243, barrel wear- What ammo

Rubicon37s

Rubicon37s

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Hello,

I have a Tikka T3 Varmint, 90% for range shooting 9% Coyote and one day maybe a deer.

I understand the 243 can be hard on barrels and wondering what type of ammo/ bullet weight etc would reduce the wear, and what to look for in signs of wear

..Thanks
 
The lighter the bullet the more powder you can burn and the faster the bullet will go, both equal more wear and tear.
If your reloading and keeping a few thousandths of an inch off the rifling you will see the distance getting farther away.
 
I have used 243's going back 37 years. This is the first time I have heard they are hard on barrels. I hand load up near max for them ( that's what they like) till the cases start to get visible head separation. I haven't a clue as to what to look for regarding barrel wear after shooting the one gun for 37 years and another for 31 years. I bought both guns used so they have years more wear than I put on them.
Shoot the thing and don't worry about the 'barrel wear' bogie man.
 
theDuck said:
Shoot the thing and don't worry about the 'barrel wear' bogie man.
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Thanks, I have heard it a few times but haven't seen it myself yet. I had a M70 .243 a few years ago that I bought used, put a thousand or two rounds through it and for one stupid reason or another parted with it, still shooting tiny groups. The one I have now I had it from new, maybe 500 rounds through it, it's a keeper.
 
I ain't never did see a burnt out 243! I wouldn't worry about burning out your Tikka T3 Varmint 243 in your life time, unless there are some very unusual circumstances! I doubt that your son's son would even have to have any concern after it was passed down to him! It prolly be ready for it's third barrel cleaning right about then.
 
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Thanks everyone,

In that case, what do you all like for accuracy, started with 100 gr Winchester however picked up some different types I have yet to shoot
 
Rubicon37s said:
Thanks everyone,

In that case, what do you all like for accuracy, started with 100 gr Winchester however picked up some different types I have yet to shoot
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try 'em all and see what she likes, then set up to reload your own to fine tune and find what she really loves, can't go wrong there. It's all part of the fun. Think "sniper".
 
Lots of different opinions of 243 barrel wear. Some ppl claim it to be shot out in 1-2 thousand rounds and some ppl say they have shot 10,000 rounds form theirs and still good. Just shoot it and be done with it I say. When accuracy is crappy rebarrel it.
 
hometownhero said:
Lots of different opinions of 243 barrel wear. Some ppl claim it to be shot out in 1-2 thousand rounds and some ppl say they have shot 10,000 rounds form theirs and still good. Just shoot it and be done with it I say. When accuracy is crappy rebarrel it.
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naw, that's the time to clean the barrel!
 
Be careful with 100+ grains in your Tikka T3 varmint! I've got one too in .243, and I can't get 105s to stabilize, just as an FYI. Not sure if you handload or not. They have slow twists in these Tikkas.

Shoot like a damn though with 70 SMKs and 90 Scenars.
 
I have had the privilege of "wearing out" a couple of 6mm barrels, but in the 6mm Remington chambering, not 243 Win.
[Also managed to toast a Swift barrel or two, lol.]

These barrels were on varmint rifles, and I rebarrelled when they would no longer keep 5 shots under 1.25 moa.

One of these rifles was a Ruger M77V (tang safety) It started out as a very accurate rifle, ¾moa or better for 5 shots.
At around 2200 rounds, I noticed that accuracy had dropped off noticeably, so I started experimenting.
I seated the bullets out a bit more, and the accuracy came back somewhat. [Ammo no longer fit the magazine]
This extended the accuracy life for an additional 350-400 rounds, and that was it. I rebarrelled at that point.

I took the removed barrel, sawed off the back 8" and split the barrel.
There was virtually no rifling for 5" up from the chamber.

This rifle had been cared for, and cleaned properly....not shot "hot" [allowed to cool between shots/groups]

The second rifle was a Remington 700V, early vintage.
The accuracy life of this one was quite similar, I started discerning the accuracy loss at around 2500 rounds.
I did not section this barrel, but could see the effect of the erosion from the chamber end with a good light.

The 243 would be quite similar, IMHO. The powder charges are only slightly less than the 6mm, so results would be alike.

Now, if these rifles were being used strictly as "hunting" rifles, then they would probably have been Ok for a considerable time yet.
But it is hard to hit a gopher reliably at 350 yards with a 1¼moa rifle.

Anyone that claims stellar accuracy after 5000+ full powder loads out of a 243 (or 6mm Rem) has his figures screwed up somewhere.

Regards, Eagleye
 
Eagleye said:
Anyone that claims stellar accuracy after 5000+ full powder loads out of a 243 (or 6mm Rem) has his figures screwed up somewhere.

Regards, Eagleye
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Sounds about right to me.

I also have a barrel life calculator and factors are - bore diameter, powder charge, powder heat potential and pressure. So here are two estimates using 85gr TSX bullets:

IMR 4064, 36gr, 56,700psi = 2116 rounds (velocity is given as 3112fps)
H4350, 40.5gr, 57,300psi = 1439 rounds (velocity is given as 3140fps)

That is a pretty big difference in estimated barrel life. H4350 requires a larger charge, operates at higher peak pressure and has a powder heat potential of 3990 KJ/Kg vs 3880 KJ/Kg for IMR4064.

Keep in mind that I haven't run these tests side by side in real life: I downloaded the calculator from 6mmBR and the folks there seem to know what they are talking about. And, interestingly, the calculator using IMR 4064 is pretty close to Eagleye's real world experience. ;)
 
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