Bagellord Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 Anyone know what the barrel life is on these guns? I've got somewhere north of 15k on one of mine, and I've noticed that the groups are quite bad compared to my basically brand new gun. The barrel slides forwards and backwards a fair mount in the slide, when I don't have a recoil spring installed. Is it time for a new barrel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m39nut Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 (edited) Not sure, don't have a high enough round count on mine yet. Does it have more play without the recoil spring than when it was new? If it is wearing to a higher clearance what I would be afraid of is that some of the wear would be on the barrel but some would also be on the slide which would mean putting a new barrel would still not bring it to new spec. Or you could put an APEX semi fitted barrel which would almost certainly make it better. Edited October 9, 2019 by m39nut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bagellord Posted October 9, 2019 Author Share Posted October 9, 2019 Not sure about now vs new, just don't remember. I'll have to test the other gun I have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m39nut Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 (edited) I also forgot to ask what kind of ammo are you using? Some fouls worse than others and I just don't feel the new solvents are as good of getting rid of copper fouling as Sweet 7.62 or old formula Hoppes with ammonia in them. I just don't get the patches coming out green from the copper dissolving like I used to. I used to scrub the barrels until that discoloring on the patch went away. I would have to clean my national match barrel M1A very thoroughly with a nylon bore brush and Sweets if I wanted to keep my accuracy good. And that was every 100 rounds. I just hope you don't need a new barrel this early. That would be a pain to have to change that often. Edited October 9, 2019 by m39nut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bagellord Posted October 9, 2019 Author Share Posted October 9, 2019 Pretty much exclusively Blue Bullets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m39nut Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 Very much doubt that you would wear the rifling early with those. Just for curiosity I would be tempted to run a Lewis lead remover and see if anything comes out. Not necessarily lead but maybe some of the coating used on the bullets building up in the corners of the rifling. I would like to think Smith designed the barrel and slide to last longer that 15K rounds and will be very disappointed if it can't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bagellord Posted October 9, 2019 Author Share Posted October 9, 2019 Yeah as would I. I will try a lead remover to see if maybe there's just a lot of buildup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saab Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 I have shot blue bullets in three different barrels in my M&P pro. They do not group well in any of them... If you buy a barrel, get an Apex semi drop in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m39nut Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 I know I used Bayou Bullets with my Shadow and HP38 powder and occasionally would have to scrub to get the coating out a little, not too bad just some extra work with a copper brush. I never used Blue Bullets but I am assuming the coating is somewhat similar. And the combo of HP38 and Bayou coatings made a bad smell during shooting...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m39nut Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 After you use the lead remover and scrub the barrel well I would do a quick sanity check by getting just a couple of boxes of factory loads such American Eagle 124gr and just see how they perform. If it still is bad after that them maybe time for a new barrel. I am interested in this since I have an almost new M&P 2.0 and want it to last a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClayBuster Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 (edited) 16 hours ago, Bagellord said: Pretty much exclusively Blue Bullets I doubt you'd ever wear out a pistol barrel shooting lead bullets. Edited October 10, 2019 by ClayBuster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yigal Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 good friend use m&p for ipsc training and comps. gun after 75k of factory 115gr and 124 gr ammo. same accuracy as was a new .and he is a pro shooter. he check this every week. and gun is always clean after shooting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m39nut Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 49 minutes ago, yigal said: good friend use m&p for ipsc training and comps. gun after 75k of factory 115gr and 124 gr ammo. same accuracy as was a new .and he is a pro shooter. he check this every week. and gun is always clean after shooting. That's the kind of life I'm hoping for!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yigal Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 i read about some trial in US that check this gun. but in this trial they stopped shooting with this gun after 63k they found small crack in slide. but they checked the accuracy all over the trial and it stays the same from 0- 63k. now i can believe about this . not like to a car dealer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bagellord Posted October 10, 2019 Author Share Posted October 10, 2019 I'm gonna try scrubbing the barrel really well when I get a chance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrimaryBruce Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 Never heard of a pistol barrel not going at least 30-50k rounds, even on a poor quality barrel made from sub par material (which I don't believe the M&P 2.0 falls under). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bagellord Posted October 10, 2019 Author Share Posted October 10, 2019 13 minutes ago, PrimaryBruce said: Never heard of a pistol barrel not going at least 30-50k rounds, even on a poor quality barrel made from sub par material (which I don't believe the M&P 2.0 falls under). That's why i am so surprised at the accuracy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m39nut Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 (edited) I was talking to a friend at work today who is a benchrest shooter. Even though it's not an exact comparison he was saying a lot of rifle shooters tried moly coated bullets and gave up on them due to loss of accuracy due to the moly putting a residue in the barrel. And he added it took a LOT of scrubbing to get it out. I wonder if this is the same condition. Edited October 10, 2019 by m39nut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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