Barrel Life in .308

chrisward3

chrisward3

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Hey guys,

I just got away from only owning handguns, and picked up a Savage 12FVSS in .308, Harris bipod, Mueller Tactical AO 8.5-25x44m scope with leupold rings and bases. This thing shoots like a dream, and ive already put nearly 100 rounds through it in the week ive had it. Im wondering what kind of life i can expect out of this barrel, just so i kno whether or not i need to slow down or can basically shoot the crap out of it for a few years. Any type of ballpark range would be greatly appreciated

Cheers!
 
You should get great barrel life if you keep your handloads modest. If you shoot factory stuff, life for your barrel should be in the 5000-7000 round range. I bet you see accuracy taper off around the 4000 mark, but its up to you if the degrading accuracy is enough to worry about.

I had a heavy barreled .243 that had close to 9000 rounds. Four different people shot this rifle, and the best it could do was one inch on a good day. When I got it, it was shooting in the 6xxs all day. The .243 is known to be a bit harder on barrels than the .308.
 
.308

The life depends on the bbl quality, care, and type of loads

My Rem700VS has shot only my hand loads, and is at 4000 rounds and still shoots pin hole groups.
 
This 3-4K round life is just barrelmakers BS.

My HB Remington 700 was quite used when I got it 18 years ago (round count unknown) and I've put in excess of 6k through it and, if I do my part, I can still get less than 1/4" groups at 100 yards.

I shoot this rifle at Listowel too. 52 - 55 rounds in 30 minutes. Dogger can vouch for that, as can quite a number of others.
 
308s aren't as hard on barrels as other calibers (i.e. 22-250. 220 swift, etc). I think you will probably be bored of the rifle before you shoot out the barrel.
 
I have a 308 in a Hunter BR rifle that has over 13,000 documented rounds thru her and she still took 1st place the last two times out with her, but I do not push this rifle, the 154g FB bullets are only going 2550 fps! This is a SS barrel by a Cdn barrel maker, 1-14 twist.

Stock CM, I'd say around 4000-6000 and she may be cooked. You will know, she will open up too much to win anymore, ie, over 1 moa, but they still make a good hunting barrel at that point, 2 moa is about the limit IMO even for hunting point blank since if you add a 2 moa aim/hold error into it, you just missed the vitals.
 
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Silverado said:
Probably 8 to 10 seconds, total.

Interesting when you think about it that way.
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I like your way of thinking. 8-10 seconds may be a little long for match accuracy .I would think somewhere around 2.5-3.5. For a hunting rifle 8-10 seconds might be OK at hunting distances on game animals.
For a round count I have seen SS barrels on match rifles in .308 still going strong at 8000 but I have also seen them gone at 4000. Your mileage may vary.
 
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Fair enough Maynard. I was thinking 1.1-1.2 ms per shot.

Of course every barrel is different, as are loads.

I just find it funny to think that a custom barrel, installed with the invoice to go along with it has a total WORKING life of less than 10 seconds LOL
 
chrisward3 said:
awesome guys! im pumped to hear that..im gonna just keep feeding that rifle i guess for a longgg while to come! :D
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Cleaning plays a large part. Shoot as many rounds as you want, whenever
you want. But clean that baby real good everytime.



Can someone explain the reference to 'seconds' pls., I'm miss'n this one ?
Thx.
 
WithoutWarning said:
Cleaning plays a large part. Shoot as many rounds as you want, whenever
you want. But clean that baby real good everytime.



Can someone explain the reference to 'seconds' pls., I'm miss'n this one ?
Thx.
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When you figure the time a bullet takes to travel the length of the barrel in mili-seconds. Then figure out how many rounds would = say 2.5-3 seconds, that would be the barrel life.
 
maynard said:
When you figure the time a bullet takes to travel the length of the barrel in mili-seconds. Then figure out how many rounds would = say 2.5-3 seconds, that would be the barrel life.
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Lol, that's awesome. I never thot about it like that. Tru tho.
Very interesting perspective. Thx.
 
In reading "The Military and Police Sniper" the author notes that many M24 SWS don't go back until the shooter notices a drop off in accuracy, often between 10 and 20K.
 
BigUglyMan said:
In reading "The Military and Police Sniper" the author notes that many M24 SWS don't go back until the shooter notices a drop off in accuracy, often between 10 and 20K.
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Yes, great book. The one thing though -somewhere in that same part of the book he's talking about what degree of accuracy they were looking for in their rifles (it may have been the USMC with the m40a1's I'm thinking of, I don't have the book in front of me). If I recall, it was something like 1moa-1.5moa. Good enough for their purposes (minute of man), but a paper puncher small-hole-chaser might be looking for better performance, and thus likely have a shorter barrel lifespan.
 
I have a shelf full of used blue steel target barrels. They were pooched for accuracy work around 2,000 to 3000 rounds.

My stainless barels are lasting double that, or more.

It is a good idea to cut off 2" after 2500 rounds and re-chamber. This makes the barrrel like new.
 
GANDERITE said:
It is a good idea to cut off 2" after 2500 rounds and re-chamber. This makes the barrrel like new.
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If it is still shooting good, I leave 'em alone. Any change can make it stop shooting really well. Plus why make a 27.5" barrel into a 25.5" barrel and lose the velocity? Shoot it until it quits holding 1/2 moa, then make it a hunting barrel or sell it to someone else for a hunting barrel.
 
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