.243 barrel life

[dryan]

How many rounds would one expect to shoot through a .243 before it starts to lose accuracy/suffer barrel wear.

I only shoot 90gr factory ammo so not pushing anything too fast, have shot 3,000 plus rounds through it and it’s still as accurate as day one. I was expecting to need a new barrel by 1,500 rounds?

 

[wytonpjs]

My Sako 75 .243 dates from 1995 and is still as accurate now as it was then

 

[jb1]

How many rounds would one expect to shoot through a .243 before it starts to lose accuracy/suffer barrel wear.

I only shoot 90gr factory ammo so not pushing anything too fast, have shot 3,000 plus rounds through it and it’s still as accurate as day one. I was expecting to need a new barrel by 1,500 rounds?

Keep shooting and dont worry,
You will know when it starts to chuck fliers out, but sounds like everything's still good.

You could shoot your barrel out in 1 day if you spent all day shooting continuously, and felt the need to spend allot of money.

 

[Rhodesianjess]

My Remmy 243,PSS model, I bought second hand from Thames Valley Police about 15/17 years ago. Still as accurate as the day I bought it.
I hand load, using 90 Speer SP's,most accurate with starter loads using Vit N140.
Shudder to think how many rounds it's shot but still acceptable accuracy.
I've always taken care of it cleaning wise, don't know if that's helpful but not needing a rebarrel anytime soon.

 

[muddy42]

I have a 1970s 243 BSA that was starting to loose accuracy and had no rifling visible to the naked eye. I cleaned it hard over a few weeks with a bronze brush, hundreds of passes and dozens of soaking sessions. The rifling slowly re-emerged and accuracy was restored or certainly good for its age and the fact it only has open sights. I think a lot of barrels get pronounced dead prematurely.

 

[andyk]

It’s not a fixed number. Fair to say a 243 will eat a barrel sooner than some others but there are a lot of variables, such as

- whether you fire shot strings. It’s the heat that does the damage so a hunting rifle that only fires a few shots a time will last better than something being used in competition with shots being put down an already hot barrel.
- the barrel, some are simply better than others.
- powder used, some are known to be hard on barrels (RL17) with others kinder (N165).
- your definition of accuracy. A lot of these quoted barrel lives are for completion rifles where they may be considered ‘shot out’ if groups go from 1/4” to 1/2”. A hunting rifle may need to be considerably more ‘shot out’ before it’s noticed.

I’m sure there are other considerations that can be added.

 

[Heym SR20]

A lot depends on how you use a rifle.

Shooting one round every now and then from a cold barrel as we do hunting is very good for long term barrel life.

But take 100 rounds and rattle them off as fast as you can and you will start getting barrel wear. Once steel is already hot it will burn much quicker. Think of forging a piece of steel. If its cold, it takes a while to get it to start glowing red, but If it’s red hot, it doesn’t take much more heat to get it sparking and burning.

Also depends on the ammunition and powder used. I think, based on what I read, that modern powders such Vhitavouri are much kinder to barrels than the IMR4831s which were developed in WW2. Old cordite, as used by the Brits, burned very hot. I suspect it is these old powders that gave the likes of the 22 Swift, 240 H&H, 264 Win Mag a reputation of barrel burners.

Barrel steels vary hugely. A Remington barrels of the last 20 odd years are made of chocolate, although tend to shoot well, whereas Tikka, Sako hammer forged are better.

Finally what is your definition of worn out? For some a rifle that no longer produces 0.25 moa groups is shagged out, but for others 2 moa is more than adequate.

 

[dryan]

It shoots under an inch at 100 yards and yes I have rarely shot more than 3 shots in quick succession.

Good to know a 243 rifle from 1974 still going strong on original barrel

 

[HonestJohn]

2647

 

[Paulmax11]

How many rounds would one expect to shoot through a .243 before it starts to lose accuracy/suffer barrel wear.

I only shoot 90gr factory ammo so not pushing anything too fast, have shot 3,000 plus rounds through it and it’s still as accurate as day one. I was expecting to need a new barrel by 1,500 rounds?

Heat is the killer of barrels, One or three shots on a day and a couple of zero checks now and then and left to cool between shots extends the life.

 

[kevtherev]

Heat is the issue but on a hunting rifle it shouldn’t be an issue.
Clean it well and it will last many many years.