Replace or re-barrel

E.J.W. said:
To all,
First and foremost I apologize for abandoning ship on my post.
We received a cancer diagnosis in the family shortly after and that put all extraneous things on indefinite hold. Hard to believe its been a year - we lost all comprehension of time since that day while trying to keep everything in front of us.
Brother in-law picked up the rifle for me last spring, I believe the diagnosis was decent amount of fire cracking/erosion and a "bad" spot in the rifling mid-barrel.
I sent Ryan a $100 gift card for the fancy restaurant in town.
Not sure when I'll get back to it given the list of things on the calendar for us.
Appreciate your posts and hope you all remain safe in this quickly changing world.
Thanks
E.
Click to expand...
Brother, I know the pain. I lost my son a year and a half ago and the world and anything I thought that was important stopped. I pray all is well and that the trial you and your family went through brought you closer to God. I know mine did.

God Bless.

Patrick
 
I have a 700 VS in .25-06 that I bought new in 1978. Some time in 2005 I noticed the same symptoms as the OP posted. I estimated the round count at about 800 but realized it was closer to 1200.

Same decisions, new rifle or new barrel? To make the story shorter I found gunsmiths that worked for a benchrest builder near where I live. I chose a Krieger barrel in .25-06. Best decision I ever made in my opinion. That rifle now shoots groups slightly smaller than 1/2".

The sad part is I now live in a populated rural area where I can't hunt with this rifle anymore. Since 2005 this rifle has only seen 30 rounds
 
Barrel Life

6-700 ain't much. I'd do what's suggested for deep cleaning; however, I've re-barreled 3 700s with ER Shaw barrels with great results. A 243, 280, 30-06, and a Shilen in 338-06.
 
If you ever get back to it, rather than a full rebarrel, you might consider just having the barrel set back and rechambered. A "bad spot" in the rifling mid way down the barrel might or might not be something that is an issue. Your call.

Hope you can manage what life throws at you, I completely understand hobbies come last...good luck
 
You have other things on your mind for now. I wish you and yours the best.

A 243 or equiv is a good thing to have. They do what they do very well.

They are an intense cartridge . Rifles can be like golf clubs. Not every shot requires a 243. Keep your 243 for the shots.

But maybe the near field prairie dogs can fall to less gun, thats easier on barrels and cheaper to shoot (more).

The .223 comes to mind. Maybe save your fresh 243 barrel for the 300 yd plus shots.

My "Playground" Ranch owner has passed away,so I no longer have access to near four sections of pronghorn, prairie dogs,coyotes,open space,sage and setting targets.

Yes,I miss the People. Salt of the Earth. The times there,the big sky,the songs of the coyotes. The sage. And just knowing I had a place to go.

At the same time I am so grateful for all the times I had there. Near 30 years. No complaints.

Th City owned adjoining property. Ranchland. City development would intrude on local prairie dogs. Of course,the "Fate of the prairie dogs" would be worth a front page pictorial in the paper.
A "sensitive" solution was the city would vacuum the PDs up and relocate them to the city ranch. But the grass was greener and the dirt was softer on the ranch where I went. I'll call it the "J" ranch.

So the 2 "Dog Towns" on the ranch were periodically re-stocked.

The Rancher was a good Steward of the environment. He knew the PD's were a part of the ecosystem of his home. But there is a balance, and a limit to how much range he would give them.

He said "I don't have time to mess with them. You guys keep them under control,I'll tolerate them. They start taking over,I'll wipe them out.

I'd take the close,easy ones with my BRNO/CZ 22 WMR. Then to the AR SDMR clone. Maybe a few with the 257 AI for good practice. Way out for the roaming coyote I might have my M-70 Laredo 7mm Rem Mag. Winchester;s answer to the Sendero.

I used that for calving season overwatch.

Another part of the ranch had a fenceline two track that was generally uphill but rolling with a few gullies. It was easy to set up targets with good backstops to 500 yds. And I could drive to them. Top the hill and I had a good 600 yd downhill with safe backstop.

I had another dry creek spot perfect for 300 yd sight in, Turn around and there was a big hill to stop bullets covered with wonderful rocks and bushes for handgun plinking out to about 300 yds. A LOT of 44 Magnum shot at that hill!

I had another spot I lasered at 1100 yds. It had an old hand dug canal bank from the 1920's. It followed a ridge. The embankment was a backstop . Walking crouched down in that canal concealed my approach to pronghorn.

Yep. Great place. I hope you enjoyed the tour. It was good for me to revisit.
 
Last edited:
I'm amazed at how many people bypass the troubleshooting and jump right to their pet theory about what's wrong with the rifle. Not saying one of them isn't right, just saying it's not always your pet peeve.

To the OP I would say sit down at the workbench and troubleshoot it. Go through and torques all the screws. Clean it again. Check the crown. Then go out and put it on the bench and see how it shoots. You can pretty quickly zero in on problems if you approach them methodically.

As far as rebarreling, that's never a bad option, but its pricey. Good barrels are expensive, and gunsmith labor is expensive and everything takes time. I rebarreled a few rifles last year and nobody said it was cheaper than they expected, but to a man they said the rifle shot better than brand new.
 
While I agree with your approach, Scorch, you are right..
A borescope inspection can reveal a lot. Post #20 of course is a matter of degree, but if the bore scopes alligator hide already I might just make a decision.
 
600 or 700 rounds through the barrel don’t sound like much, but I did notice that they were Varmint bullets. If the varmints were coyotes, those rounds could have been shot over a long period. But if those rounds were shot in short time, it would do a job on the throat. Unless the borescope gives the bore a clean bill of health, I’d rebarrel.
 
The OP said about 600 or 700 rounds through the gun but one thing was never made absolutely clear. Was this a brand new rifle or one bought second hand? If the latter, how many round went through that barrel could be the reason for the barrel's alligator scarring.

I have a Winchester Model 70 that is post 64 and pre 68 that so far doesn't shoot worth spit. Like the OP, accuracy is nowhere near what I think it should be.
I may have it bore scoped sometime down the road and if it's badly scarred at the throat I'll send it out and have it rebored to something else. Maybe a 7-08, .308 or 358. However, first thing is give it the cleaning of its life. :eek: Check the crown, screws and retorque them to the proper levels should that need to be done. I got into it really cheap so I can spare a few bucks to square it away.
Paul B.
 
round count

If the OP is quite certain that the original barrel has 6-700 on it, and at no point did the rate of fire get excessive or prolonged, then I would agree that there is some other problem. While the .243 is "overbore" and can be a barrel burner, as a match rifle, I would think that judicious use as a varminter should give 3-5x that barrel life, maybe more.

I'd clean the rifle...again....., I'd check all my screws, bedding, bases and rings and I'd use a torque wrench to do it. I'd inspect the crown, very carefully. I'd try another scope, one that is trusted and known by the OP to be reliable, not a borrowed scope. I might ruffle some feathers, but I'd find something other than a Bushnell. I've had bad luck with all but one Bushnell with which I've dealt. I'd fool with barrel bedding, shim the barrel channel just forward of the recoil lug, thus reducing fore end tip pressure. I'd reverse the process and shim the speedbump on the Rem fore end up front, increasing tip pressure.

I'd check my powder measure to confirm it is throwing a consistent charge.
I'd change my seating depth on my loads, increasing C.O.A.L a wee bit, chasing the lands some more.

All of the above will be cost free, excluding time and ammo.

I would not buy a Tikka, I read they have had their own quality control and barrel issues of late. The absolute last thing I would do is rebarrel at 700 rds, unless I just wanted an aftermarket premium barrel anyhow.
 
The OP dropped his rifle off at his Gunsmith's. It was bore scoped.

From post #20:

Brother in-law picked up the rifle for me last spring, I believe the diagnosis was decent amount of fire cracking/erosion and a "bad" spot in the rifling mid-barrel.
Click to expand...

I'm not going to argue the round count. I was not there. Once again,the bore has been scoped. It is what it is.

If the bore has gone alligator skin no amount of scrubbing or screw torquing or shimming will restore the bore.

You can do all those things if you want.

Shortest distance between two points is a straight line. The OP can still shoot it.

Sounds like the rifle will take its place on the list of priorities. If and when it comes around I'd be figuring out which barrel to order and talking it over with the Gunsmith is not a bad idea.
 
scoped

Yeah, I read post #20. A year later, the OP gets a heresay report from a family member that talked to the 'smith that scoped it.

I'd wanna see the images myself, not rely on a second hand report from a third party. The barrel may be toast, .......but at 700 rds it's a bit hard to believe.

I hope it all works out
 
I have no reason to doubt the OP. If he had the rifle for 10 years,maybe he only shot it 70 rounds a year. I don't know,

For myself, its as feasible to question the round count as it is the bore scope report.

But you may be skeptical in any direction you choose.

For myself, I'm not there. My comments are based on the OP's info as given.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top