Life of a .223 Rem barrel

BeaverKiller

BeaverKiller

Member
I'm just curious how long a .223 barrel will make it before it needs to be replaced. Ive got about 2500 rounds through mine and its far from shot out but I wonder how long one lasts and the factors that determine its length.


Whoops wrong topic area
 
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Depends how and what you shoot. I've not burnt one up and I've shot a lot of 223. Depends if you load fast burning powder and shoot fast with it hot. If it's a regular shooter it should last forever. I'll bet I have 5k through my first ar15 and it still shoots fine as it did to start.
 
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If your Barrel was to see hard use, it might only take 6ooo rounds and you would notice a drop in accuracy. But this takes getting it hot, shooting Max loads, etc etc. When you do not abuse a gun the barrel can last much longer.
 
Barrel steel, throat dimensions and powder choices can come into play along with the pace of shooting. Of course the definition of accurcay is debatable. Minute of ground squirrel vs minute of coyote are two different worlds. Based on quantity of powder burned and bore diameter I wouldn't think that eyeball accuracy would go away until 3,500 or so. MOA for high power shooting might well stretch to double that.

Greg
 
My AR had I don't know how many tons of bullets down its throat. It was a swat rifle in florida, a swat rifle with my fil and then my duty rifle for a decade. Thousands and thousands and thousands of rounds every year in pretty brutal conditions. I wouldn't guess there is a whole lot of rifling left.

It's still usable for man sized targets to about 150 yards.

If you're talking benchrest winning accuracy, no idea.
 
2500 is just the front edge of breaking in.
I finally had one .223 I bought in 1984 go south in 2009 with over 40k rounds through it all moly coated. They do go for a long time depending on what you shoot through it Id have to say.
 
Originally Posted By: GLShooterBarrel steel, throat dimensions and powder choices can come into play along with the pace of shooting. Of course the definition of accurcay is debatable. Minute of ground squirrel vs minute of coyote are two different worlds. Based on quantity of powder burned and bore diameter I wouldn't think that eyeball accuracy would go away until 3,500 or so. MOA for high power shooting might well stretch to double that.

Greg

+1
 
Thanks fur the input. I'm not too worried about it then. I've been shootin loads that aren't very hot and hearing about 40000 rounds through one barrel is reassuring.
 
If I recall correctly, I started seeing fliers at 6700 with a 9tw using 69s and 75s with varget. I ran that barrel hard and when it opened up it still was just under or at an inch at 100.
 
I'm sorry to say that I have no idea on the exact number of rounds that my .223 AR has on it, but it's seen a bunch of high speed/high round shooting due to various action competitions/prairie dog shoots and while I've had it for over 15 years, it's still maintaining excellent accuracy....

It is, however, not a standard factory production 'thin' barrel that is normally found on an A2 AR...It's a SS 16" bull barrel that has been cryo'd (can't prove that it has been a factor) and it's been maintained as far as powder and copper build up...I keep it treated with a corrosion rejection treatment...

 
Im talking about a Tikka, which doesnt have a thin barrel but its thinner than yours. My AR has considerably less rounds through it. And ironically enough, I was just out shooting prairie dogs. Thats when the thought came to me.
 
As I understand it, the Army first tested the 222 Remington Magnum as the cartridge for the AR platform. Barrel life was not what they wanted with that round so they went to the 223. My experience with the 223 is that barrel life is fantastic. I shoot mine a lot, own a borescope and have never done any damage yet. One thing that can happen to small bore high velocity rifles is that they build up a hard carbon "ring" right at the throat. It can be tough to get out and it will open groups just like a shot out throat.
I was first told about this by the folks at Pac-Nor barrels and have since seen it a few times. A borescope is a handy thing.
 
Originally Posted By: msincAs I understand it, the Army first tested the 222 Remington Magnum as the cartridge for the AR platform. Barrel life was not what they wanted with that round so they went to the 223. My experience with the 223 is that barrel life is fantastic. I shoot mine a lot, own a borescope and have never done any damage yet. One thing that can happen to small bore high velocity rifles is that they build up a hard carbon "ring" right at the throat. It can be tough to get out and it will open groups just like a shot out throat.
I was first told about this by the folks at Pac-Nor barrels and have since seen it a few times. A borescope is a handy thing.


.224 Springfield, among other names it was, but the 222 Rem mag was what Remington standardized it as, but was never considered by the military as 222 Rem mag. Barrel life is not what killed the .224 Springfield. FYI.

With modern barrel steel, you are talking many many thousands of rounds with either the 223 or the 222 Rem mag for barrel life for everything besides benchrest competition. MOA or there abouts will last long enough to make your trigger finger look like the right leg of a old school Harley rider with a kick starter. That's a lot of trigger time.
 
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