How many rounds .243

john the fox

New Member
I have a .243 Sako 85 Hunter steel / Blue barrel
How many rounds can I use before the gun needs a new barrel

I use RWS 100gr Soft points
& Sako 100gr Soft points
Both of the above are factory Loads
 
I have a .243 Sako 85 Hunter steel / Blue barrel
How many rounds can I use before the gun needs a new barrel

I use RWS 100gr Soft points
& Sako 100gr Soft points
Both of the above are factory Loads

thousands

for some reason I have all the same questions when trying to sell my 243 ???? unless your a chain shooter it will out last you. ;)

bob.
 
Agreed, my .243 Savage 99 has a very old barrel that still shoots well. It isn't an 'overbore' caliber so throat burn is minimal.
 
Depends a lot on how you use it. Going to the range and putting a box of ammo through it very quickly twice a week will wear it out quicker than going out and firing the odd shot at a deer or fox.
 
I'm afraid the 243 is very firmly in the barrel burner camp. Those that claim thousands of round over many years stalking miss the point. A rifle that shoots "minute of deer" could very well be shot out for target/long range purposes. Long range accuracy is usually the first indication of trouble. If you never go there then ignorance is bliss.

I don't have time to use it right now but a little applet is available that calculates an estimate of barrel life. So far it was right on the money for two 270 barrels and a 204 barrel.

Below a chart from Accurate shooter (I think) Overbore means harder on the throat and less accurate life.


overborechart4a.png


Atb
 
I'm afraid the 243 is very firmly in the barrel burner camp. Those that claim thousands of round over many years stalking miss the point. A rifle that shoots "minute of deer" could very well be shot out for target/long range purposes. Long range accuracy is usually the first indication of trouble. If you never go there then ignorance is bliss.

I don't have time to use it right now but a little applet is available that calculates an estimate of barrel life. So far it was right on the money for two 270 barrels and a 204 barrel.

Below a chart from Accurate shooter (I think) Overbore means harder on the throat and less accurate life.


overborechart4a.png


Atb

Is anyone stuffing 57 grains of powder in a 6.5x55 case and getting a round seated safely???
 
Those that claim thousands of round over many years stalking miss the point.
A rifle that shoots "minute of deer" could very well be shot out for target/long range purposes.

but as the OP is shooting 100gr SP's and not 105/115 VLD's he is still likely to be "hitting the mark" 1000's of rounds later without a care in the world about whether his rifle will be MOA at 1000yds
 
So long as mine hits what I point it at I don't care if it's "worn out" or not, it's as accurate as I am or need it to be :thumb:
 
Being worn out doesn't mean the rifle is not fit for purpose. The purpose is the deciding factor. If it doesn't matter where the bullet strikes as long as it's within say 3 inches of the POA at around 100yds or so on a deer then the round count matters not. As someone posted 30,000 and counting. However I bet that rifle will fall far below the standard it could achieve when it left the factory.

Barrel wear is a function of firing...simple as. Firing 100gn bullets from a 243 erodes the throat a bit faster than the lighter stuff, but this seems true to all calibres. When you bore scope the barrel most barrel damage seems to occur by poor cleaning technique. I saw some horrendous damage to barrels when I helped an RFD mate out at his shop. One chap swore blind that the best method was not to clean. The rust pitting was heart-breaking for him, especially when I told him I wasn't interested in the 202 as part ex.

These days a bore scope is fairly common so a quick look will tell you where the barrel is in its life cycle. I scope every rifle I have after cleaning. You'd be surprised at how much some of these wonder cleaners don't work. :-| More importantly I never accept a rifle I'm purchasing without an internal inspection. If the owner say's no, then I'm not buying.

Atb

PS I've just run Barrel Life app and using 42gn H4350 with a 100gn Norma Oryx giving 2960fps from a 23 inch barrel yields a heat value of 3760KJ/KG at a pressure of 55961psi. The barrel is estimated to start noticeable degradation from a round count of 2017rds.

Atb
 
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If every shot was taken at a deer So how long would it take the average stalker to stalk 2017 deer ?

Its like asking how longs a bit of string,

Bob.
 
So my 243 made in 2005 has shot about 650 shots

Shoots well within any limits needed to stalk with humanity andconfidance and with a possible round count of 2017 it will out last me,

Bob
 
I have a .243 Sako 85 Hunter steel / Blue barrel
How many rounds can I use before the gun needs a new barrel

I use RWS 100gr Soft points
& Sako 100gr Soft points
Both of the above are factory Loads

About 50 rounds, at which point it needs a new 7mm-08 barrel.... which will last for thousands and thousands of rounds.:lol:~Muir
 
As someone posted 30 said:
Sako came to me s/h in the early 1980s but believe it had not done much prior to that, 30,000 rounds approx while in my possession.

As a professional stalker this rifle was used by me and clients under the estate rifle clause.

Never used for target shooting other than to check zero ,no interest in punching holes in paper
so not much rapid firing.
No long range shooting as you would term it, rifle was used for both hill and lowland stalking , but
more so on the hill , where the average shot would be 150 yards the maximum a little over 200.

Today the rifle is still perfectly capable of accurate shots at these distances, by accurate I mean placing a shot in the kill area of a deer at 200 plus yards, I don't know about one hole accuracy
at these distances, I was never capable of one hole accuracy in any case so it's purely academic.

In its life the rifle almost exclusively shot 100gr bullets as that is the minimum in law for Red deer

I started home loading not long after getting this rifle so that's what it has been fed most of its life

100 gr bullets in the early days Hornady boat tails, Sierra Game Kings, and latterly Sierra prohunters over 37 grs Hodgdons H380 and Remmington magnum primers, this is not a maximum load but is very accurate .

Speed no idea don't have access to a chronograph, speed is not everything the fastest bullet is not necessarily the most accurate.

Cleaning no regular cleaning regime , in fact when the rifle was being used every day it was often not cleaned for long periods of time, now that I am more or less retired it may be different as I
believe though I have no scientific evidence to back it up that a dirty barrel sitting in cabinet
will suffer more than one that's being shot every day and not cleaned regularly.

The rifle did have the crown redone a few years ago, as accuracy was falling off a bit.

Don't dispute your facts and figures, but I do think many worry to much about bullet count,does
a stalkers need a rifle capable of one hole accuracy ? And if they are honest how many can shoot that well in field conditions even if the rifle is capable of it.
 
I understand your points. However IMO the rifle accuracy is only part of the system. If the stalker is capable of say 4 inches and the rifle is capable of 4 inches and the blustery X/W accounts for 2 inches, then you can see things don't look so pretty. I've obviously exaggerated a bit to demonstrate the point, but now a hit in the kill zone isn't quite so certain. With a bit of practice the average stalker can reduce the error by more than a few inches by honing his personal skills including reading the wind, which as we all know, needs range time to get right. Unfortunately that burns up the barrel, so a bit catch 22.

Average calibre barrel life is usually considered to be around 5000 rds for hunting use. Therefore IMO, if the stalker practised a bit and punched some paper, but accepted that barrels are like tyres and that they wear out and need changing, then the shooting system should remain well within the accuracy needed for a humane kill, even in the more challenging situations. IMO our deer deserve nothing less.

From a personal standpoint, I would never dream of stalking deer without regular practice with my rifle. So far I'm on my 4th 270Win barrel. Every barrel lost accuracy at around 1500 rds, but remained acceptable for a bit longer before being scrapped. I chose an overbore cartridge and accept that it's life is a bit shorter than average. I suppose because I'm ex shooting squad, I came away with a different mind set. Practicing seems normal to me, plus I like shooting.

Finally, potential buyers seem more savvy these days. Most seem less accepting of something on the RFD's shelf, with nothing more than pretty wood and nice bluing.

Atb
 
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