Life of a match barrel

[Giddaymate]

Gidday

Im choosing between Bleiker and a Kk500.

What is the approx barrel life of a 22LR match barrel?

Does the Bleiker have to be shipped to Switzerland for maintenance (barrel swap) or can a local gunsmith do it?

[Tim S]

Accuracy life obviously depends on your definition of accuracy, as well as the individual barrel. The stricter your standards, the sooner you'll think the barrel is knackered: a club shooter might be quite happy with a barrel that an Olympic contender has rejected because it now averages 10.5 not 10.6-7. That said, I know of barrels being replaced between 80K and 150K rounds; 100K seems common. That's when the barrel had formerly shot well but would no longer hold the 10-ring, or group tight enough to maintain scores. Damage (rust, bulges), manufacturing defects etc, or poor accuracy from the beginning would see barrels replaced rather sooner, but that's not the question. At the other end of the scale I know of barrels with well over 200K on the clock that still shoot acceptably; I suspect few barrels maintain the accuracy required by Olympic shooters for that long, but Lilja and Border barrels claimed that Jamie Beyerle and Guy Starik retired barrels at well over 200K so it can occur. Posts by Eric Uptagraff, a US Olympian, suggestrd that ammo today is a little more abrasive than it was in the '80s, so very high round counts are less common at top level - the need for high decimal scores is almost certainly a factor too. I' d be interested to know if barrel material makes a difference, or whether it's just pot luck over the exact metallurgy of a particular barrel/batch of barrels.

I believe the Bleiker can be re-barreled by a gunsmith. The receiver is threaded, although there is an insert at the chamber end.

[Moore]

I wont disagree with whats been said... Eric was correct with ammo being abrasive. Its the powdered glass in the priming compound, It falls t the bottom of the barrel, you will notice a scratching with a bore scope at six o'clock after as few as a couple brinks of ammo.. Best to run one loose patch through the bore as quick as one can after shooting.. Once the wee bit of heat goes away the glass seems to harden and set up..Just my findings .. I lost a Lilja in a BR rifle at 17K rounds I believe to this powered glass stuff...

[Cumbrian]

I wont disagree with whats been said... Eric was correct with ammo being abrasive. Its the powdered glass in the priming compound, It falls t the bottom of the barrel, you will notice a scratching with a bore scope at six o'clock after as few as a couple brinks of ammo.. Best to run one loose patch through the bore as quick as one can after shooting.. Once the wee bit of heat goes away the glass seems to harden and set up..Just my findings .. I lost a Lilja in a BR rifle at 17K rounds I believe to this powered glass stuff...

I write out of extensive ignorance, but a couple of thoughts nonetheless:

1. I wonder what brand of ammunition you were using? Maybe different manufacturers use different additives for their primers? I think I have read of one purely anecdotal view (but from a rifle maker as I recall) that Eley is worse than others for glass in primers. There certainly seem to be different possibilities for primers - just Google 'glass in .22 rimfire ammunition' to find, 'inter alia,' a reference to pp.100-12 in 'Firearms, the law and forensic ballistics' by the rather charmingly named Margaret-Ann Armour. Plenty of erudite information there, plus a hint that maybe RWS have eliminated glass from their ammo by using titanium instead - but perhaps I have misunderstood the author.

2. How far down the rifling might the welded-on glass extend and what difference might it make if it does not extend very far?

[Cumbrian]

There is some confirmation of the view that Eley are using a lot of ground glass in their patented primers (since the 1990s) at www.chuckhawks.com>quest_22_ammo, which I discovered under the same Google reference that I cited in my post of yesterday.

If you read the article's sixth paragraph, I think you will find that Eley seem to be a bit defensive about the effect on barrels of their primers.

[Tim S]

Roger,

The abrasive effect of non-chlorate/mercuric primers isn't news. Western Supermatch, one of the leading brands of the '50s and' 60s, was well known for wearing barrels. Eley, in a booklet celebrating 50 years of Tenex report a case from the 1950s.

[Shooterer]

3 3/4 minutes of barrel life.

At 1100 fps, ammunition leaves a 30" barrel in .0022 seconds x 100,000 rounds = 227 seconds which equates to 3.78 minutes.

I hope this helps your decision. :)

[jhmartin]

3 3/4 minutes of barrel life.

At 1100 fps, ammunition leaves a 30" barrel in .0022 seconds x 100,000 rounds = 227 seconds which equates to 3.78 minutes.

I hope this helps your decision. :)

OK ..... I'm wondering --- :-)
If I have a 20" barrel does that mean I only get 2.52 min of barrel life?
Pistols must really go thru barrels fast!!

[Tim S]

OK ..... I'm wondering --- :-)
If I have a 20" barrel does that mean I only get 2.52 min of barrel life?

Perhaps if your rifle is belt fed.. I think the water jacket would get in the way a bit.

[Moore]

Sorry folks I got behind here on answering... Yes it was Eley ammo "black box". And the scratching goes all the way through on bottom, As expected worse at the breach, less toward muzzle but its there..

[chris jordan]

A friend was an alternate on US Olympic team and had about 250,000 rounds on his bbl before he replaced it and he. was still getting near perfect scores in local matches. I had a ton on mine and chopped it 2" and rechambe re s and it shot better than it did when new.