22-250 barrel life?

O

OKRattler

Well-known member
Has anyone ever shot the barrel out on a 22-250? If so how many rounds (roughly) did you shoot through it? I like to shoot anything from prairie dogs to feral hogs with mine but if I haven't really kept track of how many rounds I've shot through it. I don't shoot until the barrel is so hot I can't touch it or anything like that so I figure it should last me a long time but I really don't know. Has me thinkin I might not ought to use my coyote rifle to shoot prairie dogs and whatnot.
 
I never have but treat my guns like a new car to last my lifetime.
Several friends have and the numbers vary by type of rifling, twist rate, bullet choice, cleaning, powder type and charge, shot repetition time and so on.
General counts range from 1000 to 3000. Sometimes I hear much higher but wonder about it.
 
I've worn out a couple factory .22-250's and several .22-250AI's. The 12 and 14 twists have all been good for about 2,500 rounds each. The fast twists less than 1,000. Round count log on all my barrels, no estimating, no guessing, know exactly how many rounds on them.

Used to be a guy on here, every time I posted the above, would follow along and claim he had 10,000 rounds on his Swift and it was still shooting bug holes. That guy told lots of big stories about lots of stuff though.

But I know several guys, friends, all really believe their barrels have way, way more rounds on them than I know they actually do. Seems a common thing to way over estimate if you don't actually keep careful track.

- DAA
 
Well 2,500 is a lot but in a prairie dog town it's not really. So that tells me I should probably keep that rifle a dedicated coyote and hog rifle. It'll take me a lot longer to wear a barrel out that way.

I have a .223 for shootin little stuff and I know it takes a long,long time to wear a barrel out on one of those.
 
My rem 700 sps varmint 1 in 14 barrel is about toast. Bought it new. I have 500 pieces of brass I reload and it’s been on 4 Pdog trips. So 4 x 500 = 2000. It now shoots about 2” groups at 100 yards and the lands are a long ways from where they used to be.
One trip I shot all 500 rounds the first day. Barrels are like tires on your vehicle, they wear out and you put a new one on.
 
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I have a Rem 700 22-250 with a Hart 1-8" twist barrel. The only thing I hunt with this rifle is coyotes. I probable shoot less than 40 rounds a year at coyotes with this rifle. This rifle will probable last me for the rest of my coyote hunting days.

I have two 223AI rifles that I shoot ground squirrels with.
 
Just a addition to the thread here pertaining to the 22-250 barrel life. A couple months back I baught a early 91 build date Remington 700 22-250 with a shot out barrel from the original owner that I know very well to build a 250 AI. I asked him how many rounds he sent down the barrel. His reply was.....a rough estimate was around 18-19k rounds !!! Believe it or not....The first 3 inches of the lands are about smooth as butter too..
 
Quote: His reply was.....a rough estimate was around 18-19k rounds !!!

Must be a really rough estimate, that has to be the highest internet round count I've seen.
 
I had no idea the expected life of a 22-250 barrel was that low of a round count. I've only had it for a few years so I haven't shot it a ton but I'm not gonna go varmint plinking with it anymore. I've got other guns that I can do that with and not have to worry about it. I've never really thought about the barrel life on a .223 but mine has had a ridiculous amount of bullets through it so I'd imagine they're not as bad about getting wore out. I'd be lying if I told you how many rounds I've put through it. But it's a lot. Over 2,000 I know for sure. It still shoots good.
 

I shoot a 220 Swift and have for 56 years. I have retired 2 Winchester 70, a 1947 & 1962
They both Have had 500 rounds thru each them. Bores are still nice.
I have a Ruger now. I have 200 counts on it. I shoot groundhogs.
There are just so many groundhogs anymore.
Winchesters have soft steel barrels. I did not want to shoot them out, worth saving.
My Ruger M77 Mark II. I load at 3950fps, 45-grain open point.
I would say 2000-3000 rounds for my swift same, for your 22-250.

I just bought some 223 Winchesters rounds 40gr poly tipped 3700fps.
I may stop shooting my swift. I may get my old Savage model 12 out.
I got a 6X18 Burris scope on it.
Fred put an 8oz trigger on it ages ago.


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A lot depends on the throat length that you started off with when new. Some new guns have little freebore, and others have a country mile.

I agree with DAA.

When the leade gets shot out, old timmey trick is to go with a 55g Sierra semi point or a 63g semi point and get another 800 or so rounds out of the barrel.

Some powders eat barrels more than others.

AA2700 is cooler burning than a lot of powders and works very well with 50-60g bullets. IMR4064 is a Hotter burning and shoortens up a throat's life. Varget is also hot, but glory...great powder for a 22*250 with 55's.
 
I run Savage bolt guns quite a bit.

I also have taken up barrel swapping on them. I have quite a few barrels bought on the net. A lot of these barrels are taken off with either low or zero round counts and they sell at rather reasonable prices.

Currently I am shooting a left hand stainless flat back short action. I bought it used as a 243 and it shot fine but an itch for something different took over and a recently acquired 6 mm BR was installed. After feeding problems were experienced I then took up sapping that barrel and then installing a stainless sporter chambered in 22-250.

I believe I paid 100-125 for that barrel. You see these kind of deals regularly. Why sweat the cost of a barrel under these circumstances?

So you like Remington 700s? Well there are barrel makers that build prefit barrels using a barrel nut system for these actions. You will spend more money on these barrels than a garden variety Savage made one but you can save the gunsmith fee by doing it your self.

Three44s
 
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My 22-250 is a Savage Axis II. I've shot both handloads and factory loads through it. I'm probably just over thinking it but I'd like to get as much use out of it as I can. I'm sure I have years of shooting ahead before I have to worry about wearing the barrel out but I was just wondering what I should expect to get out of it.
 
I have one straight .22-250 that's most of the way through it's fourth barrel. As the guys above said they last about 2500 rounds if you don't roast them in a p-dog town. A suggestion for anyone who is interested in keeping accurate count of rounds fired in a barrel. I have plastic tote boxes that I keep all the items that are dedicated to a particular rifle in. Bullets, powder, dies and brass etc. When a barrels is new I put a carton of primers in there and as I go through the individual boxes I number them. I can calculate total rounds fired by the serial box number minus any primers still in the box and minus any loaded ammo. It works to perfection.
 
A 14 twist shilen barrel 22-250 on a interarms mark X my best estimate is 5000 rounds. Mostly IMR 3031 and whatever 55 grain bullet was cheap. I go west prairie dog shooting once or twice a year. When it got too hot to hold on to the barrel I cooled it.
 
OK Rattler,

My Savage barrel I am using right now is off an Axis in 22-250. Being a SS and either new or low round count and the fact I do coyotes with it .... just enough Calif. ground squirrels to maintain proficiency .... I will be gratified when it turns up dead because I will know that a lot of those predators “went with it”.

I really landed a diamond in the rough as it is running in the .230” range for a reasonable price.

BangPop,

That idea is great about the primer sleeves for a barrel count.

Best regards

Three44s
 
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That has me thinkin about maybe looking for a barrel for my Savage just to have. It might take years and years for it to happen but I'd imagine eventually it'll wear out on me.
 
My first 22-250 was a Model 70 Stealth with a 1:14 twist and carbon steel barrel. Got at least 5,000 shots out of it before upgrading to a Lilja with the same twist. I have at least 5,000 shots through it and it still shoots tight. Varget powder (36 grains) and 55-grain BTs.
 
I cant see why these guys claim only 1500-2500 rounds through a 22-250 then the barrel is junk. Pure BS IMO !! Unless your loading them to the max and getting the barrel smoking hot the chance of a tube going bad unless you have a cheap barrel and not talking about factory tubes either. ER Shaw tubes are junk IMO. Guess thats why they're $100. I know where theres a Remington 788 22-250 @ that was my dads since new and still to this day shoots 3/8" @ 100. Probably has close to 7k rounds down the tube. Its all in how it is cared for.
 
Originally Posted By: Remage250AII cant see why these guys claim only 1500-2500 rounds through a 22-250 then the barrel is junk. Pure BS IMO !!

Okay, I admit it. What I said was pure BS. All that stuff I said, about having actually worn out a handful of ,22-250 barrels and keeping careful track of exactly how many rounds they lasted. I made that all up.

If I had been telling what really happened, I would have admitted to the fact that those barrels all lasted over 7,000 rounds and they were all still agging in the 3s. But I got bored with them and bought new ones. Those Hart's and Lilja's, having Greg Tannel chamber them, they were pretty expensive too. I should have just kept them, since they weren't ever really going to wear out.

It feels good to get that off my chest.

- DAA
 
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