22- 250 barrel life

creekhunter

creekhunter

New member
any you guys shot out a barrel yet? just wondering about the avg. barrel life (22-250) rem. heavy barrel i think they are buttoned..i'm shooting about 3500fps 52 gr pills
 
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Depends on your acceptable level of accuracy. The best way to tell is either buy a bore scope or have a riflesmith do it for you. It's really the only true way of telling just how shot out a bore is. Given your load specs and how hot you've let it get.....I'd say a safe bet would be 2000-3000 rds. I have limited experience with 250's but I do have a friend that shoots informal 400 yard silholette with a 250 and he has his re-barreled somewhere around 2000 rds.

Gari
 
I just rebarreled a Savage 22-250 that I owned for six years, I shoot prairie dogs alot, thousands of rounds a year, not all thru that gun but many. Based on my loading information and number of trips shooting my estimation is I shot that rifle about 6000 times. We were not kind to that orphan rifle.....many times I saw smoke curling out between the barrel and stock. Consider that I bought the rifle.....on the cheap from a desperate soul, used, he owned the gun for several years, maybe shot it 1000 times. If I am anywhere close the rifle saw no less than 7000 rds. I did not rebarrel it because it shot poorly, contrary it still scored hits way the hxll out there. I wanted a winter home project and the rebarrel was it.
My personal feeling is that a "shot out barrel" is one of the most common "mis diagnosed" gun problems there is. Unless you have a bore scope you are guessing.......
 
In some cases, you may not see a big difference in accuracy between a good barrel and one that is for the most part "shot out".

The best way to tell if a barrel is getting an alligator hide throat and more is in how well it goes back to shooting good after a thorough cleaning. If it's shot out, it may take quite a few rounds before it settles in to shooting accurately again after a thorough cleaning. In those cases, I would guess a shot out barrel depends on how many rounds you are willing to put down a clean barrel to get it shooting again.

I'd rather spend a little money and replace a barrel at that point than burn up "seasoning" money and time in an old barrel. With a 22-250, it generally happens in the @ 3K+ range if the barrel has been properly cared for and not shot too hot. If it's been hot, it may be considerably less than that depending on the quality of the barrel steel. Lots of variables.

JMO - BCB
 
I keep hearing different stories about barrel like and how hot the loads are you shoot. Some shooters have told me to keep them under 4000fps.. I'm not so sure about it all. I use to have a winchester varmint I believe and the lands and grooves where gone out near the end of the barrel. Back then I didn't reload... I traded it.. and someone I know ended up with it and told me they reload and it shoots like a house on fire.. I have a new Tikka now.. so if I ever put enough rounds through it that it won't group at 100 yards I'll let ya know. Chances are, it will last me the rest of my life unless I start shooting matches or ground hogs on a regular basis. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Let me add that I have shot out a swift barrel on one P' dog trip, shooting 2000 rds in a weekend. But I also have a swift with nearly 5000 rds that still looks pretty good through the bore scope and shoots in the low .3s. just like it did new.
 
I have worn out a few barrels in my day. The way I know a barrel is burned out is when I check the throat of my rifle and the bullet ends up out of the case before it hits any rifling, sometimes it will be signifigantly out of the case. This sort of wear canhappey fairly quickly. One of my 22-250's was winning prairie dog silhouette matches one week end and tumbling bullets the next. A check of the throat showed a bullet that was 1/4"+ outside of the case. The odd part was that I kept track of throat ware. The rifle was wearin the throat area, but seemed to suddenly burn out. I think the lands were going away for a long period of time, but finally became thin enough to go away seemingly suddenly.

In my experience a 22-250 barrel will show serious signs of wearing our at ~2,000 rounds.
 
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Methinks many people do not keep accurate records and shoot a lot less than they think they do.

Jack


I hope this is not directed at me? Because I do keep a very good round count for every firearm.
edited for typo/srr
 
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I not long ago replaced a Rem. 788 22-250 barrel. The rifle shot good for a long time and then went south very fast. I'm thinking if you do not shoot the rifle hot and have good cleaning skills. 2500 down range before you lose MOA. Thats with pretty hot loads. The question is, who shoots moderate loads out of a 22-250?
 
No, not directed at anybody in particular. Just the general tone of the posts. I have wore out probably 50 barrels in the last 30 years, keep good records and know for a fact most of the claims of long barrel life with overbore calibers posted here are 'in somebody's dreams'.

Sorry, but I have been there done that too many times to believe most of what has been posted.

Jack
 
"I have wore out probably 50 barrels in the last 30 years"

If you kept that great of records you would know exactly how many barrels you shot out....as opposed to "probably 50".
Just a point of fact my friend...........
 
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"I have wore out probably 50 barrels in the last 30 years"

If you kept that great of records you would know exactly how many barrels you shot out....as opposed to "probably 50".
Just a point of fact my friend...........



In fairness to Jack. I can easily see how one would approximate numbers when writeing if it approached 50. Heck even 20. I don't always agree with anyone on this board and "get into it" now and then. One thing, it's hard to argue with experiance.

There are many.......to many, variables in calculateing a barrels life. Some have been mentioned. You almost have to go by history,track records,experiance,etc. I have not shot out a 22-250 barrel. I have read reports on actual test etc. I try and take excellant care of the barrel and shooting habbits.

Bottom line is whether it's a 1000 or 3000 rounds I will just have to change the barrel or sell the rifle. No differant than any other center fire varmint barrel be it a 22-250,swift,.204,,,,,,,,or any others. They all die sometime. Varmint rifles get shot more than larger hunting calibers too. A .222 may last longer than a .223. A hornet longer than a .222. A slow twist longer than a fast in the same varmint caliber. Some last longer than others..............they all die.

Just like my best bird dog "Sparky" a Brit. who passed on about 3 weeks ago after 14 years and growing up with my kids. Best Grouse dog / family dog a man could want.

Some dogs tend to live longer, some shorter. Just like varmint barrels.......they all die. Just enjoy it, take care of it and your shooting practices and not worry so much.........waiting for something to happen. When it happens change it, get a custom barrel. It just means you like to shoot and liked that rifle. Practice with a rim fire more.

Just like good gun dogs .........they all die. Enjoy what you have, live one day at a time, the barrel may out last us /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
 
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Have a good day fellow shooters and varmint hunters.

This is not going anywhere.

Nobody can give an exact number and there is plenty of "if's". All you really have is personal experiance which can be largely differant........yet all could be true.

Last, you really can't change it much anyways.

So why worry about what you can't change?

They all die........burn out. Let's just hope we out last the varmint barrel.

Enjoy.............today.

Good day fellers......... I have goofed to much this a.m.

It's only a barrel /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
 
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