.22-250 Barrel life?

Until the Angels Fall

Until the Angels Fall

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I am wanting to pick up a bolt gun in .22-250 in the new year and the #1 thing I hear about them is that they have a short barrel life. How "short" is it? And is there anything you can do to make it last a little longer?

Thanks, UTAF
 
Shoot less;)

Rapid shooting is the fastest way to burn out a barrel sometimes doesnt take too long. Just normal shooting can also burn one out but it takes alot longer. Barrel life varies quit a bit on all guns. Depends on care, the shooter, velocity, type of barrel.

If I had to give you an approx shot count on a gun that is well maintained and not allowed to get too hot with rapid fire I'd expect 3500-4000 before you start to notice a drop in accuracy.

All in how you treat her:
 
Depends on how you define short. Keeping the barrel cool and not shooting the light bullets at near 4000fps will go a long way to extending barrel life. With care I think a working life of 1200-1500 rounds is very reasonable to expect. If you are looking for benchrest levels of accuracy it will be less, if you are thinking minute of 'yote, it will be more.

Mark
 
I just replaced my barrel on my 700 varmint at 3600+- rounds through her. Shooting 55 grain bullet to 3780-3800 fps Accuracy stayed Sub MOA until around 3300-+ then started to open up a bit. The worst thing you can do to a barrel is heat. Keep the barrel cool and you'll see tons more life out of it JMHO
 
I agree with the fellas above, but just to dispell a myth- it is not bullet velocity that kills barrels, but the quantity, heat, and velocity of the hot expanding gases, relative to bore size.

If it were bullet velocity that killed barrels, you'd see the greatest amount of wear near the muzzle where the bullet is going the fastest. This, however, isn't the case. The greatest point of barrel wear is at the throat where the hot gases are at their highest concentration and heat. A small bore means that those gases are forced through a smaller hole, and the throat is exposed to more gas per surface area than a larger bore size.

At the end of the day, lots of powder burned in a small bore size kills barrels, regardless of the bullet you run. The way to increase barrel life is to load milder ammunition and let the barrel cool down between shots.

Just FYI, I've got about 1500 rounds through my .22-250 and it's still running strong (3 shot 1/2-1" groups at 200 yards).
 
I have been seeing a good deal for .22-250 ammo (a 40 pack) at Wal-Mart...is that "too fast"? if I was too shoot 4-5 shots in a mintue then let it cool down, is that too fast?

EDIT: the Wal-Mart ammo says 4,000 FPS on the box
 
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Factory ammo is not loaded to the nuts. Sorta fits the description of 'middle of the road', really.

How fast is too fast to shoot another round? How long is string? Gonna depend on the barrel mass, innit?

Shoot it and have fun. When it no longer shoots well enough to satisfy you (which may be way before it is worn out!) look at a new barrel. Or a different rifle. But don't obsess over it.

Jordan, it's not the velocity that buggers the barrel, it's the amounts of powder to achieve that velocity, and the subsequent generation of heat and pressure from it. The velocity is not the cause of the wear, the cause of the velocity, is. :)

Cheers
Trev
 
Until the Angels Fall said:
I am wanting to pick up a bolt gun in .22-250 in the new year and the #1 thing I hear about them is that they have a short barrel life. How "short" is it? And is there anything you can do to make it last a little longer?

Thanks, UTAF
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I believe chrome lined barrels last longer. As for excessive heating, maybe a heavy barrel to absorb heat with fluting to increase surface area for faster heat dissipation?
 
Is there any specific reason you're stuck on .22-250? Because .223 gives up very little to the .22-250; but you gain a bunch of barrel life, burn way less powder and bulkcases are so cheap they are almost free.
 
Splatter said:
Is there any specific reason you're stuck on .22-250? Because .223 gives up very little to the .22-250; but you gain a bunch of barrel life, burn way less powder and bulkcases are so cheap they are almost free.
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I like the improved "stats" of a the .22-250 compared to the .223Rem...but mostly its to be a bit different, everyone and there dog has a rifle..or 5 and an AR in .223Win.
 
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You live in London so I'm assuming you don't have prairie dogs on the menu. Don't rattle off too many shots in a row. When at the range, you are there to sight in, right?
So shoot 1 shot. Evaluate the shot, see where it landed, let the barrel cool for a minute, then shoot the next one. Repeat process. 3 shots should take 5-6 minutes IMHO. After 3 or 5 shots walk down and see the group. Make scope adjustments and let the barrel cool down. Repeat process until things are good.
A .22-250 does have more on the .223 power wise so it is a good choice. Just don't get the barrel hot and shoot sensibly. It should last a lifetime with enough shooting to keep her dialed in and hunting shots. On a good day you might rattle off 20 or so chasing coyotes for a few hours. that won't wreck a barrel.
You might shoot 40 shots over a day of g-hog hunting. Again, won't hurt the barrel.
Don't get in the habit of shooting 5 shot strings in a minute during a range session over and over. That will be bad for the barrel.
 
Until the Angels Fall said:
I like the improved "stats" of a the .22-250 compared to the .223Win...but mostly its to be a bit different, everyone and there dog has a rifle..or 5 and an AR in .223Win.
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Oh, I doubt that.:D Lot's of folks have 223 Remington rifles, but not that many have 223 Win. I agree with the sentiment on the 22-250 vs. 223 though. For hunting it's not even close. The 22-250 basically buys you an extra hundred yards, as long as you can shoot decently. FWIW - dan
 
trevj said:
Jordan, it's not the velocity that buggers the barrel, it's the amounts of powder to achieve that velocity, and the subsequent generation of heat and pressure from it. The velocity is not the cause of the wear, the cause of the velocity, is. :)

Cheers
Trev
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Yessir! That is consistent with my description, but is a more clever way of putting it :)
 
BCP said:
As for excessive heating, maybe a heavy barrel to absorb heat with fluting to increase surface area for faster heat dissipation?
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That is certainly one factor is barrel wear. A barrel with more steel among which to spread the heat will heat up slower. Therefore, you can shoot more through a heavy barrel in a shorter period of time than a featherweight barrel, without cooking it. In a heavy barrel '250 I can typically fire 5 quick shots in summer time before the barrel gets warm. In the winter, it cools very quickly after each shot, and cool-down time is almost unecessary.


Until the Angels Fall,

As a general rule of thumb, you should not allow the barrel to get so hot that it it uncomfortable to grab with your hand (especially the throat area directly in front of the chamber in the barrel- this is the spot where the barrel gets the hottest).
 
If accuracy falls off its likely throat erosion as its been mentioned......a barrel can go a long time which is why some people just choose to have the barrel set back and rechambered so they can seat the bullet near the lands again. I was reading about a target shooter who had his barrel set back many times and to the point where he went from a 26" to a 22" barrel over the years !!!
 
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Jordan Smith said:
I agree with the fellas above, but just to dispell a myth- it is not bullet velocity that kills barrels, but the quantity, heat, and velocity of the hot expanding gases, relative to bore size.
Click to expand...

trevj said:
Jordan, it's not the velocity that buggers the barrel, it's the amounts of powder to achieve that velocity, and the subsequent generation of heat and pressure from it. The velocity is not the cause of the wear, the cause of the velocity, is. :)
Click to expand...

I guess this was aimed at my comment on the light bullets at 4000+fps. I didn't mean to imply it was the velocity that was a barrel killer, just that those loads seem to eat up barrels faster than the heavier bullet ones. I would guess that the light bullet max loads eat up the barrel worse because of the higher gas velocities involved. Or perhaps those loads get used a lot on gophers and the like and the tendency is to shoot a lot and heat a barrel up under those conditions. Whatever the reason, those seem to be the hardest on a barrel.

Splatter said:
Is there any specific reason you're stuck on .22-250? Because .223 gives up very little to the .22-250; but you gain a bunch of barrel life, burn way less powder and bulkcases are so cheap they are almost free.
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Your version of very little is different than mine. The 22-250 is a good 400+fps stronger than the .223 with pretty much any bullet you can find. That is way more than very little. It is like saying a .308 gives up very little to a .300 Win Mag.

'Boo said:
5 shots a minute at 25c ambient temperature will have the barrel nearly glowing while you may - and I stress may -get away with it at -25c
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+1. That is only 12 seconds per shot, that's damn near rapid fire for a precision rifle like a 22-250. If you want to shoot like that, get a heavy barrel .204 or shoot light loads in a heavy barrel .223. A 22-250 won't last long under a shooting regimen like that.

Mark
 
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