Barrel life expectancy?

B

BoogieMan

New member
I have 2 stainless wheel guns a 460xvr and a 686+ Talo.
love shooting them both, and they only see magnum cartridges. That's why I bought magnums after all. Anyway it got me thinking about the life expectancy. Actually it was reading about a Chiapa in another thread that made me think about it. But these guns are no chiapa.
what should I expect?
right now I have about 350 ish though both of them. The xvr shows some discoloring but no wear and the 686 could be put back in the box and sold for new. My semi pistols get shot much more (5k a year ish) but in the case of the semi I know I can drop in a barrel and keep going for a long time. Revolvers not so easy to do.
 
The chiappa you guys ate referring to has 10 thousand rounds through and has no complainys about the barrel wearing out. If you don't like a particular brand, that's fine, but don't spread misinformation
 
Not downing chiapa at all, I actually like the design.
Bob, thanks for the info. I guess my question is more because people mention issues about feeding a steady diet of magnum ammo. Maybe the question I should have asked is what will be an issue rather than how long will the barrel last.
 
Revolver barrels do wear out, but not as fast as rifle barrels due to lower velocities. A major factor is the bullet. I have seen credible reports of good revolvers lasting 100k rounds of .38 Special lead wadcutter, but 10k would be good in a .357 with hot jacketed bullet loads.

But guaranteed that 350 rounds is a long way from wearing out a barrel.

Jim
 
You can expect your gun to get battered and loose, but a barrel wearing out before that happens is unlikely.
 
As to the use of magnum power ammunition, consider this Super Blackhawk:



I bought this revolver in 1971 or 1972, and while I don't shoot it as much, it has over 17,000 rounds fired through it. Most of this has been full power .44 Magnum stuff, mostly 240 gr. Jacketed Hollow Point hunting ammunition. I also used it for shooting metallic silhouette at times. The only discernable wear is erosion at the breech end of the barrel.

I made the best field shot I ever made with this gun, shooting a ground hog at a measured 110 yards, this in the summer of 1981.

Bob Wright
 
Bob- You have some of the most beautiful revolvers I have seen, nice photo work also. I really appreciate the combination of brass, blue and cocobolo? Are you a smith or dyi artisan?
 
Thank you for those comments. The grips are European walnut, so called Turkish walnut.

Am I a Smith? No, I'm a Wright.

Yes, I do some things myself. I can fit grip frames and do minor repairs. Also have made some grips, for my own use only!

I fit this brass trigger guard and backstrap to my Hy Hunter .357 Magnum, and made the one-piece style grips from walnut.



Trigger guard from a Uberti Single Action, backstrap from a Hawes revovler.

Also made these grips for my Colt SAA:



I did have my gunsmith fit the backstrap, from a Colt 1851 Navy.

Bob Wright
 
I bought a used 6" Colt Python blued about 7-8 years ago and I've been trying to wear it out ever since.I've put about 10k rounds thru it and no idea how many before I bought it. These have been every thing from mouse poots to full house loads. Still shoots and looks great.
Same story with my 4" S&W Model-686 (over 35 y.o.) and my Model-19 (over 40 y.0.) Can't seem to wear any of them out but I keep trying.
 
I recall Elmer Keith writing that in the 40's, (he was working at one of the govt arsenals), they expected a revolver barrel to last 30-40 thousand rounds. (with lead bullet ammo).

Rifle barrels lose peak accuracy in 3-5000 rounds in some calibers, but they actually "last" a lot longer, if your standards allow for it.

The 460 is a pretty high intensity round. I have no idea how long the barrel will actually last, didn't they use some special steel for part of it? I seem to remember hearing something about that, to combat early wear?
 
The barrel will likely outlast your thumb and trigger finger. More than likely you will need to have your joints rebuilt before having to replace the barrel.:D
 
A properly maintained barrel might wear out by the time your great grandchildren retire if it is used a lot.
 
The barrel will likely outlast your thumb and trigger finger. More than likely you will need to have your joints rebuilt before having to replace the barrel.
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If I shoot more than 20 rnds it usually gives me a nose bleed. Not sure why but it cant be good. Still, its big mags are addictive.
 
I have worn out a super Blackhawk it took around two years shooting 5/6 days a week . I would shoot 200 to 300 lead bullets each day . The cylinder finely hammered itself out . The barrel was fine . I also wore out three CT Barrels in 44 Mag But again it was the Chambers that got hammered out not the barrel . It would take around 15,000 rounds to do a chamber in .
On the third barrel TC gave me a complete new gun as the original frame had stretched .

At the time (1985) I was recovering from a kidney transplant and could not work only set and shoot .
 
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