Powders that accelerate wear in 30 cal Barrels

Hi Guys. Before I ask this I want to thank you all for your patients. This is a rather rookie question and one I didn't even consider when developing loads for 260 Rem, 308 Win. and 300 Win Mag.

So my situation is this. In my 260 I found a good accuracy node utilizing V V N550. I used the same powder for my 308 Win. and it also worked very well (pictures attached). I was so happy I went to V V N560 for the 300 Win Mag. This ones promising but I haven't completed testing yet.

Now I find out these powders (according to one guy) are temp sensitive and could accelerate (burn out) my barrels. I'm just starting research to find out just how fast the damage can occur (round count), if that's possible, and just how temp sensitive these powders are. What I'm ultimately trying to do is find out if I need to change powders and if so...to what to get good performance.

Can you help me out here. I'm sorta at a loss for just where I can find this info and need sound advice. Thanks again for your patience in advance.260 Rem The 308 win is the yellow circle (no thick black line.

This might help?
https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf...4#imgdii=uxT8AzECpNrTzM:&imgrc=EQ8cQTS7cFlIrM:

I would say double based powders will accelerate throat erosion. As far as how much it would be very difficult to measure and I would venture to guess less than 10% which I don't find to be a big deal. There is no free lunch with physics. Better performance will equal less life. As far as temp sensitivity I can not speak to every powder but I have not found N570 or N565 to be sensitive at all.

Barrel wear is just something you deal with. In the end if you shoot out a barrel in a hunting rifle it's probably 30 years old. A 308 will probably last 3000 rounds or more, a .260 will wear probably 1500-2000. A 300 win mad probably around a 1000. This will increase or decrease based on how you run your loads and how you shoot them. If you are shooting strings of 10 without letting the barrel cool and keep hammering rounds down the barrel it will wear faster. If you take your time and let the barrel cool between smaller strings it will last longer. Don't worry so much about the powder, just treat the barrel good and it will treat you good.

Barrel wear is mostly a function of the case design. Most guys who shoot the 6.5-284 soon learn that barrel life is around 1,200 rounds. I have some 30BR barrels that were still going strong at 4,000 rounds. Go figger.

I don't think temperature stability plays a role in barrel life. Pressure/burn characteristics do. While it didn't appear to be substantiated, I have recently seen a few posts speculating/experiencing shorter barrel life using N565/N570. I have thought about this myself when using the "high energy" powders like N565 and R26. While the
'very noticeable" increased velocity compared to my typically used slow-burners(ie.H1000 and Retumbo) is appreciated, it probably doesn't come for free. If a material loss of barrel life was in fact the case, I would question the trade off.

Pressure and temperature. My 6.5-284 would last 5000 rounds if I loaded it with lower pressure thus lower temps.
Patients??? Hehe

Mram10us said:

Pressure and temperature. My 6.5-284 would last 5000 rounds if I loaded it with lower pressure thus lower temps.
Patients??? Hehe

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Might as well not use that cartridge if it's not being loaded to full potential

KyCarl said:

This might help?
https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf...4#imgdii=uxT8AzECpNrTzM:&imgrc=EQ8cQTS7cFlIrM:

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Thanks KyCarl...Very interesting info. I'll have to spend a lot of time digesting this. I appreciate this. Thanks again

Dmagna said:

Might as well not use that cartridge if it's not being loaded to full potential

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Agreed. That's my point. Takes temp and pressure to equal speed and performance.

rfurman24 said:

I would say double based powders will accelerate throat erosion. As far as how much it would be very difficult to measure and I would venture to guess less than 10% which I don't find to be a big deal. There is no free lunch with physics. Better performance will equal less life. As far as temp sensitivity I can not speak to every powder but I have not found N570 or N565 to be sensitive at all.

Click to expand...

Thanks rfurman24.Your right, of course. There is no free lunch I just want to get the best performance with the least amount of wear. I'll keep the N570 & N565 in mind. If there's any loading info, I'll find it later, I might switch. Thanks again.

Dmagna said:

Barrel wear is just something you deal with. In the end if you shoot out a barrel in a hunting rifle it's probably 30 years old. A 308 will probably last 3000 rounds or more, a .260 will wear probably 1500-2000. A 300 win mad probably around a 1000. This will increase or decrease based on how you run your loads and how you shoot them. If you are shooting strings of 10 without letting the barrel cool and keep hammering rounds down the barrel it will wear faster. If you take your time and let the barrel cool between smaller strings it will last longer. Don't worry so much about the powder, just treat the barrel good and it will treat you good.

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Sound advice I'd say Thanks Dmagna. I do smaller strings and do give it time to cool between strings. Depending on ambient temp I will give it time between shots.

I was a little worried about the powder only for the fluctuations you can encounter with temp changes...just want to be safe and not destroy my equip. Thanks again for the encouragement.

Greyfox said:

I don't think temperature stability plays a role in barrel life. Pressure/burn characteristics do. While it didn't appear to be substantiated, I have recently seen a few posts speculating/experiencing shorter barrel life using N565/N570. I have thought about this myself when using the "high energy" powders like N565 and R26. While the
'very noticeable" increased velocity compared to my typically used slow-burners(ie.H1000 and Retumbo) is appreciated, it probably doesn't come for free. If a material loss of barrel life was in fact the case, I would question the trade off.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the insight Greyfox. I'll keep that in mind. Looks like I need to figure out what the burn rate is on these. Typically the N550 & N560 are also slow burners..just don't know for a fact where they compare with H1000.

I think we always have to ask ourselves what our priorities are. There are always trade offs. For competition, ultimately, consistency is king. A couple hundred fps at a known distance means little and a higher round count is desirable. For a hunting rifle, that speed helps cover variables in situation such as an animal moving a few steps after ranging or when using a nearby object to range because our equipment cant reliably range a relatively non-reflecive target.

Elmer Kieth (I think) is reported to have said, "Efficiency be *rule 4 violation*, its results we're after".

And as dmagna pointed out, a hunting rifle may last 30 years regardless. Just my .02.