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Posted: 4/6/2009 5:35:42 PM EDT
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I've been told and have read here (from some, not all) that the typical barrel life for a carbine is about 2-3K rounds. I find that hard to believe, but than again I certainly defer to those more knoweldgeable. If that's the case (and by all means be candid in correcting any of my misconceptions) where is everyone getting new barrels? The seem really hard to come by. 3K rounds isn't very much, especially if your practicing for 3 gun and what not. Can you just get the barrel serviced, or is it basically trashed and you have to buy a new one. With the scarcity of everything these days, I just can't see where everyone's able to buy new barrels as needed. |
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According to LWRC, they stated their barrel will last 20,000 rounds. A standard barrel will last 6,000-10,000 rounds. The 6,000 number might just be use to sell their guns. I would say the 10,000 is more accurate.
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According to Pat Rogers who owns EAG Tactical and teaches AR-15 courses, a typical AR-15 chrome-lined barrel will last about 25,000 rounds if fired at the rate of 12 rounds per minute, and around 12-15,000 or so if fired at higher rates, or if you do a lot of bump firing. Trust me, for the average guy, a barrel is HARD to wear out.
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Romans 10:9 |
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Another thing about barrel wear..........what wears out a barrel is heat from burning powder gases which erode the barrel throat. Some calibers put FAR more wear on a barrel than others do. For example, the 264 Winchester Magnum and the 257 Weatherby Magnum are notorious for being hard on a barrel. This is because of the enormous powder charges that are used in these cartridges, and also the extreme bore-to-case ratio (firing a small bullet from a case with a huge powder charge). There have been reports of 264 Winchester Magnum barrels having substantial throat erosion after only 500 factory rounds. Now OTOH, the .223 Remington/5.56x45mm NATO is one of the easiest rounds on a barrel, as the powder charges used in this cartridge are much smaller, and the bore-to-case ratio is not as great. To heat the barrel up in a .223 to the point that you are causing significant amounts of throat erosion requires you to do a lot of rapid fire (full auto/bumpfiring). So, just because some calibers are hard on a bore doesn't mean that they all are....there is a lot of variation from caliber to caliber.
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved". Romans 10:9 |
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Take a look at BigBore's test on a SS barrel. Impressive to say the least considering we've always been taught that the SS barrels don't last nearly as long as the chrome lined cm barrels do. After that test I no longer believe it.
I agree with Pat Rogers or I guess I should say his theory makes the most sense to me as i don't have first hand experience. The closest I've come to wearing out a barrel was a Colt SOCOM 14.5" barrel I bought new and put 10K+ rounds through it. After 10K rounds it showed throat erosion and pitting (didn't have TE gauges unfortunately) but was still shooting 100 yd coffee can lid groups so I imagine it would make it to 15, 20, 25K rds. I should have kept that barrel. |
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