TargetTalk

Hi all,
I am completely new to the world of smallbore, and have jus started looming for a used rifle. My question is: how many rounds can you reasonably expecttk shoot through a barrel before accuracy drops off? Looking at the type of busts used and the amount of velocity and presssure, it would seem that they'd almost last forever, but I'm sure that's not correct. Just looking for a ballpark estimate to keep in mind while shopping so I can have some idea if a rifle is close to needing a re-barrel.

Thanks for the help,
Erik.

I rebarrelled my Winchester 52 after around 80,000 rounds because there was a dark spot in front of the chamber and didn't notice any tighter groups with a new Hart tube. The previous owner shot in a league for at least 10 years and never cleaned it. I used it for outdoor prone.
I've been told more rimfire barrels are worn out through improper cleaning techniques than from shooting.

Barrel life also depends on your accuracy requirements and abilities. For indoor shooting at 25 yards, most hobby shooters will never wear out a barrel. However for a serious competition shooter at 50m/100 yards, it's a different story.

In a recent thread, Eric Uptagrafft stated a fgure of 40,000 rounds after which accuracy fades. Eric is a wolrd record holder in the 50m prone event, and was a finalist at the World Championships last year, so his standards are exceptionally high.

Last year I switched by 1979 Anschutz 1613 for a 1991 Shilen-barreled 1813 and noticed a distinct improvement at 100 yards.

Erud wrote:Hi all,
I am completely new to the world of smallbore, and have jus started looming for a used rifle. My question is: how many rounds can you reasonably expecttk shoot through a barrel before accuracy drops off? Looking at the type of busts used and the amount of velocity and presssure, it would seem that they'd almost last forever, but I'm sure that's not correct. Just looking for a ballpark estimate to keep in mind while shopping so I can have some idea if a rifle is close to needing a re-barrel.

Thanks for the help,
Erik.

I would agree barrel cleaning method can have an impact on barrel life like using steel rods and brushes. For example, if your using tight rods the rod will flex and in the process contact the chamber and rifling down the barrel. If your using regular leaded non jacketed target ammo then the barrel should certainly last longer then your life time. The bottom line you can't just go by the number of rounds just watch how the rifle is grouping and if starts falling out of your expected averages then have a gunsmith investigate. The grouping can be an indication, but it may also be that your ammo is different, to much fouling, temperature changes, and etc. The gunsmith might be able to check the crowns and chamber for wear and the rifling with a bore scope to see if their is a problem.

All these problems can occur at anytime. I had purchased a brand new Anschutz 1912 from Champion's Choice and the rifle was shooting .25" to almost .5" groups right from the start. I had the rifle checked out by a gunsmith and the crown was screwed up at the factory. He crowned the barrel and it shot great after that.

Thanks for the info, guys. Kind of backed up what I was thinking, but I've made a lot of bad(and expensive!) assumptions before so I prefer to listen to guys who actually know! Much appreciated.

Regards,
Erik