Equipment versus practice posts and Rifle practice/shooting

[Formidilosus]

Have you shot out a statistically valid sample of barrels without cleaning where the barrel lasted quite a few years? ie shooting maybe 100 rounds a year?

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Then I started shooting multiple barrels out a year- at some points a barrel every 2-3 weeks.

Shooting less isn’t going to hurt the barrel more.

 

[HighUintas]

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Shooting less isn’t going to hurt the barrel more.

I might be becoming convinced to try it. That's scary.

 

[Formidilosus]

I might be becoming convinced to try it. That's scary.

Ha. Why? A new barrel is $500-$600. Ammo to wear itnout is much more expensive.
Anyone that is genuinely concerned about burning out a barrel, is not worried about replacing a barrel.

 

[HighUintas]

Ha. Why? A new barrel is $500-$600. Ammo to wear itnout is much more expensive.
Anyone that is genuinely concerned about burning out a barrel, is not worried about replacing a barrel.

For the chance that it doesn't work for mine, after say 1000 rds, then I'd have to buy a new barrel 4000 rounds earlier. And the general feeling that if I do X to my barrel, it's going to be F'd and won't be fixable.

 

[Formidilosus]

For the chance that it doesn't work for mine, after say 1000 rds, then I'd have to buy a new barrel 4000 rounds earlier. And the general feeling that if I do X to my barrel, it's going to be F'd and won't be fixable.

The thousand round cost you $500-$1,000, doubly what a new barrel runs. For $500 you gain experience and knowledge.


In any case, you aren’t shooting a barrel out four times faster by not cleaning it (or by cleaning it).

Someone said it in another post, and it bears repeating for all- shoot more, worry less. The more people shoot, the less they worry about this stuff.

 

[HighUintas]

The thousand round cost you $500-$1,000, doubly what a new barrel runs. For $500 you gain experience and knowledge.


In any case, you aren’t shooting a barrel out four times faster by not cleaning it (or by cleaning it).

Someone said it in another post, and it bears repeating for all- shoot more, worry less. The more people shoot, the less they worry about this stuff.

Done! Is there any consistency from barrel to barrel or brand to brand as to how many rounds it takes to really foul them to an equilibrium? Is there a ballpark number you can give?

 

[Dobermann]

I like it when Form gets us to think.

I love it when Form changes our minds.

What I love even more is seeing people hang in there, with the right mix of challenging questions and an open mind, and then decide to give something a go.

 

[Formidilosus]

Done! Is there any consistency from barrel to barrel or brand to brand as to how many rounds it takes to really foul them to an equilibrium? Is there a ballpark number you can give?

Ehh. Most barrels seem to settle down in velocity and grouping somewhere between 100-200 rounds.

 

[HighUintas]

Ehh. Most barrels seem to settle down in velocity and grouping somewhere between 100-200 rounds.

And for the last thing I can think of at the moment. Does a high rate of fire and high barrel temperature reduce barrel life? I know you've already mentioned it doesn't affect accuracy until it gets red hot as long as the barrel was properly stress relieved

 

[koppertop]

Hey Form, great info as usual. After reading some of your info I quit cleaning my stainless barrels a bit over a year ago, thus far it has been a pleasure. Would you treat a blued barrel any differently than stainless or would you still use the same don’t clean routine on a blued barrel?

 

[Formidilosus]

Does a high rate of fire and high barrel temperature reduce barrel life?

Absolutely. The larger the case capacity and smaller the bore diameter, the hotter the temperature in the same amount of rounds, and the less barrel life.

As a general thing I’ll shoot 223’s 20-30 rounds, and 243-30/06 class stuff for 10 rounds then let it cool. Bigger magnums usually 3-5 and cool. Now that is just normal shooting, I will shoot 10-15 shots through them all every once and a while to make sure that they’re mechanically still good.


On barrel life and heat- interesting that people like heavy barrels because they take longer to get hot, yet the throat is the same temperature regardless of thickness for practical uses.

 

[Formidilosus]

Hey Form, great info as usual. After reading some of your info I quit cleaning my stainless barrels a bit over a year ago, thus far it has been a pleasure. Would you treat a blued barrel any differently than stainless or would you still use the same don’t clean routine on a blued barrel?

I like not cleaning....

Blued gets shot same as the rest, but I don’t use many blued barrels anymore as I don’t want to deal with them.

 

[E in CO]

Dumb question. when you say shoot and don’t clean, do you run an oil patch down the bore to store them in the safe or put them up dry for a month or two At a time between shooting it? Thanks in advance.

 

[fightthenoise]

I don’t think Form can start a thread anymore without it diverting to guys getting their world views shattered and it’s one of my favorite things on the internet.

 

[E in CO]

Yup, enough so that it made me add 1 message to my 4 yr total of 80 messages...

 

[HighUintas]

Absolutely. The larger the case capacity and smaller the bore diameter, the hotter the temperature in the same amount of rounds, and the less barrel life.

As a general thing I’ll shoot 223’s 20-30 rounds, and 243-30/06 class stuff for 10 rounds then let it cool. Bigger magnums usually 3-5 and cool. Now that is just normal shooting, I will shoot 10-15 shots through them all every once and a while to make sure that they’re mechanically still good.


On barrel life and heat- interesting that people like heavy barrels because they take longer to get hot, yet the throat is the same temperature regardless of thickness for practical uses.

I thought that would still be true. Just wanted to make sure there weren't any more round earths around here

Yes and people think they can shoot carbon fiber wrap barrels longer because they "don't get hot as fast" or that they "cool faster"... How about carbon fiber in epoxy having a lower thermal conductivity than stainless?

That's why I like my light pencil barrel. I can take a damp cloth wipe it for a few minutes, let it rest for a couple more, and it's back to ambient, or close to it . Low thermal mass exposed to the air, cools quickly. And, it doesn't take as long for the barrel's outer surface to warm up, letting me know to give it a break.

 

[Mlank]

This is greatness.

 

[Formidilosus]

Dumb question. when you say shoot and don’t clean, do you run an oil patch down the bore to store them in the safe or put them up dry for a month or two At a time between shooting it? Thanks in advance.

Nope. Shoot. Store. Shoot some more.

Static zero is what I’m after. Oil in the barrel changes zero.

 

[E in CO]

Got it, thank you.

 

[david2duck]

I’ve posted this before. I first saw a post by form about not cleaning and it got me thinking. So, I bought a cheap ruger American predator and started shooting it a good amount. It still shoots exactly like it did in the beginning. I have now stopped cleaning all my rifle barrels from cheap to pretty stinking expensive. Zero problems except Im now buying and shooting way more ammo since I’m not wasting time cleaning. I used to hate taking out a few guns cause I didn’t want to come home and clean them all. Now the more the merrier. If you are nervous try it on a gun you don’t really care about. You won’t go back to cleaning though.