Posted this on another thread and thought it might be of interest on the front page. If not, please ignore
Its all kind of funny. Back in the day (that would be the 1950’s and 1960’s) worrying about burning up a barrel was all the rage and the success of a product was dependent on how long the barrel would last. My guess is that the .22 Swift brought all of this on. But, the Swift was probably the only round that was ever shot enough by riflemen to actually damage a barrel prior to the late 1950’s. The ammunition costs and the reason to be using a high powered rifle in the first place so limited use that barrel degradation ever occurred in Real Time, Real Use. (Hard as it may seem, limited reloading and cartridge costs of $4.95 for 20 were significant expenses in 1964.)
So, now we have people who really shoot a lot. It all really started with IHMSA and NRA Rifle Silhouette. One had to shoot a bit to be proficient. And, having to put 5 rounds down a barrel in less than 2 minutes and shoot 40 rounds on a hot day in an hour or less actually put some stress on a barrel. Now, we really shoot, shoot a lot. A hundred or more rounds per day. As I said, back in the day, many rifles never got shot a hundred times during the lifetime of the owner. AND we worried about burning out a barrel. We made purchases based on finding a rifle that would not burn a barrel out in 1500 rounds and then never shot it more than five times a year, for twenty years.
Its all kind of funny. Back in the day (that would be the 1950’s and 1960’s) worrying about burning up a barrel was all the rage and the success of a product was dependent on how long the barrel would last. My guess is that the .22 Swift brought all of this on. But, the Swift was probably the only round that was ever shot enough by riflemen to actually damage a barrel prior to the late 1950’s. The ammunition costs and the reason to be using a high powered rifle in the first place so limited use that barrel degradation ever occurred in Real Time, Real Use. (Hard as it may seem, limited reloading and cartridge costs of $4.95 for 20 were significant expenses in 1964.)
So, now we have people who really shoot a lot. It all really started with IHMSA and NRA Rifle Silhouette. One had to shoot a bit to be proficient. And, having to put 5 rounds down a barrel in less than 2 minutes and shoot 40 rounds on a hot day in an hour or less actually put some stress on a barrel. Now, we really shoot, shoot a lot. A hundred or more rounds per day. As I said, back in the day, many rifles never got shot a hundred times during the lifetime of the owner. AND we worried about burning out a barrel. We made purchases based on finding a rifle that would not burn a barrel out in 1500 rounds and then never shot it more than five times a year, for twenty years.
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