How long are your barrels lasting?

[Alaskapopo]

Was curious as to how many rounds or seasons your getting out of your stainless barrels before you replace them?

Pat

[DyNo!]

I'm going to try and squeeze two seasons out of mine before a rebarrel - that's going to be more than 20k. 10 major matches in two years plus all the small matches and practice that goes with it.

When mine is finally done, accuracy will still be good - just not match worthy.

Edited March 14, 2012 by DyNo!

[cas]

My barrels will last me the rest of my life.

Every answer is relative.

[DyNo!]

Yup - I've only ever shot out two AR barrels.

"Shot out" for me is greater than 4 MOA with match ammo.

Shot out for most people means sideways bullets.

Most people wouldn't be able tell the difference between a 4 MOA barrel and a .75 MOA barrel.

[Alaskapopo]

Reason I ask is I am starting to see performance degrades in my Noveske. Not huge its gone from being a 1 moa to 1.4 moa shooter with match ammo to a 1.2 to a 1.7 moa gun. Once its over 2 moa I would want to get a new barrel or perhaps build a new upper for serious matches and keep this one for local matches and practice.

Pat

[Hi-Power Jack]

I am starting to see performance degrades in my Noveske.

How many shots, Pat?

Jack

[HRider]

Reason I ask is I am starting to see performance degrades in my Noveske. Not huge its gone from being a 1 moa to 1.4 moa shooter with match ammo to a 1.2 to a 1.7 moa gun. Once its over 2 moa I would want to get a new barrel or perhaps build a new upper for serious matches and keep this one for local matches and practice.

Pat

Have you removed the comp and cleaned the crown? Crud will build up on the crown and cause groups to open up. Also, check the comp, the SJC titan on my AR10 started blowing out between the crown of the barrel and the first port (gas pressure blew metal out of the comp). This caused groups to open up (went from .75 to 3" groups in a short time). SJC rebored my comp (to the first port) and that took care of the problem.

Hurley

[Alaskapopo]

I am starting to see performance degrades in my Noveske.

How many shots, Pat?

Jack

I have not kept good enough track but probably around 3000 to 4000 rounds. I will try removing the comp and cleaning the crown. I have changed muzzle brakes before but have not removed them for cleaning.

Pat

Edited March 15, 2012 by Alaskapopo

[cdrissel]

About 5 to 10 seconds.

www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/facts-about-barrel-life/

[Jaxshooter]

I have found that many times accuracy can be brought back by re-crowning the barrel. Over cleaning will wear out a barrel faster than most are shot out. I don't think 4000-5000 rounds will wear out an AR barrel unless it has been abused.

[jdknotts1]

About 5 to 10 seconds.

www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/facts-about-barrel-life/

Very interesting article. Never thought about it that way.

How many people actually keep a log of how many rounds are shot through a barrel? Having just started shooting competitively, I have never really worried about it. Just so far this year alone I've probably shot 3-4000 rounds. I've changed ammo enough through the life of the gun, I think it would be hard to track the degredation of accuracy being that different ammo shoots different. I guess I'm just going to wait til my jedi senses tell me something is wrong. And hopefully that doesn't come to me in the middle of a match.

Maybe once I invest in a replacement barrel I will keep a log book in my rifle bag. But then again, thats just one more thing to lose.

[bgary]

How many people actually keep a log of how many rounds are shot through a barrel?

I do.

[MustangGreg66]

How many people actually keep a log of how many rounds are shot through a barrel?

I did on my bolt gun, but when I started shooting my AR for multigun I found it more difficult to round count and not really worth it. I wouldn't replace a barrel based on round count but rather, performance. Shoot some groups and if it's tight enough for you, then it's still good. That said, I think I need to go group shoot my competition gun again haha.

The guys above me had a good point about the crown and comp. A friend of mine had a JP barrel that he thought was shot out after a season or two, he send it back to JP and they unscrewed the comp, cleaned the crown and it was back to shooting tiny groups. So before scraping a barrel, thats a good thing to look at.

My current barrel is a stainless and with all the rapid fire shooting we do, I'm thinking my next barrel will be Melonite/nitride/cryoed... some kind of longer barrel life treatment.

[RH45]

I had one that went over 10k without any issues, and another that at about 7k, went form 1/2" groups at 100 yards to 4", all of a sudden. Looking down the barrel, it appeared there wasn't ant rifling left, in the first couple of inches.

[Merlin Orr]

Got a barrel (of of a friends gun) that was replaced with a new one about a month ago... Had about 4 or 5 K through it. Turned it down and had it recrowned and am now shooting it on my Limited AR. Seems to shoot just fine. I know that it is at least minute of plate at 200 but hard to really tell with a red dot.....

It still had good rifling in the throat...

Edited March 16, 2012 by Merlin Orr

[Big Bore]

With the 20" stainless Rock River barrel I have on my Limited rig I have got approx. 10-12,000 rounds down range. These are all very warm 55 and 69 grain loads.

I dont really keep track, just shoot some groups occasinaly to see how it performs.

The groups have opened up from .5moa to 1.5moa so I will start looking for a new barrel later this spring.

Not bad for a 200 dollar barrel.

[9X23Guy]

I keep good round counts on everything so I have historical data. I wouldn't change a barrel on round count, I would change on group size but round count gives good indicators. In a 3 gun rifle stainless barrel rule for accuracy but they are ran extremely hard. I know an old school F Class guy that just cringes at the thought of how hard I run a stainless barrel, lol. Im also interested in your result on cleaning the comp and crown.

[saibot]

How many people actually keep a log of how many rounds are shot through a barrel?

I do as well. For everything. Here's a link to my spreadsheet if you need something to use for your stuff.

http://www.recoilsports.com/2011/01/shot-and-maintenance-log-spreadsheet/

Edited March 17, 2012 by saibot

[jdknotts1]

Anyone do chamber casts or slugs? I've heard of guys doing this through the life of the barrel and seeing the throat erosion. But I've only "heard" of guys who know guys that do it. Worth doing? Or just a waste of time? I think it would be fun to tinker with. But my desire to tinker has gotten me into trouble more than a few times.

[rkgsmith]

I actually have 2 uppers set up, one for match use with a stainless mastch barrel and the other with an Armalite barrel for practice. Sometimes I will go thur a bucket of ammo in a very short time, and if its hot outside the handguard is so hot I need a leather glove to hold the gun. Heat is one factor that really eats up barrels so I try to conserve the match barrel.

[DyNo!]

Yup - I only rapid fire in matches.

You can get good practice without dumping ammo.

[Huck]

Try working up a new load. AR barrels should last a LONG time, even with abuse. Just because the throat is eroded doesn't mean it's not gonna be accurate, it just means that the pressure curve has changed. I have had some CRAPPY barrels turn out great accuracy. Conversely, I have had some really good looking barrels that couldn't make me happy.

[dchang0]

I have not kept good enough track but probably around 3000 to 4000 rounds.

Whoa, that is WAY too low a round count for that type of accuracy loss for a Noveske. My bet's that you need to clean the crown. Do you use the KG series of cleaning products? They are quite frankly awesome at keeping barrels accurate. When the carbon buildup gets bad on my crown, I'll soak it in KG1 overnight, and then the stuff scrapes off easily with a fingernail. KG2 keeps the bore polished smooth. KG3 is basic gun scrubber like carburetor cleaner, and KG4 is their special gun oil that plays well with their other products.

Edited March 27, 2012 by dchang0

[Alaskapopo]

I have not kept good enough track but probably around 3000 to 4000 rounds.

Whoa, that is WAY too low a round count for that type of accuracy loss for a Noveske. My bet's that you need to clean the crown. Do you use the KG series of cleaning products? They are quite frankly awesome at keeping barrels accurate. When the carbon buildup gets bad on my crown, I'll soak it in KG1 overnight, and then the stuff scrapes off easily with a fingernail. KG2 keeps the bore polished smooth. KG3 is basic gun scrubber like carburetor cleaner, and KG4 is their special gun oil that plays well with their other products.

I ordered a new crush washer as I plan on removing the comp and cleaning the end of the barrel. If I can't KG3 locally what else do you suggest. My barrel maintance in the past has been this. I spray the bore with a foaming bore cleaner and let it sit for 20 minutes or more. I then run a brush through the bore about 10 times and then patchs with solvent (shooters choice) until they come out clean. Then I do the same with dry patches. Yeasterday I found out that I should be running patches with solvent first and then brushing it and then running dry patches through it. So I tried that but after the patches came out clean (dry) I would put solvent on the brush and run it in the bore 10 more times and then put a dry patch down the barrel and the patch would come out black and green again. I repeated this several times and never did it come out clean after running the brush. Does it ever come out clean. Is there a better way to clean your bore. How clean does it need to be? Thanks.

Pat

[jdknotts1]

I have not kept good enough track but probably around 3000 to 4000 rounds.

Whoa, that is WAY too low a round count for that type of accuracy loss for a Noveske. My bet's that you need to clean the crown. Do you use the KG series of cleaning products? They are quite frankly awesome at keeping barrels accurate. When the carbon buildup gets bad on my crown, I'll soak it in KG1 overnight, and then the stuff scrapes off easily with a fingernail. KG2 keeps the bore polished smooth. KG3 is basic gun scrubber like carburetor cleaner, and KG4 is their special gun oil that plays well with their other products.

I ordered a new crush washer as I plan on removing the comp and cleaning the end of the barrel. If I can't KG3 locally what else do you suggest. My barrel maintance in the past has been this. I spray the bore with a foaming bore cleaner and let it sit for 20 minutes or more. I then run a brush through the bore about 10 times and then patchs with solvent (shooters choice) until they come out clean. Then I do the same with dry patches. Yeasterday I found out that I should be running patches with solvent first and then brushing it and then running dry patches through it. So I tried that but after the patches came out clean (dry) I would put solvent on the brush and run it in the bore 10 more times and then put a dry patch down the barrel and the patch would come out black and green again. I repeated this several times and never did it come out clean after running the brush. Does it ever come out clean. Is there a better way to clean your bore. How clean does it need to be? Thanks.

Pat

I believe if its a bronze brush, that will cause the color reaction you are seeing. I run a wet patch through a few times, let it sit awhile. Run a few dry patches through and then repeat. I rarely use bronze brushes anymore unless I'm shooting training ammo (frang) that tends to be pretty dirty. I continue this process about three or four times. Then I'll run a patch with some oil on it to protect the bore.

I have a lot of old bronze brushes in my cleaning kit that are all green from the color reaction with the solvent. That would be my guess at why you never get a clean patch through your process.