loonatic
New Member
hi i have rem700 ssdm 338wm. this might be a stupid question .but i will not know till i ask .about how many rounds before it may be time to replace the factory barrel.this would be under normal use and cleaning . thanks Bob
barrel life how long
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steve smith
Well-Known Member
Define normal use and cleaning. If it was say 100rd per year and clean every 15-30. I'd say give it to your grandkids when you croak! hehehehe
The 338winnie will last you until you get board with it, then a new barrel in a different caliber cartridge will be neccisary.
[ 01-04-2002: Message edited by: txhunter ]
The 338winnie will last you until you get board with it, then a new barrel in a different caliber cartridge will be neccisary.
[ 01-04-2002: Message edited by: txhunter ]
Steve Shelp
Well-Known Member
Bob,
The big question is what is your definition of accuracy? Are you judging by shooting groups until they start to open up, or just by the simple fact that someday you may not be able to hit a deer or elk with it?
If your talking about average hunting accuracy (and use the std 1 MOA accuracy level) like the other poster above said, you'll be able to give it to your grandkids, though a new crown would/should help at some point in time.
Now to go to the other end of the accuracy scale: "all out accuracy down to the last .001" of an inch"
I own a 338 Lapau Improve for my 1,000yd Heavy gun clas rifle. I shot 1354 rounds through the Lilja SS barrel using anywhere from 91-98gr of powder for competition for 2 seasons. This is any number of sighters and then 10 shots for record. So anywhere from 13 to 18rds then cleaning using standard BR techniques. The throat burnt out .025" for those 1354 rds and had just started getting uneven contact with the lands, though it didn't show up on the target. It still shot very well. It's at Dave Tooley's shop right now to have another barrel put on it, but that isn't because the accuracy was gone, but because it wouldn't have made it through another match season and maintained the hign level of accuacy needed to compete. This barrel shot numerous groups in the .2XX" range at 100yds and even a couple in the ones using the 300gr MK. Talk about something that looks funny is a .338 (5) shot group that measures in the .1s.
This is to give you a benchmark to go from. So depending on what your looking for it's going to be somewhere between say 1500/2000rds on up to whatever on the other end of the scale. And your shooting the std 338 Win Mag which is a little easier on barrels than my case so these numbers can be bumped up also even using the factory blued steel barrel.
Hope it helps,
Steve
The big question is what is your definition of accuracy? Are you judging by shooting groups until they start to open up, or just by the simple fact that someday you may not be able to hit a deer or elk with it?
If your talking about average hunting accuracy (and use the std 1 MOA accuracy level) like the other poster above said, you'll be able to give it to your grandkids, though a new crown would/should help at some point in time.
Now to go to the other end of the accuracy scale: "all out accuracy down to the last .001" of an inch"
I own a 338 Lapau Improve for my 1,000yd Heavy gun clas rifle. I shot 1354 rounds through the Lilja SS barrel using anywhere from 91-98gr of powder for competition for 2 seasons. This is any number of sighters and then 10 shots for record. So anywhere from 13 to 18rds then cleaning using standard BR techniques. The throat burnt out .025" for those 1354 rds and had just started getting uneven contact with the lands, though it didn't show up on the target. It still shot very well. It's at Dave Tooley's shop right now to have another barrel put on it, but that isn't because the accuracy was gone, but because it wouldn't have made it through another match season and maintained the hign level of accuacy needed to compete. This barrel shot numerous groups in the .2XX" range at 100yds and even a couple in the ones using the 300gr MK. Talk about something that looks funny is a .338 (5) shot group that measures in the .1s.
This is to give you a benchmark to go from. So depending on what your looking for it's going to be somewhere between say 1500/2000rds on up to whatever on the other end of the scale. And your shooting the std 338 Win Mag which is a little easier on barrels than my case so these numbers can be bumped up also even using the factory blued steel barrel.
Hope it helps,
Steve
loonatic
New Member
normal use and cleaning / as for normal use i like to go to the range when i go lets say i will shoot 40 to 60 rounds clean 1 to 2 times while i am there . as for rounds fired from the gun i would say some were around 1000 to 1500 per year for the last 3 years since i bought the gun . the gun still shoots 1"groups @100yrds. i use 250 gr sierra bt with 70.5 imr 4831 if this helps . thanks lots for the replies so far . Bob
loonatic
New Member
hi steve since you brought this to my attention yes the shooting group is imporant to me . thanks Bob
longrangehunter
Well-Known Member
Regarding the barrel that Steve replaced. Are these barrels that still shoot well but aren't suitable for competition anymore worth the expensive of fitting to another action for hunting use? Seems like he has a great barrel that a LRH could use for many more years.
LRH
LRH
Steve Shelp
Well-Known Member
LRH,
Simple answer to your question is yes the accuracy is very much up hunting standards even at the extended ranges with "retired" competition barrels.
Here's what Dave said about the bore/throat after he tore it apart and took a peek with the bore scope. At 1354rds the barrel was barely "checking" and looked pretty good. Granted we're only basing this "report" on one barrel as compared to many other 30's he's looked down with his bore scope, but he said it looked better after 1354rds than any 30 with comparable amount of rounds. That was encouraging.
As an FYI: I kept VERY detailed records of this barrel for every round fired, and for cleaning the only thing the barrel ever saw was Butch's Bore Shine, a little Bore-Tech Copper Solvent toward the end (long story), and JB compound to keep the throat smoothed out.
Also my 6.5-300WWH barrel right now doesn't have a measureable throat in it, it's burnt out so much. It was originally throated for 140gr MKs, but I can put a 155gr MK sitting on top of the case, chamber it, pull it back out, and it won't push the 155gr bullet back at ALL. So I don't know where the lands are in this rifle, but at our the last match of the year in Sept, I took it out to the range to have some Friday evening fun before the match on Saturday just shooting at clay birds on the dirt bank. I could throw dirt on those birds shooting 140gr bullets, but I didn't break any. If they were gallon milk jugs I would say the hit/miss ratio would be 75/25. If they were deer standing there...... the freezer would've been full!
Steve
Simple answer to your question is yes the accuracy is very much up hunting standards even at the extended ranges with "retired" competition barrels.
Here's what Dave said about the bore/throat after he tore it apart and took a peek with the bore scope. At 1354rds the barrel was barely "checking" and looked pretty good. Granted we're only basing this "report" on one barrel as compared to many other 30's he's looked down with his bore scope, but he said it looked better after 1354rds than any 30 with comparable amount of rounds. That was encouraging.
As an FYI: I kept VERY detailed records of this barrel for every round fired, and for cleaning the only thing the barrel ever saw was Butch's Bore Shine, a little Bore-Tech Copper Solvent toward the end (long story), and JB compound to keep the throat smoothed out.
Also my 6.5-300WWH barrel right now doesn't have a measureable throat in it, it's burnt out so much. It was originally throated for 140gr MKs, but I can put a 155gr MK sitting on top of the case, chamber it, pull it back out, and it won't push the 155gr bullet back at ALL. So I don't know where the lands are in this rifle, but at our the last match of the year in Sept, I took it out to the range to have some Friday evening fun before the match on Saturday just shooting at clay birds on the dirt bank. I could throw dirt on those birds shooting 140gr bullets, but I didn't break any. If they were gallon milk jugs I would say the hit/miss ratio would be 75/25. If they were deer standing there...... the freezer would've been full!
Steve
Steve Shelp
Well-Known Member
sr90,
I do have it back. I was annealing cases last night. We'll see what the weatherman says for this weekend. Been busy with work and other stuff as usual. Will keep you updated on a new posting so it doesn't get lost in the shuffle.
Steve
I do have it back. I was annealing cases last night. We'll see what the weatherman says for this weekend. Been busy with work and other stuff as usual. Will keep you updated on a new posting so it doesn't get lost in the shuffle.
Steve
