lot of people figure the barrel is shot out when
accuracy drops off. It goes on to say that by simply seating one's favorite
bullet out further, many times accuracy can come back for many more
hundreds of rounds.

I'll remember that with my new .243, try it when this barrel burner round
takes its toll, and we'll see if it works.

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  This is one of the advantages of a long magazine box, like the 700's long action, as the throat erodes one can seat the bullet out and add more powder and keep accuracy and speed up longer than a rifle with a short magazine box...When I was shooting lots of p.dogs, the .22-250 accuracy was very good until about 4400 rds. when the bullets started to keyhole...Serria told me the throat was so eroded that the bullets were ripped so badly that they would keyhole.... With a rifle that shot longer bullets accuracy could well beacceptable much longer although speed would drop...When I was akid, one of my older pals had a remodeled Springfield, that would only shoot 220 grain bullets with accuracy...We had it checked and the gunsmith said it was badly worn...With a new barrel it shot fine...So calibers like 30 can still shoot longer bullets after accuracy has gone down with light bullets, at least that is what happened in this case...

[Glanceblamm]

I though the published numbers (4,400) were low but in the ballpark. What to watch for is Dont Let That Barrel get too hot...many a fine rifle have been ruined on a weekend at the P-dog wars.

By the same token, (and I quote J Charmichael on this) don't baby your rifle by keeping it in the safe most the time. If you can shoot out a barrel, it will be worth the experience on the whole.

[Reverend Recoil]

This past weekend I met a benchrest shooter at the range.  He was shooting a 6mm PPC or something with a cut-rifled Kreiger barrel.  He told me he replaces his barrels after 600 to 800 rounds because the accuracy is no longer competitive.  I'm sure his take-off barrels could be recycled on sporting rifles.

Think of barrel life in terms of time.  It takes about 0.001 seconds for a bullet to go down the barrel. That means the accurate life of a service rifle match barrel is about four seconds.  Standard chromium lined service barrels are good for six to seven seconds.  Our lives are short but not as short as the life of a gun barrel.

Put ten cents in a jar for every shot you fire and you will have the money to replace your shot-out barrel.

[kyhareraiser]

i like the ten cents in a jar for every shot fired,, and having enough to buy another barrel.. i'll over pay on some shots so i get a new barrel in a hurry

[millwright]

     I really don't know, but, I read someplace that throat erosion could be helped by cutting 3/8 inch off the barrel and re-headspacing.  As graybeard pointed out, just because you read something it may or may not be credible.

[Graybeard]

If the barrel contour is such that you can lop a bit off the chamber end and rechamber then yup you can renew "more or less" the barrel for the use most of us put them to. A bench rest shooter can't stand to lose even 0.001" of potential if he expects to be competitive. Most of us can stand to lose a quarter inch in our varmint/target guns with no great loss of results and big game hunters could stand the loss of an inch really before it cost them game.

It's all relative really. For the most part you should be so lucky as to be able to shoot enough to wear out a barrel. If so then brag on how much you shoot down't piss and moan about needing a new barrel.

[Wyo. Coyote Hunter]

  When I had access to lots of dogs, p. dogs, I bought several new Douglas blanks...because each time I needed a new one the price when up. Then I got some spares, and now the access to the great numbers of dogs is gone.....