I am looking to put a new barrel on my 700 .308. The original barrel has about 1800 round through it. And it's the only thing, along with the recoil lug that hasn't been changed. the original barrel is the 26" varmint. I have shot deer & coyotes out to 600 yards and can hit steel consistently out to 1k. Id like to change the barrel before I start losing accuracy. Any ideas?lightbulb
time for new barrel
- Thread starter SLRees
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MudRunner2005
Well-Known Member
You should be able to get atleast 4-5x that amount of barrel life out of it...At minimum 6,000 rounds. A .308 Win barrel will last ****-near forever. Alot of competitive shooters swap the barrel at 10,000 rounds no matter what, even if there's barrel lif left.
I agree. Do you handload?
I hand load. 185 gr berger bullets. I'm sure I'm pushing max pressure, maybe just a bit more. With high pressure, won't that decrease barrel life? I don't want to post my exact load because I don't want anyone trying it right out of the box for a starting load and blowing their gun up.
Outlaw6.0
Well-Known Member
MudRunner2005
Well-Known Member
The reason being is the .308 Win is so under-bore that it barely does any damage each time you shoot. It's not a fast cartridge, it uses a small amount of powder, and pushes a big heavy bullet ouf of a large .308 sized case mouth. Therefore the pressures aren't super intense like a magnum caliber or a small-bore with a large case capacity that pushes a bullet REALLY fast.
Think of it like this....
.308 Win is like an Acetylene torch....It's got a big flame, but it's not concentrated, so it takes a LONG time of heating up before it can cuts through metal.
.300 Rem Ultra Mag is like a plasma cutter....It's got a very small flame, but it's SUPER concentrated, and the gases are so pressurized it blows holes instantly through metal.
Tikkamike
Well-Known Member
Sometimes a guy just needs change... and sometimes once you get it in your head something needs changed the only thing to do is change. Personally I fully support a new barrel..is your old one close to going bad? probably not.. but maybe. depends on how its been taken care of how hot has it gotten...etc lots of variables. Would a new barrel be awesome and exciting? ABSOLUTELY!! so why not.. you can make it longer or shorter fluted or not.. lots of cool fluting out there. and in the end itll probably even shoot beter than it does now which is win/win... as far as a barrel there are tons of good options out there. I personally have experience with Krieger, Benchmark and Lilja. I prefer a cut rifled barrel over button because the process seems like it would create a better finished product, and I think its cool. But the button pulled barrels shoot just as well. Good luck on the project if you wish to proceed. Make sure you pick a reputable smith. myself and many others can give good recommendations.
