.300 WIN MAG Barrel Life

L42A1

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I have a deal pending for a .300 win mag rifle with a Ron Smith 1:12 twist stainless steel heavy barrel. Seller says it has 600 rounds through it, all 190 grain Sierra match kings. Is that a lot? how many rounds can a barrel like this take before it needs to be replaced?
 
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easy but not totally accurate answer = 1000 of normal rounds of normal ballistic and pressure qualities. I.E. match grade federal.

Reality = every barrel is different, they seem to have the throats burnt out of them quickly. I believe it has to do with the high pressures and velocities of the round and shape of the shoulder.
 
I have a deal pending for a .300 win mag rifle with a ron smith 1:12 twist stainless steel heavy barrel. Seller says it has 600 rounds through it. Is that a lot? how many rounds can a barrel like this take before it needs to be replaced?

This doesn't tell you how the barrel was treated. If those 600 rounds were fired rapid fire, the wear to the barrel will be significantly more than if they were slow fired, allowing the barrel to cool to ambient temperature between shots. I suspect actual use was closer to being a five shot string fired at a steady cadence, with the elapse of several minutes allowed between strings while targets were checked. Neither does it tell you what the barrel had been chambered for, a .30 BR cartridge would produce far less barrel wear than a .300 magnum.

In relative terms we can compare barrel life between cartridges by dividing the bullet weight by the powder charge, a ratio of 3:1 is optimal, and if heavy bullets are chosen with medium burning rate powder like 4350, the .300 doesn't come off that bad, certainly better than the .243, but not as good as the .308. Other factors to consider are: what level of accuracy are you prepared to live with? What powder and bullet weight are you most likely to use? What are your shooting habits, do you shoot your rounds quickly, as you might wish to before the light or wind changes, or do you allow time for the barrel to cool every time?

Smith barrels are cut rifled, and there is a theory that a cut rifled barrel can out last a button rifled barrel. This is because cut rifling can be a little deeper depending on the number of passes made by the cutter, whereas the depth of the rifling in a button rifled barrel is dependent on the dimensions of the button.
 
Hot ammo will kill a barrel fast, I read that US Army got acceptable barrel life for 190SMK/2900fps but were killing in less than 800 rounds by the hot 220SMK/2850fps ammo. This load extends effective range from 1200 to 1500 yards but is really harsh on barrels.

On a similar note, Finnish Army Sako TRG42 are guaranteed not to drop in significantly in accuracy for at least 5000 rounds but reloader shooting overpressure (hot) round have killed a barrel in less than 1000 rounds.

Alex
 
Shoot a eight pound keg through a .300, and you won't have the barrel you started with. Try it again and you might not have much of anything, if longrange accuracy is the goal.
 
This doesn't tell you how the barrel was treated. If those 600 rounds were fired rapid fire, the wear to the barrel will be significantly more than if they were slow fired, allowing the barrel to cool to ambient temperature between shots. I suspect actual use was closer to being a five shot string fired at a steady cadence, with the elapse of several minutes allowed between strings while targets were checked. Neither does it tell you what the barrel had been chambered for, a .30 BR cartridge would produce far less barrel wear than a .300 magnum.

In relative terms we can compare barrel life between cartridges by dividing the bullet weight by the powder charge, a ratio of 3:1 is optimal, and if heavy bullets are chosen with medium burning rate powder like 4350, the .300 doesn't come off that bad, certainly better than the .243, but not as good as the .308. Other factors to consider are: what level of accuracy are you prepared to live with? What powder and bullet weight are you most likely to use? What are your shooting habits, do you shoot your rounds quickly, as you might wish to before the light or wind changes, or do you allow time for the barrel to cool every time?

Smith barrels are cut rifled, and there is a theory that a cut rifled barrel can out last a button rifled barrel. This is because cut rifling can be a little deeper depending on the number of passes made by the cutter, whereas the depth of the rifling in a button rifled barrel is dependent on the dimensions of the button.
He said the barrel was basically designed to shoot 190 grain Sierra Match Kings and thats all he has shot out of it. I dont know the type of powder he used.
 
JUST read an article where the US Army is claiming 1500 rounds with their ammo.

Now that doesn't mean the barrel is scrap. Maybe means it doesn't meet their criteria after that.

It has taken me 6 years to get roughly 1200 rounds through my 308.

FWIW.......

I'd say that's about right.
I just started to loose accuracy in a factory Sendero at about 1400.
I hated cleaning the fouling pig so I wasn't very nice to it...Got it real hot several times.
FWIW the new barrel has a bit over a thousand rounds..If the weather gets nice it wont live till next year.
Like Dogleg says it isn't that big of a deal in the big picture.

I bet you could get 1700 rounds from a cut barrel if you were nice to it and majored it heavy bullets (I do).

I would be more concerned with how the guy cleaned the rifle for those 600 rounds than how much he shot it.
The gunsmiths bore scope tells all. ;)
 
mine sure doesnt get treated well, I dont really know if you could ever call it precision in the first place but it shoots .6-.7moa (maybe with some more hand load tuning it could be better but its good enough for me). Ill send 20 or so out in just a few minutes, she gets hot enough to literally burn flesh. Im looking for a good excuse to throw something fancy on her.
 
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