338 terminator +p barrel life

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I have a lrkm 338 terminator +p with under 200 rounds on it. Now that these have been around a what is the approx barrel life. I treat it pretty well never shooting more than three shots without letting it totally cool. Load is 105 grain N570 , 300 otm @3060. There is a slight ejector mark with this load and is very accurate . Just curious on others experience.
 

Ryan Avery

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I have never owned a 338 Terminator but have owned a couple of 300 Terminators. Both of them went between 6-700 rounds. I have seen a few 338 Edge +P with over 1200 rounds so I would imagine if you are nice to it the 338 T would get 1000+. I have seen a few 338 Edge +P with over 1200 rounds.

@Broz have you burnt one up yet??
 
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K
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Thanks Ryan. I would be pretty happy if it made it to 1k with the same accuracy. I was all set to try a 300 terminator but when my 30 nosler went about 750 rounds it kind of changed my mind. I was running it pretty hard with n570 though.
 

Broz

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@Broz have you burnt one up yet??
Nope. We have owned 4 of them now in 338 Terminator counting the one I had Shawn build last fall. Its a 26" and the load is 105.8 gr of 570 with a 300 Berger @ 3000 fps. The others were 31 and 32" tubes running from a soft 3050 to another at 3160 and my old mile Bear killer at 3198. It had about 600 down it when I sold it and it was still shooting .2 to .3 moa. total throat wear was about .015". Daniel ran his 30" in a lower node and that throat never moved over 300 rounds. I think 1000 rounds is reasonable if you keep her cool and no long strings.

I have had a few 300 Terminators and haven't smoked a barrel on them yet either. But I would say 700 to 800 would be reasonable.

Don't know why, but those darn Nosler's eat barrels. Both 28 and 30's. My 30 Nosler ( Not a +P) ate a tube in about 650 and the second barrel was looking bad at 400 when I pulled it and put it in the garbage. I went back to the 300 win mag and a +P throat in that one and it is a great rifle again.
 
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Don't know why, but those darn Nosler's eat barrels. Both 28 and 30's. My 30 Nosler ( No +P) ate a tube in about 650 and the second barrel was looking bad at 400 when I pulled it and put it in the garbage. I went back to the 300 win mag and a +P throat in that one and it is a great rifle again.
Yeah its not the nosler cartridges causing the short barrel life.. Guys are getting 800 + with the 28 Nos, you've got something else going on.
N570 will do it for sure, or cheap steel, CF wrapped can go quick due to heating the thin core super hot.
Curious if either were CF?
 

Broz

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Yeah its not the nosler cartridges causing the short barrel life.. Guys are getting 800 + with the 28 Nos, you've got something else going on.
N570 will do it for sure, or cheap steel, CF wrapped can go quick due to heating the thin core super hot.
Curious if either were CF?
K
 

cjl2010

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Yeah its not the nosler cartridges causing the short barrel life.. Guys are getting 800 + with the 28 Nos, you've got something else going on.
N570 will do it for sure, or cheap steel, CF wrapped can go quick due to heating the thin core super hot.
Curious if either were CF?
Pretty sure they were Christensen barrels if I remember correctly. I vaguely remember him rechambering the 2nd barrel though so maybe I’m confused.
 

BAKPAKR

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Nope. We have owned 4 of them now in 338 Terminator counting the one I had Shawn build last fall. Its a 26" and the load is 105.8 gr of 570 with a 300 Berger @ 3000 fps. The others were 31 and 32" tubes running from a soft 3050 to another at 3160 and my old mile Bear killer at 3198. It had about 600 down it when I sold it and it was still shooting .2 to .3 moa. total throat wear was about .015". Daniel ran his 30" in a lower node and that throat never moved over 300 rounds. I think 1000 rounds is reasonable if you keep her cool and no long strings.

I have had a few 300 Terminators and haven't smoked a barrel on them yet either. But I would say 700 to 800 would be reasonable.

Don't know why, but those darn Nosler's eat barrels. Both 28 and 30's. My 30 Nosler ( Not a +P) ate a tube in about 650 and the second barrel was looking bad at 400 when I pulled it and put it in the garbage. I went back to the 300 win mag and a +P throat in that one and it is a great rifle again.
Do your 338 Terminators have all steel barrels or CF barrels?

It sounds like @Ryan Avery is moving away from CF for larger calibers.
 

Ryan Avery

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Yeah its not the nosler cartridges causing the short barrel life.. Guys are getting 800 + with the 28 Nos, you've got something else going on.
N570 will do it for sure, or cheap steel, CF wrapped can go quick due to heating the thin core super hot.
Curious if either were CF?
I burned my 28 Nosler down in under 600 rounds but I was NASTY to it. Lots of big strings in a few comps. Broz and I don't agree on the 30 Nosler. I think it's the best case design when throated like a 300 PRC. I want to see a few more barrels get shot out before writing it off as a barrel burner. I built the 30 Nosler +P to see what she could do. I have 66 rounds down the pipe and will measure the throat every 100 rounds. With a 22-inch barrel, she is getting just over 3000 FPS with a 215.... Just about perfect.
 

Broz

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I built the 30 Nosler +P to see what she could do. I have 66 rounds down the pipe and will measure the throat every 100 rounds. With a 22-inch barrel, she is getting just over 3000 FPS with a 215.... Just about perfect.
Yeah we need to compare notes on this as we go forward. That is exactly the same performance I am getting from my 26" 300 win Mag +P with a charge well below max in a wide node. Two different ways to get like performance. I am at 350 rounds and throat has only moved a few thousands at first like most do. The best part is it has stayed in tune. I have always thought the win mag stayed in it's tune better too. Time will tell us for sure.
 

Broz

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Do your 338 Terminators have all steel barrels or CF barrels?

It sounds like @Ryan Avery is moving away from CF for larger calibers.
The current .338 Terminator is steel. But I have and still do use both. My 300 Terminators are carbon. I never get my barrels hot. Three shot strings are the most I will comfortably shoot a magnum. I am a hunter first. Only shoot a few matches a year. Have used both steel and carbon wrapped in comps too. It would take a lot of side by side comparisons to really show solid data on the carbon vs steel debate. And even then there will be variables. I will continue at this time to use both. But for different jobs for sure. I have devoted a lot of my time and money to big magnums. Burnt up a truck load of barrels on wild cats over the years. I have cut barrels up after they burnt out and had them Rockwell tested. Every one was in spec. I have ran same rifles with H-1000 and N-570. Seen no difference there either in real world wear comparisons when treated as they should be. Again, I don't run these hot. Heat is the key. Keep them cool, and clean the carbon ring out regularly, if you want all the life from a barrel.

We have seen 28 Noslers go in as little as 400 rounds. Most are in the 600 range some carbon some steel. R. Furman got the exact same results as I did from his first 30 N. Like 600 or 700 rounds. Maybe the same on his second one too, but I can't remember for sure on the second tube. But to compare round counts you need to decide when you call a barrel bad. Some see accuracy loss and accuracy opens to 1 or 1.5 moa and they keep shooting and add those to the round count. To me, when they open up, and we can not tune the load back in, the barrel is dead.

To get back on topic, the +P has gotten bad press. Mostly from people who have never owned one. Hell some that bash don't even know what it is. I have owned a ton of them. They have ALL been good to me. The 338's with the 300 Bergers show the most in performance gains. This will be shared by any bullet with longer bearing surfaces. The longer the bullet bearing surface the more the +P will bring to the table. I believe this will be true in the 300's as well using heavy longer bullets. But the 338 Terminator is flat impressive and even larger cases will struggle to match it. Some will, but they will give up tube life to do so and will likely burn before the Terminator will.
 
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I burned my 28 Nosler down in under 600 rounds but I was NASTY to it. Lots of big strings in a few comps. Broz and I don't agree on the 30 Nosler. I think it's the best case design when throated like a 300 PRC. I want to see a few more barrels get shot out before writing it off as a barrel burner. I built the 30 Nosler +P to see what she could do. I have 66 rounds down the pipe and will measure the throat every 100 rounds. With a 22-inch barrel, she is getting just over 3000 FPS with a 215.... Just about perfect.
Yeah I know a few guys who claimed they burned theirs out like you did but they were both CA Ridgelines, most shooters I've spoken with were around 800+.
I have 300 rounds through my 30 nosler and the throat has barely moved with H1000, the ones I hear about going south with low round counts were shot exclusively with N570, were CF, or were made by Xcaliber.
Ryan pierce said he's seeing around 1200 on the 30 Nos.
 

B23

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Viht's N570 seems to a little harder on throats than other powders. It tends to give the best velocity but it does seem to come at a bit of a cost. What's that saying, "there's no such thing as a free lunch".

But, as a gunsmith once told me, that's why barrels are threaded on.
 

Ryan Avery

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Yeah I know a few guys who claimed they burned theirs out like you did but they were both CA Ridgelines, most shooters I've spoken with were around 800+.
I have 300 rounds through my 30 nosler and the throat has barely moved with H1000, the ones I hear about going south with low round counts were shot exclusively with N570, were CF, or were made by Xcaliber.
Ryan pierce said he's seeing around 1200 on the 30 Nos.

I had a 300 T in Carbon and steel they both went out within 50 shots of each other.

I built the 30 Nosler +P with the cryo treated Benchmark hoping it adds life. Shooting 89 grains of 570, should be a great test!


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B23

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I think some of these cartridges and or throat designs would be a good test for one of Bartlein's, 400modbb steel, barrels. They cost more but if that 400modbb steel holds up better and lasts longer it could possibly offset the cost difference.
 

Broz

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I think some of these cartridges and or throat designs would be a good test for one of Bartlein's, 400modbb steel, barrels. They cost more but if that 400modbb steel holds up better and lasts longer it could possibly offset the cost difference.
I have two of them in the carbon wrapped version. Alex Wheeler is building me a 30 Lapua Improved off his reamer design. I usually just do two barrels when I build something like that. If it was a Nosler I would do 3. :ROFLMAO:
 

cjl2010

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I have two of them in the carbon wrapped version. Alex Wheeler is building me a 30 Lapua Improved off his reamer design. I usually just do two barrels when I build something like that. If it was a Nosler I would do 3. :ROFLMAO:
What did you do with the 2nd 30 nosler Christensen barrel you had?
 

Broz

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What did you do with the 2nd 30 nosler Christensen barrel you had?
So many barrels ago. But you are jogging my memory here. I think the second one was looking bad at an early count, like 350 or 400, so I guess I didn't toss that one. I set it back and chambered it 30 Lapua AI for another rifle. Then went to 300 Win with a carbonsix on that rifle and ran it for a season. Then Added the +P throat last fall and that is what I am still shooting with 215's at 3K in a very nice soft node.
 
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