Barrel life of Rem PSS?
- Thread starter ursus
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The SWAT officers that I know of who shoot five hundred rounds a month through their heavy barrel Remington 700's told me that they expect a MINIMUM of 5000 rounds before even worrying about accuracy shift.
I would personally think that number to be considerably higher, especially with factory or reloaded MATCH grade ammo.
I am sure others out there have differing viewpoints. Of course, I don't try the "one shot to the head and a hostage's life is at stake" shot very often. So, unless it's been a really old barrel that was not been properly broken in, and then properly maintained and cleaned after that, I would think at least the 5K range is adequate. For most of us, that's a life time of shooting. For some of us, it's only a matter of a couple or three years...
I would personally think that number to be considerably higher, especially with factory or reloaded MATCH grade ammo.
I am sure others out there have differing viewpoints. Of course, I don't try the "one shot to the head and a hostage's life is at stake" shot very often. So, unless it's been a really old barrel that was not been properly broken in, and then properly maintained and cleaned after that, I would think at least the 5K range is adequate. For most of us, that's a life time of shooting. For some of us, it's only a matter of a couple or three years...
ursus, you ask a very perplexing question. The life of any barrel will depend on the way it is used and taken care of.
My Rem PSS in 308 has exactly 2753 rounds through it and it is fine. At first, I only shot Fed Match 168 though it and it took some breaking in and tweaking the rig to get everything together. Mild rate of fire and good care could equal 5000 rounds + or it could go nuts the next time out
The 308 as loaded for gas guns is pretty easy on barrels.
The upside, other than spending some money, is that you can screw a great barrel on it when you shoot the first one out
Bwahhhhhhhhhhhhhh
My Rem PSS in 308 has exactly 2753 rounds through it and it is fine. At first, I only shot Fed Match 168 though it and it took some breaking in and tweaking the rig to get everything together. Mild rate of fire and good care could equal 5000 rounds + or it could go nuts the next time out
The 308 as loaded for gas guns is pretty easy on barrels.
The upside, other than spending some money, is that you can screw a great barrel on it when you shoot the first one out
BwahhhhhhhhhhhhhhIt depends. . .
Caliber/pressure (BIG effects), chrome or non-chrome bore, types of bullets and even powder type (smaller effects) can all change the number of rounds.
Assuming .308, regular steel, no chrome lining, and standard gilding metal jackets on your bullets, PLUS no abuse of the crown or abuse of the throat (corrosion from mixing cleaners, etc.)---->accuracy generally improves for 2-3,000 rounds, stays steady or even gets a bit better until at least 7,000 rounds. The dropoff in accuracy tends to be gradual and may not even begin until more than 10,000 rounds. You're lucky if group sizes are less than 50% bigger than the peak accuracy at 15,000 rounds.
Whether that's still enough accuracy for your purposes is up to you. Barrel throats can be almost gone, while the total system still performs less than 2 MOA, sometimes even at 1.25 MOA or less.
Caliber/pressure (BIG effects), chrome or non-chrome bore, types of bullets and even powder type (smaller effects) can all change the number of rounds.
Assuming .308, regular steel, no chrome lining, and standard gilding metal jackets on your bullets, PLUS no abuse of the crown or abuse of the throat (corrosion from mixing cleaners, etc.)---->accuracy generally improves for 2-3,000 rounds, stays steady or even gets a bit better until at least 7,000 rounds. The dropoff in accuracy tends to be gradual and may not even begin until more than 10,000 rounds. You're lucky if group sizes are less than 50% bigger than the peak accuracy at 15,000 rounds.
Whether that's still enough accuracy for your purposes is up to you. Barrel throats can be almost gone, while the total system still performs less than 2 MOA, sometimes even at 1.25 MOA or less.