worn barrel

[abi mod75]

Hi all,
I was wondering if anyone could tell me how to tell if my barrel is worn, I own a 75 hunter in .270, I had a gunsmith look at it with a bore scope and he seemed to think it 80% gone, before I re barrel I just want to be sure.
Thanks in advance.

 

[paulsonconstruction]

Unless someone purposely abuses a barrel by repeatedly firing rapid shot strings, a barrel should last several thousand rounds. So if the wild ass guess of your gunsmith is correct you should get 2000 to 3000 more rounds out of it. Bore scopes don't tell you as much as people think & trying to estimate how much a barrel is "worn" is an extremely subjective thing. As long as it maintains the accuracy you require, who cares what it "looks" like. I have several rifles with well over 3000 rounds down the tube that still shoot MOA groups & I have not babied them over the years. A barrel on a 270, having the low round count of the average hunting rifle, should last several lifetimes with proper care. Most of the guns I was told had a "worn out" barrel just needed a good cleaning to restore accuracy.

 

[blackjack]

Amen to that Paul, When I first purchased my Model 92 I was told by a so called barrel expert that my Winchester Model 92 .25 - 20 WCF had a worn and lightly pitted barrel! So I went home and gave that rifle barrel a severe repeated barrel scrub, using Parker / Hale 009 and bronze brushes. When the barrel was cleaned " Wow " what a difference! Yes slightly worn lands & grooves but no pitting! Not bad considering this beautiful " Take Down " came out of production during 1897. Also this rifle at 75 yards is very very accurate.

Blackjack

 

[stonecreek]

As long as it maintains the accuracy you require, who cares what it "looks" like

Well said, Paulson.

Until a barrel is properly cleaned and all of the variables which can affect accuracy (scope, mounts, action screws, ammunition, crown, bedding, etc.) have been checked out, looking at the appearance of its bore won't tell you all that much about whether it should be kept or replaced.

And when it comes to rifles in calibers which are not used for varmints or targets -- the .270 being a good example -- it is almost impossible for one to be "shot out" simply from field use. The barrel of a hunting caliber can be abused by rapid shooting at the range, or by allowing moisture to accumulate, or even by improper cleaning methods; but it will rarely be "shot out".

A good example of a bad looking barrel that shoots well might be my half-century old Sako .264, which, for the first 20 years or so of its life was virtually my only centerfire rifle and got a lot of shooting of all types. Its barrel is so fire-cracked that the first inch of the bore looks like alligator hide. But it still puts the first shot from a cold barrel exactly where it was zeroed and will dependably shoot MOA groups.

 

[Branxhunter]

Agree with everything said above.

I have an old very worn Sako .223 that used to be a pro Kangaroo shooters rifle. When it came to me the stainless aftermarket barrel had no rifling for the first 2" ahead of the chamber. It would still shoot around or just over 1" at 100m though.

I also have an Anschutz 1532 chambered in .222. I picked it up for $AUD250 because the previous owner couldn't get it to shoot at all. It took a three straight evenings with Sweets solvent to remove the copper mine from the bore, and now it shoots under 0.5", and occasionally down to 0.25", at 100m with its favoured load despite having a bit of pitting about halfway along the bore.

I did some load development for a friends sporter L461 .223. When he told me he paid $AUD120 for it including the 4-10 Pecar I was incredulous. When I got it home and looked down the bore I thought I had found the reason why - yep, bore looked very rough with pitting. Managed to get it shooting around 0.6" at 100m with 55gn Sierra SPs and he was a happy man.

I give these examples to further demonstrate that how a barrel looks on the inside doesn't always indicate how it will shoot.

So the question is what prompted you to get the gunsmith to check the bore? Is it because you have owned the rifle for some time and have noticed a deterioration in accuracy to a point that it doesn't perform they way you need it to? Then it may well require rebarreling. Or is it a rifle you have recently purchased that you got the gunsmith to check over? Then I suggest try shooting a few different loads and see what it tells you.

Marcus

 

[wombat]

Agree x 2
A few years ago I bought an L579 in .243, from a local guy I knew who local gunsmith had told him the barrel was worn and had "marks" in the rifling, anyhow I took a punt and bought it for a good price, gave it a good clean, it shot sub .75" with 100gn sp. projectiles. Dumb thing is I sold it a few years later!!??
But I have another older model L579 in .243 as good.
When anyone says a barrel has been borescoped, I always take that info "with a grain of salt"
Check all possible action and scope connections and a good clean as said by others more experienced than most on this thread, before you even think about a new barrel.
Good luck.... Jay

 

[Glenn Verrall]

Agree with everything said above.

I have an old very worn Sako .223 that used to be a pro Kangaroo shooters rifle. When it came to me the stainless aftermarket barrel had no rifling for the first 2" ahead of the chamber. It would still shoot around or just over 1" at 100m though.

I also have an Anschutz 1532 chambered in .222. I picked it up for $AUD250 because the previous owner couldn't get it to shoot at all. It took a three straight evenings with Sweets solvent to remove the copper mine from the bore, and now it shoots under 0.5", and occasionally down to 0.25", at 100m with its favoured load despite having a bit of pitting about halfway along the bore.

I did some load development for a friends sporter L461 .223. When he told me he paid $AUD120 for it including the 4-10 Pecar I was incredulous. When I got it home and looked down the bore I thought I had found the reason why - yep, bore looked very rough with pitting. Managed to get it shooting around 0.6" at 100m with 55gn Sierra SPs and he was a happy man.

I give these examples to further demonstrate that how a barrel looks on the inside doesn't always indicate how it will shoot.

So the question is what prompted you to get the gunsmith to check the bore? Is it because you have owned the rifle for some time and have noticed a deterioration in accuracy to a point that it doesn't perform they way you need it to? Then it may well require rebarreling. Or is it a rifle you have recently purchased that you got the gunsmith to check over? Then I suggest try shooting a few different loads and see what it tells you.

Marcus

 

[Glenn Verrall]

Couldn't agree more Marcus. I have a couple of L461s and the most recent purchase was also 'like a copper mine' with all the dirt and built up dust, this is the one you saw in Melbourne with the slight crack in the fore end. After a fair bit of cleaning I took it out to Charleville for a trip and could not believe how well it shot. It still even had the old Zero mounts on it. My local gunsmith, Alan Swan was not surprised, he said that the only way to tell about a barrel is to clean it and shoot it. So many variables in play. The trigger, pre clean broke at about 6 lbs , after clean nice and crisp as well.

 

[kirkbridgershooters]

Hi all,
I was wondering if anyone could tell me how to tell if my barrel is worn, I own a 75 hunter in .270, I had a gunsmith look at it with a bore scope and he seemed to think it 80% gone, before I re barrel I just want to be sure.
Thanks in advance.

If your doctor told you that you have cancer, the next thing you do is get a second opinion. I would do the same with that rifle. I find it hard to believe that a 270 barrel could be shot out, especially to 80% gone. If he meant the bore is just shot and not shot out, you have another situation.

Get the second opinion, if you can't see it for yourself. Shoot it and who cares what the % is if it shoots. You should always shoot a barrel until it won't shoot any more before you rebarrel it.

 

[Glenn Verrall]

Hi all,
I was wondering if anyone could tell me how to tell if my barrel is worn, I own a 75 hunter in .270, I had a gunsmith look at it with a bore scope and he seemed to think it 80% gone, before I re barrel I just want to be sure.
Thanks in advance.

How does it shoot over the bench?