.17-204 Barrel life?

[calvin5673]

Hey all,

My father had a remington .17 hornet barrel reamed to .17-204. Recently he noticed his accuracy was rather poor. Once we started looking for issues we noticed that the barrel throat had been seriously eroded. His round count is about 250-300. Shooting 30gr bullets. Is this typical for a .17-204? I know they run hot but I would've thought atleast 1000 rounds.

 

[stubblejumper]

If you heat the barrel up and keep shooting, throat erosion will be greatly accelerated. I find that the 17 calibers are very sensitive to fouling, it doesn't take a lot or copper or carbon buildup for the accuracy to fall off.

 

[Kevan]

I can't comment on your Dad's rifle, but my last 17 Rem started showing noticeable throat wear at about 600 rounds and I was far below max somewhere about 3700 to 3850 velocity.
I don't think I'll build another 17, compared to getting awesome barrel life from a 223 its not worth it for me.
The 17s are fun though I will admit

 

[mbogo3]

Same as the old wildcat .222mag/.17 of days gone by.No such thing as a free lunch with hi- velocity cartridges.....could always re-barrel to .204...Harold