Well in comparison to semi autos, sure they can drop in a barrel but if the locking surfaces on the slide wear out that's even more to replace. If I understand revolvers enough, a smith or the factory would just have to clamp the barrel and revolver, unscrew the barrel, put a new one in, trim the barrel extension / forcing cone, done!
Barrel life expectancy?
- Thread starter BoogieMan
- Start date
Peter M. Eick
New member
This is my high round count revolver. It is at 47,320 rounds today and I have owned it since the late 70's. The barrel looks fine to me last time I shot it. Like has been mentioned above, if you keep it clean and shoot lead bullets in it, it will outlast you probably. With Jacketed, you might wear it out in the 100,000 bullet range but that is just a guess based upon my gun.
Jim Watson
New member
I don't shoot the same gun enough to wear one out, but a couple of friends have. One is a PPC shooter. 150000 .38 wadcutters will wash the rifling out about halfway down the length of the barrel. The other guy shot a NM Blackhawk .45 with "Ruger Only" loads until the transfer bar was hammered too thin to reach the firing pin. So he took it out and filed the hammer to hit the firing pin directly. That did ok until the forcing cone split. Ruger replaced about everything except the frame, grip straps, and grips for a reasonable fee.
Question? Is it the velocity or pressure that wears a barrel out or both? For example, 300 win mag is a barrel burner. But is the velocity or the 60,000+ psi that wears the barrel, esp the throat out?
My 460 XVR and 454 Casull can be loaded to 55,000 psi (IIRC I'm not near my loading manuels/bench). But they shoot much faster, 1700-2100 fps than say typical magnums that reach 1400 fps and 36,000 psi.
I'm just looking for opinions. Is it the velocity or pressure or both?
As a side note, a good friend who shoots every day has a Ruger RedHawk 44 Mag that he put an easy 60,000 rounds through. These were all full magnum loads to loads well over SAAMI Max. And his barrel still has sharp crisp rifling and grooves.
My 460 XVR and 454 Casull can be loaded to 55,000 psi (IIRC I'm not near my loading manuels/bench). But they shoot much faster, 1700-2100 fps than say typical magnums that reach 1400 fps and 36,000 psi.
I'm just looking for opinions. Is it the velocity or pressure or both?
As a side note, a good friend who shoots every day has a Ruger RedHawk 44 Mag that he put an easy 60,000 rounds through. These were all full magnum loads to loads well over SAAMI Max. And his barrel still has sharp crisp rifling and grooves.
DAVID NANCARROW
New member
Pressure probably has the most to do with wearing out the barrel. Every time you drop the hammer, the gun powder acts like a blowtorch on the forcing cone and the first part of the rifling. Velocity takes its toll too, especially when using jacketed ammo. If you use lead, not so much as lead is much softer.
It's the high temperature of the extremely high pressure gasses. If it was velocity, barrels would wear out at the muzzle first, where the velocity is highest.
Also, barrel life depends on your definition of "worn out". A loss of peak accuracy that would be unacceptable to a competition bench rest shooter would barely be noticed by the average deer hunter with a Winchester '94 lever gun.
Also, barrel life depends on your definition of "worn out". A loss of peak accuracy that would be unacceptable to a competition bench rest shooter would barely be noticed by the average deer hunter with a Winchester '94 lever gun.
riverrat38
New member
The cost of wear on the revolver becomes quite small compared to the other costs involved with shooting.
The most expensive in my case is reloading costs. 125 gr plated bullets loaded at plus pee velocity.
Next is range fees to shoot 200 rounds per trip.
Then, the expense of driving my truck 52 miles round trip to the range.
Washington State sales tax on the ammo components was next.
My estimate for wear on my M686 was just under the above mentioned ammo sales tax. I was estimating the cost to rebuild the gun after 20,000 rounds. Some guess work here.
The reloads would cost $3400 at 17 cents per round, almost 5 times the cost of the new M686.
Best,
Rick
The most expensive in my case is reloading costs. 125 gr plated bullets loaded at plus pee velocity.
Next is range fees to shoot 200 rounds per trip.
Then, the expense of driving my truck 52 miles round trip to the range.
Washington State sales tax on the ammo components was next.
My estimate for wear on my M686 was just under the above mentioned ammo sales tax. I was estimating the cost to rebuild the gun after 20,000 rounds. Some guess work here.
The reloads would cost $3400 at 17 cents per round, almost 5 times the cost of the new M686.
Best,
Rick
Chamber pressures and velocity are directly interrelated - you cannot separate the two. All other things being equal, higher pressures with the same bullet, in the same gun, will produce higher velocities. Lower pressures will equal lower velocities.
But, technically speaking, it is neither pressure nor velocity that wear out a barrel or cylinder, etc. It is GAS CUTTING, referred to as "barrel erosion". Nevertheless, barrel erosion has a linear relationship to pressure/ velocity. Higher pressures = higher velocities (with a given bullet weight, etc.) = more gas cutting/ faster erosion. So, lower pressures = lower velocities = slower erosion.
There are other factors that have an effect, such as jacketed or cast bullets, bullet fit, how smooth the interior barrel surfaces may be, etc......in other words, friction-related items. Lower friction = slower rate of wear (obviously). These will have some effect, ultimately, on barrel life. But, a relatively small effect. The overwhelming issue is erosion due to gas cutting.
But, technically speaking, it is neither pressure nor velocity that wear out a barrel or cylinder, etc. It is GAS CUTTING, referred to as "barrel erosion". Nevertheless, barrel erosion has a linear relationship to pressure/ velocity. Higher pressures = higher velocities (with a given bullet weight, etc.) = more gas cutting/ faster erosion. So, lower pressures = lower velocities = slower erosion.
There are other factors that have an effect, such as jacketed or cast bullets, bullet fit, how smooth the interior barrel surfaces may be, etc......in other words, friction-related items. Lower friction = slower rate of wear (obviously). These will have some effect, ultimately, on barrel life. But, a relatively small effect. The overwhelming issue is erosion due to gas cutting.