Barrel shot out? Barrel half shot out?

Some people mistake a shot out barrel for one that has never been cleaned properly and has several layers of copper over carbon. I have a 1960 Weatherby 257 Mag that is on the bench right now and on its second day of cleaning and it's still puking carbon and copper. If you look at the bore with a bore light it looks clean as a whistle but it's not. The previous owner thought the barrel was shot out, it's not, it's just full of layers of copper and carbon.

Update: Just got the last of the crud out of a nearly 60 year old rifle. The lands and grooves are in excellent condition now. This was a barrel that was thought to be shot out but was actually never properly cleaned. The layers of carbon and copper continued to build up over the years and I would have to think that the bullet was skidding down the barrel rather than being spun.

On a shot out barrel that has otherwise been properly maintained you will see signs of erroroision starting at the beginning of the lands just past the chamber. It will appear as a section that is dull compared to the barrel further forward. In extreme cases you'll see pitting.
 
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I have 2 or 3 rifles that have been re-barrelled using "take-offs" from match rifles that weren't quite up to the grade for their original purpose. One or two were "set back" to remove the scorched leade but another was simply threaded back on an action and headspaced.
"Half shot out" may still be pretty darned good if you don't demand benchrest accuracy.
My first assisted sighting device project used a Savage .223 that really was "shot out" but it still was capable of short range minute of deer when loaded with 70 grain round nose bullets at max mag length.
 
Ugly pitted bores can still shoot well. Clean shiny bores can shoot a terrible group.

Like JohnSka wrote, only by firing it can you tell.
 
Some shot out barrels will do fine at shorter ranges, but terrible at long range.

My Douglas barrel in my NM AR15 still shot well at 300, one match I cleaned 300 yards, but at 600 I could barely hit the target frame.

I did notice that I needed more and more elevation before it went all bad. It had just about 5000 rounds through it, so I rebarrelled.

I had another upper I only used for short range matches, and it still hammered at 200-300 yards with over 9000 rounds through it.

The throat and barrel crown is much more important than the lands and grooves when it comes to being "shot out".
 
"...to just visually inspect..." Only for serious wear. You won't really see anything otherwise. Nothing to see with over heating.
And 'shot out' is a relative term. What is shot out to a serious competitive target shooter like a bench rest guy(who thinks in terms of 1/10" or less groups.) isn't to a hunter.
Headspace is checked with headspace gauges and nothing else. No bits of tape, wires, empty cases or chewing gum. Slugging the barrel checks its inside diameter across the grooves. Tells you the calibre and barrel diameter, but not much else.
 
The owner determines the magic number based on what they want to do with the gun.

If you only use the rifle to plink at steel targets inside 100 yards, the magic number is a LOT bigger than if you want the rifle for benchrest competition.
 
You wont have a magic number unless you have records of how it shot after breakin. Even then, if they weren't your records it would be hard to say if you can shoot as well as the other guy/gal.
Don Fischer said:
What is the magic number on group size that might indicate a hunting barrel is worn out?
Click to expand...
 
Whether you have a baseline or not, you can still determine if the gun meets your accuracy standards as defined by your intended usage.

If I buy a used rifle and intend to hunt deer with it at ranges no longer than 250 yards, then as far as I'm concerned, the barrel isn't shot out as long as it will shoot groups suitable for deer hunting at 250 yards or less. That is true even if I have no idea of how well it shot when it was new--or if I happen to know the previous owner who tells me it shot 0.5MOA when it was new and now it will only do 3MOA.
 
Bought a post-64 M70 in 7mm Rem Mag, and it would not hold five shots on a paper plate @ 100 yds. Soaked barrel with Shooter's Choice overnight for three nights, some minor reduction in group but the not that much.
Soft-loaded a Sierra 162 gr bullet, and closed the bolt after placing cartridge in bolt.
Measured where the bullet comparator [Sinclair], indicated the 7mm bore size, compared the length against the SAMMI chamber drawings. was almost .120 " longer.

SO now,I long load the bullets.

groups are now about 3.5', so will condier getting a new Douglas barrel after the New Year.
 
I bet I haven’t shot 200 rounds out of my lever action Savage model 99 in 243 since I was given it in 1984. It was real accurate then but it has started acting kinda funny in the past few years but the scope that was on it may have been messed up so I rescoped it. When I was around 15 or 16 I fired it in real quick succession 4 times but that’s the only time I’ve ever not worried about how warm it was getting.
I think my k98 may have some etching in the barrel from shooting corrosive ammo before I got it.
I’m going to re-examine both throats now that I have some idea on what to look for. I do like the poor man’s method of getting an idea what the throat is doing by sticking a projectile loosely in a spent cartridge to see how far in front of the bullet the threads are worn or gone from. Thanks for these great ideas and knowledge.
 
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