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Rifles, Reloading, Optics, Equipment
Rifles, Bullets, Barrels & Ballistics
bore wear on Weatherby 338/378
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<blockquote data-quote="Kevin Thomas" data-source="post: 510603" data-attributes="member: 15748"><p>eaglenester,</p><p> </p><p>It's been danced around so far, but I don't think anyone's quite touched on it just yet; bullet weight is (IMHO) the largest factor in play here. As Lou and JE mentioned, throat erosion is the problem here. Velocity can be a problem, but it pales in comparison to what happens when we use heavy bullets at the same sort of pressures. Heavier bullets have more inertia, and overcoming that in getting the projectile moving down the bore allows those hot erosive gasses and high pressures to dwell for a considerably longer period (still talking an incredibly small gap of time here) right there in the throat area. If you take a look under a borescope, you'll normall find shot-out barrels looking nearly pristine just a few inches ahead of the chamber. No cracking or checking whatsoever. Pull the scope back to the area just ahead of the chamber and tyou'll be shocked at the amount of damage. Rough cracking, like a bad asphalt road with chunks missing in places. </p><p> </p><p>I've seen dozens of examples of barrels done in identical chambernings where one was used with heavy bullets exclusively, and the other with lighter bullets. In virtually every example, the barrel used with the heavier bullets had significantly shorter life, usually around half in terms of round count. Lighter bullets, even at very high velocity, just aren't as hard on bore life as the heavier projectils are. We use heavy bullets because they work for the tasks we ask of them, not because they prolong barrel life. But we should also use them with the knowledge that they have costs associated with them, beyond what we originally pay to buy them.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Kevin Thomas, post: 510603, member: 15748"] eaglenester, It's been danced around so far, but I don't think anyone's quite touched on it just yet; bullet weight is (IMHO) the largest factor in play here. As Lou and JE mentioned, throat erosion is the problem here. Velocity can be a problem, but it pales in comparison to what happens when we use heavy bullets at the same sort of pressures. Heavier bullets have more inertia, and overcoming that in getting the projectile moving down the bore allows those hot erosive gasses and high pressures to dwell for a considerably longer period (still talking an incredibly small gap of time here) right there in the throat area. If you take a look under a borescope, you'll normall find shot-out barrels looking nearly pristine just a few inches ahead of the chamber. No cracking or checking whatsoever. Pull the scope back to the area just ahead of the chamber and tyou'll be shocked at the amount of damage. Rough cracking, like a bad asphalt road with chunks missing in places. I've seen dozens of examples of barrels done in identical chambernings where one was used with heavy bullets exclusively, and the other with lighter bullets. In virtually every example, the barrel used with the heavier bullets had significantly shorter life, usually around half in terms of round count. Lighter bullets, even at very high velocity, just aren't as hard on bore life as the heavier projectils are. We use heavy bullets because they work for the tasks we ask of them, not because they prolong barrel life. But we should also use them with the knowledge that they have costs associated with them, beyond what we originally pay to buy them. [/QUOTE]
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Rifles, Reloading, Optics, Equipment
Rifles, Bullets, Barrels & Ballistics
bore wear on Weatherby 338/378
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