What do Benchrest shooters do with their old barrels?

B

BumbleBug

New member
I've talked to several serious BR shooters & I was surprised at how few rounds they fire before their barrels are a "has-been". Of course they always start with finest of barrels (i.e. expensive!).

Couldn't these shot-out barrels be re-contoured, re-chambered into super hunting rifles?

Just a thought...

...bug :)
 
I don't see why not, if you have the connections to get the barrels and have them put on hunting rifles.

I recall a couple of old articles.
One guy said he and all his friends had first class .30 caliber hunting rifle barrels that were not adequately accurate with .30-06 military match ammo. They might do great with some other load, but if they did not shoot the standard load, he pulled them after a hundred rounds or less.

C.E. Harris did a lot of shooting with upgraded .22 sporters. He knew a gunsmith who worked on .22 target rifles and they found that you could take a shot out 28" barrel, cut off the breech end to get clean rifling and have a fine 18-20" barrel blank.
 
They used to sell them on Ebay for $50.
I bought a number of them, mostly Shilen, but some Krieger, Lilja, and Hart.

They are short, fat, and 1 in 14" twist.

Sav99takedown6mmBRcropped-1.jpg


So far I have used only one.
I put one a an old 1917 Savage 99 take down 250 Sav.
I chambered the barrel for 6mmBR.
I have only fired a few rounds with it.
0.1" at 50 yards, 0.3" at 100 yards, and keyholes with 75 gr Vmax bullets.

If you can think of some uses for short fat 14" twist 6mmPPC barrels, let me know.
 
Gunsmiths who do a lot of benchrest and target shooters' rebarreling jobs have a pretty good stash of high-quality barrels on hand, but it doesn't take long for them to be gone. I got a 30BR barrel last year, rebarreled a Mauser with it in 30-06, shoots fantastic. Some customers want them back to sell off, others don't care.
 
Clark, I find that hard to believe...

..that you bought a Savage 99 .250-3000 take-down for $200 as it shows in the picture!...LOL

...bug :)
 
They get as much cleaning wear as shooting wear. Back when I was shooting bench rest I had a routine for cleaning after 5 shots that most people would never understand. First, the powder solvent and the brushing, many many strokes, then the dry patches. Next the copper solvent and a different brush, many many strokes. Next the wet patches and dry patches.......then back to the line ------ bang, bang, bang, bang, bang ---- and back to the cleaning bench...

I was never sure if my shot out barrel was shot out or cleaned out....
 
BumbleBug

Clark, I find that hard to believe...
..that you bought a Savage 99 .250-3000 take-down for $200 as it shows in the picture!...LOL

...bug
Click to expand...

I dickered him down to $175 in 2004.
That price tag seems to have fallen off... no more Minnie Pearl effect.

But I a record of the prices that I paid on some benchrest take off barrels today.

I should have invested in rifles:(
 

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barrel

had a friend give me one of his "tomado stake" Krieger barrel in 30 cal..1 in 14 twist..

turn it down to about a #3 profile cut off the threads and re-chambered it for 300 savage.

shoots 110 and 125 grs bullets like a champ.. made it up for my oldest neice
 
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