Barrel life?

I"ll take one and shoot 25 shot strings on a hot day as fast as I can. I'll never clean it, and I'll shoot the lightest, fastest bullets I can find, 2 grains over the book max load.
You take the other one, break the barrel in, shot 3 shot groups nice and slow and let it cool between shots/groups, shoot moderate loads and clean the gun after every outing.
Will the calibre make a difference?
I can't imagine much difference between the .243 and .260 given the same treatment.
If you're classing them the same, I expect your thinking of deer loads. If you use the .243 as a varmint rifle, that kind of load will be harder on the throat.
 
If you are asking for a comparison, you need to use the same set of conditions. Assuming both are used in the same manner, (whether slow shooting, or fast shooting, whether cleaned often or not cleaned often, whether to 'book loads' or not 'book loads', the .260 barrel is more likely to have an accuracy life longer than the .243. That also assumes same barrel steel. However, it still means that you need to shoot several thousand rounds to lose the accuracy life. That is lot of shooting and bullets downrange. By that time, you are probably ready for a new barrel.
 
which will last longer - 260 or 7-08? 260 will because even with a worn out tube with no rifling left it will group tighter than any 7-08 :D:p
 
How accurate does it need to be? I was shooting deer for a couple of years with a used .243 that punched 1 1/2- 2' groups at 100yds. I got to look up the barrel with a borescope and see the amount of throat erosion, so I had it rebarrelled. It shoots a little better, but the deer are'nt any deader.
Very few people can shoot better than their rifle can.
Get whichever rifle suits your needs.
 
todbartell said:
which will last longer - 260 or 7-08? 260 will because even with a worn out tube with no rifling left it will group tighter than any 7-08 :D:p
Click to expand...

I predict the barrel on your .260 will last nearly forever. In short order you will be too busy working on the "honey do" list & won't have time to shoot it anymore.... ;) :p

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NAA.
 
The barrel rifling should last about the same, you will need to set the back the barrel on the 243 before the 260, but not by much..rifling lasts, but you burn your throat out first
 
When it comes to two cartridges that are that close in velocity and pressure given comparable weight bullets, the difference should be minimal. The 260 might last a little longer with the heavier bullets.
Mike
 
Throat wear is a function of the propellant gases eroding the bore immediately ahead of the chamber. A smaller surface area will deteriorate more quickly than a throat with a larger surface area when the same powder charge is fired. It follows therefore that heavy for caliber bullet loads due to their smaller powder charges have less effect on barrel ware than light for caliber bullet weights with larger powder charges. Conversely, small capacity cartridges would tend to have a longer life than large capacity cartridges of the same caliber, consider for example the .22 Hornet compared to a 5.6X63 (.22-.30/06). Looking back at Ackley's writing, he opined that while not definitive the cartridges with the longest barrel life were often those that used a powder charge equal to about one third of the bullet weight, with the exception of .22 centerfires which seemed to do well with up to 32 grs of propellant. With such guidelines, we could expect the .260 Remington barrel when most often fired with a typical big game weight bullets to out last any typical .243 Winchester barrel.
 
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