The life of the barrel -- going... going... gone!

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Yoosta B. Blue

New member
I've occasionally heard someone speak of buying a used pistol, in which I'd hear something like "Just get yourself a new barrel for it and you'll be good to go."

Perhaps there are lots of factors that enter into the picture, but is there any data available that could give one an idea how many rounds a "normal" barrel could be fired before needing to be replaced? Thanks! :D

Yoosta B. Blue
 
Not sure what you've heard, but there's little chance you are going to wear out a pistol barrel. I would think that there are a couple reasons folks look for or suggest a replacement barrel. Pick from this pool:
--they bulged one with poorly handloaded ammo
--they want to shoot lead out of a polygonal barrel
--they want better chamber support than a Glock OEM barrel
--they want better accuracy than their factory barrel
--they want a different caliber or chambering
--they want a longer or ported or threaded barrel
--they want a cartoonish wolf head winking through the ejection port

As for actually wearing one out, I've heard anything from 40,000 to 80,000 rounds of jacketed ammo, and NO amount of cast or swaged lead ammo to actually shoot out a handgun barrel. Or to put it another way... if you actually had the trigger time and the ammunition funding to wear out a pistol barrel, you'd likely wear out other parts of the pistol, too.

Rifles are a whole different breed.
 
At the relatively low pressures/velocities of typical handgun loads, it's extremely difficult to erode a barrel to the point where it is worn out. I'd guess that far more barrels need to be replaced due to poor cleaning/maintenance than from being shot out.

The only exception to this I can think of might be the hot revolvers like the .500 S&W, where massive gas cutting at the cylinder gap might, over time, damage the forcing cone. Even then, you'll have gone through an awful lot of ammunition to get to that point.
 
How much of a need is there to replace the Glock's barrel for more support? I have a Glock 36 (.45acp) and haven't noticed any bulging or deforming on any cases. I've collected most of my brass for reloading, but they are still in a bucket, awaiting closer inspection. Is it imperitive to get an after-market barrel to reload?
 
I've been around a fair number of firearms in my life and so far the only barrel I've seen that I could tell was "shot out" was an ancient and "well loved" Sistema 1911 from the late 1920s

On the other hand I've seen a need for replacement barrels after someone dropped one and dinged the heck out of the crown.
 
Thanks a bunch for all the replies. The barrel I had in mind is a near-new 9mm barrel made by Barsto, with less than 1K through it. (Alas, this barrel is no longer manufactured, and I'm pleased that I was recently able to obtain this one.)

I'll not worry about "shooting it out", and will simply enjoy the wonderful accuracy that it provides me, and that for a long time to come...;)

YBB
 
I have only burned one barel up in a handgun. I shot about 8000 135 grn 40 S&W "screamers" with ball powder that should have been fired in a 10mm. I ended up having tha barrel replaced and even the smith commented that it was the worst shot out pistol barrel they had ever seen.
 
I've seen that I could tell was "shot out" was an ancient and "well loved" Sistema 1911
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I have a Sistema w/ a barrel like that. It's the most worn-out pistol barrel that I've ever seen. I don't use it. My guess is that the pistol was passed around for years as a service weapon. But it's otherwise in pretty good shape.
 
From The Great Mahoo
How much of a need is there to replace the Glock's barrel for more support? I have a Glock 36 (.45acp) and haven't noticed any bulging or deforming on any cases.
Click to expand...
I replaced the original barrel in a G20 10mm that was deforming brass pretty badly. That's a high pressure round though, and considering the fairly low chamber pressure of the .45 ACP round, you probably wouldn't need a replacement.

Unless you want to run lead bullets through it. Glock's polygonal rifling isn't the best for that type of ammo and you could get a standard rifled replacement.
 
Lone Wolf Distribution sells the "Cartoon Wolf" replacement barrels for Glocks.
Click to expand...
...and the punchline is: For $10 more, you can omit the cartoon wolf from the barrel that you order.
 
Pappy John said:
I replaced the original barrel in a G20 10mm that was deforming brass pretty badly. That's a high pressure round though, and considering the fairly low chamber pressure of the .45 ACP round, you probably wouldn't need a replacement.

Unless you want to run lead bullets through it. Glock's polygonal rifling isn't the best for that type of ammo and you could get a standard rifled replacement.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. I didn't think the .45acp would be too problematic for it, but I wasn't sure. I will have to sit down and get some reloading one day soon. When I look through all of my brass I will see how much is un-usable; I guess that's about the best way to tell if I need to worry about it. :)
 
DWBH

I have one Nowlin 9x19 barrel with (well) over 40K through it, using bullets of all materials, some of it dangerously excessive :eek:

So far (since 1994) so excellent.......


(I have a Bar-Sto in 45 ACP, and it also has launched bullets of varied materials, and its rd-ct exceeds 10K.)
 
"Shot Out" barrels...

Essentially, there are two factors that will erode a barrel.

1. Rust or other form of corrosion; and

2. Temperature.

One may rub either brass or lead on steel for a long time without wearing out the steel. The friction of pushing a bullet of any conventional type through a barrel is simply not a problem.

However, the temperature of burning powder can be substantial. In a high power, high pressure rifle, the burn temperature can reach 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit. That's cutting torch temperature. It only lasts for a few thousands of a second, but it is there. This cutting torch effect is reinforced by rapid fire shooting; the barrel doesn't have time to cool down. The erosion is most pronounced near the chamber mouth - the leade. Belt fed machine guns are infamous for wearing out barrels just forward of the chamber.

In handguns, the same thing holds true. However, a high pressure handgun usually goes no higher than 40,000 psi. Modern centerfire rifles commonly run at 55,000 psi and up. The temperature rises as a function of pressure, so even the high pressure handgun rounds are much cooler in burning.

Most worn out bores in handguns come from neglect and corrosion.
 
I guess you can split a forcing cone on some Smith revolvers with alot of high intensity magnum rounds, eventually. But think of the non magnum rounds that can be shot thru a gun. How about those Glocks that last thru tens or hundreds of thousands of rounds in test shooting? Unless you got a training scedule that allows you to go out and shoot thousands of rounds each week, and the cash to back that up, I cannot see a barrel wearing out very soon or ever, if properly cared for. Some say excessive cleaning is bad for the bore, but I think it is excessive abusive cleaning, maybe. Rubbing the cleaning rod against the muzzle or something. A patch is not an abrasive substance, usually!
 
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