300 win mag barrel done for?

[Norseman1950]

I'm thinking its probably time for a new one but oddly enough the guy that does my barrels talked me out of it. His thoughts were that it shouldn't be dead yet. Here's the details. Its had a steady diet of reloader 22 its entire life which i understand isn't very kind to barrels. Its currently at about 1400 rds. At around 1100 rds I noticed a loss in velocity. I'm currently out 50 thousandths on my seating depth from new. I can noticeably feel roughness in the throat with patch/brush. Its been fired suppressed its entire life, not certain that matters but... Finally, last time out I couldn't hold better than MOA when sighting in. Also, shots all over the place @ 800m. Might have been me but this isn't typical for me. Anyway, figured there's gotta be more than few of you that have gone through multiple win mag barrels out there.

 

[Rob01]

Get some Tubb TMS rounds. Shoot 3, clean and then shoot 3 more. Might smooth that throat for you enough to get some more life out of it.

 

[NamibHunter]

Sounds like the symptoms of a barrel that is at end of life.

We shot out out a Browning X-Bolt in 300 Winmag after maybe 800 rounds. Just got very inaccurate. Used to shoot just below 1”, but worked like a charm on African antelope including springbuck and kudu. Especially with Barnes TTSX bullets.

Gun was bought second hand, so you can never be sure if the original owner was 100% honest about the number of rounds down the barrel. Apparently replacing a barrel on an X-Bolt is not advisable. Oh well.

Superb hunting caliber, will probably get another barrel for the Blaser switch barrel hunting rifle in this caliber.

 

[NamibHunter]

It is w

Get some Tubb TMS rounds. Shoot 3, clean and then shoot 3 more. Might smooth that throat for you enough to get some more life out of it.

Yep. It is worth a try. Many people have reported a useful improvement after the Tubb final finish treatment. Not very expensive either.

Think about meloniting your next 300 Winmag barrel. Should give you a bit more barrel life.

You could also try loading longer heavier bullets, seated further out, to get a smaller jump. [But: Avoid a jammed bullet - that requires the powder charge to be reduced significantly.] Sometimes you get lucky and the longer bullets make an old barrel shoot better for a while longer.

Of course, barrels are consumables, so don’t be shy to replace as needed.