I was just under the impression that with some calibers it was preferred to have a longer barrel so as all the powder was burnt more cleanly??? Maybe I’m misinformed but I thought if it wasnt burnt properly then that increase erosion?? So if I’m mistaken then I guess that’s good to hear that it won’t??
Burning powder on its own does not cause erosion. Heat and friction causes erosion.
In theory, shortening the barrel and keeping all other variables equal will reduce throat erosion (I suspect by a virtually immeasurable and insignificant degree) because the bullet will exit the barrel sooner, and therefore reduce the amount of time that the barrel is exposed to hot burning gas.
As a handloader, things are rarely equal. Shortening the barrel may in fact result in unburnt powder being thrown out the end of the barrel (further reducing the peak barrel temperature and bullet velocity, further reducing throat erosion, but again by an insignificant amount). What many shooters will do when they shorten barrels, or observe unburnt powder, is they will compensate by switching to a faster burning powder. Also, when shortening a barrel, many shooters will attempt to compensate for the velocity loss of the shorter barrel with a hotter load. Hotter load and faster burning powder will SIGNIFICANTLY increase throat erosion. Trying to push a short barrel to do what longer barrels are inherently capable of is a great way to significantly reduce your barrel life.
Thanks for all the info! Last couple questions....
If the round count on the barrel is 2000(still shoots great) and getting near the end....
Should I go the cheaper route and just cut 4” off at the muzzle and recrown?? Or am I better to take the 4” or at least what is available at the chamber end and cut and rechamber? Would 3-4” get into enough fresher rifling to make the extra expense worth the while??
This is a tough call. First, I am not sure you should even be considering chopping the barrel at the muzzle. It won't be more accurate. The velocity loss will result in greater wind deflection, and could result in an insufficiently stabilized bullet. Poor workmanship can ruin the barrel entirely. The weight savings will be negligible, but will increase felt recoil.
What benefit exactly do you expect to realize with a shorter barrel?
I have never once heard a long range shooter complain their barrel was too long. Ive heard many complain about the opposite. A while back remington came out with a speciall R700 SPS Tactical with 20" barrel. Police snipers were interested because they never shoot past 200M. Many tactical minded sport shorters bought them, and most of them are for sale on the EE right now because so many people were disappointed with the velocities and poor performance at longer rangers...
How do you know 2k is close to the end for this barrel?
If you believe that its close to the end, then I suspect you should strongly consider cutting off the chamber side and rechambering. 4"? The general rule of them I have been told to evaluate how much to take off of the chamber side is to inspect for throat erosion, and cut the length of the erosion +1/2". So if you observe fire cracking and heat damage for 1-1/2" of throat into the rifling, then cut 1-1/2" + 1/2" = 2 inches of chamber and rethread/rechamber.