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Posted: 12/20/2013 11:56:38 AM EDT
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I apologize if this is a dumb question...
How many rounds would you say the barrel life of a M99 32" heavy barrel should be? From what I've read, it is not user replaceable (at least not unless you have a machine shop handy), so I'm trying to get an idea of how many rounds one should last and maintain acceptable accuracy. |
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The throat would wear out before the barrel, the .50 is overbore and then throw in cleaning it... You can have the barrel cut down at the chamber and then reamed again to get some more life. As for the original question, you should get 5K rounds or more through it before needing replacement.
This also depends on what type of rounds you shoot and how hot they are, how its cleaned... If you think it needs replacing take it to a smith and have them check it out for wear. |
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That is one question that I have wondered about too.
If one had a MG, because of heat buildup in the barrel, I would imagine it would be a much lower shot count. I would think that for bolt gun use, most people wouldn`t ever need a barrel replacement because of light usage, or they upgraded or went with something different along the way at some point. I`ll bet 50cal can give you some good info on your query. ETA, looks like another knowledgeable soul has jumped in here before I hit submit. 
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Quoted:
The throat would wear out before the barrel, the .50 is overbore and then throw in cleaning it... You can have the barrel cut down at the chamber and then reamed again to get some more life. As for the original question, you should get 5K rounds through it before needing replacement. This also depends on what type of rounds you shoot and how hot they are, how its cleaned... If you think it needs replacing take it to a smith and have them check it out for wear. Thanks for the info. I'm getting close to buying my first 50 cal (and reloading press+ components + optics for it). I didn't want to lay in 20k rounds worth of components if the barrel life was <10k rounds. |
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I have put just over 4000 rounds through one of my match rifles. When it had around 1000 rounds through my best group was a 4.4 inch group at a 1000 yard match. Then several years later after 4000 rounds at a match shot the best group of the match in very windy conditions and shot a 7.1 Inch group. I think it will still shoot sub 1MOA groups at 1000 yards with 5000 rounds through it. The throat is the worst looking part of the barrel, the lands don't look that bad.
Ed |
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