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barrel life…remington 700

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icallshotgun88

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Full Member
Minuteman
Jun 10, 2014
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I'm wondering what i can expect, in terms of round count, through my barrel..

I'm shooting a Remington 700 SPS Tactical AAC-SD
20" barrel in .308 w/ 1 in 10" twist in a heavy barrel

I'm not sure what else factors in to barrel life so i'll name off anything that might make a difference..

I usually shoot factory loads of 175 grain

I clean my barrel every 50-200 rounds (depending on my laziness)…and I use a good cleaning rod that is plastic and shouldn't damage the barrel

I'm wondering how many rounds i can put through this thing before theres is a decrease in performance/accuracy

I may never get to a round count that high on this rifle, but I'm just curious…

I've tried researching this online and i've gotten a huge range of answers…

anywhere from 3,000 rounds to 10,000 rounds.

this forum seems full of members that can probably give me a better idea...
 
I am curious as well. So far, all I have heard is speculation. I'd like to hear from someone who has worn one out. That is, seen a gun go from .5 MOA to 1 MOA in X rounds.
 
Your barrel will last longer, if you quit cleaning your barrel so often! Just clean and lube the chamber and bolt after every 2-3 range trips. Only clean the barrel when your accuracy fades. If cleaning the barrel does not improve the accuracy, then you need a new barrel. With the factory loads you're shooting you should get 10,000 rounds or more.
 
I wouldn't worry about it. Shoot the damn thing. If the grouping is off just clean it and repeat. If one day this doesn't work replace the barrel. Worrying about barrel life is like someone worrying and waiting about when they are going to die. Why worry about something you have no control over? Just enjoy the good parts and let the rest go.
 
I clean my barrel once every 500 rounds or so. I usually run a oiled patch down the barrel if it is going to be stored for a while.
 
I have an AAC-SD as well.
I'm pretty sure I'll get bored and rebarrel it 7-08 (or maybe 6.5 SAUM) long before the barrel goes south, which should be over 5k rounds.
 
VTSEAL said:
It seems that a Remington 700 Barrel will last approximately 3 Remington Trigger lifecycles....
Click to expand...

Now THAT is funny

To the OP you would be better off with a stainless rod, plastic coated rods can pick up debris which can become abrasive to your bore.
 
Mine went just shy of 6k before it just would not shoot any more accurately, it was a vls and I was putting some pretty hot hand loads though it

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
 
I've got north of 1k through my AAC-SD right now. Mine doesn't start to go downhill on accuracy until somewhere north of 450-500 rounds since the last cleaning. I will run a lightly oiled patch through it every now and then to help prevent any rust due to the humidity down here.

I'd agree with the other folks that said get out and shoot the damn thing.
 
Get a good bore guide also, it helps protect the barrel during cleaning. Get one that fits and it'll outlast your factory tube and aftermarket barrels.
 
Rule of thumb is 5,000, but I've never owned a 308 long enough to test that.

What is true is that the barrel will wear faster the hotter you let it get. There was an experiment I ready about where they took 2 identical 243, shot one fast and one slow with identical ammo and then measured throat erosion after a certain number. The fast shot barrel was in worse shape. I'll see if I can find the article.

Here it is...

http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2013/11/how-to-wear-out-a-barrel-in-one-afternoon/
 
Last edited:
so lets say its 5,000 rounds...

i go shooting almost every weekend...and of course there are some weekends i miss, or times i shoot different guns and not my 700, but i never shoot less 100 rounds with it.

lets say i go every weekend and shoot 100 rounds every time...

thats only 50 outings to the range before I should start considering a new barrel.

so that means every year-ish i should be looking into getting a new barrel..

a year is not THAT long...dang!
 
Base it off accuracy and not numbers.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
 
icallshotgun88 said:
so lets say its 5,000 rounds...

i go shooting almost every weekend...and of course there are some weekends i miss, or times i shoot different guns and not my 700, but i never shoot less 100 rounds with it.

lets say i go every weekend and shoot 100 rounds every time...

thats only 50 outings to the range before I should start considering a new barrel.

so that means every year-ish i should be looking into getting a new barrel..

a year is not THAT long...dang!
Click to expand...

Even if you're hand loading ammo at 50 cents a shot, that's $2500 in ammo. A new barrel is cheap compared to the cost of the ammo it took to burn it out.
 
There is not a magical calculator for number of rounds and it depends on the amount of powder burned thru the barrel. Light bullets with a heavier powder charge are more erosive that heavier bullets and less powder being burned.
Burning more powder in a smaller bore ( throat ) is also harder on the barrel than a larger caliber barrel like a .308 vs 6mm / .243. PSI and constriction at play.

Once I get a pet load I chronograph it and record the velocity , ES & SD and the accuracy.
If I start getting bad accuracy I use the chronograph for a quick check for a clue what's happening. Sometimes barrels just go tits up and the bottom line is if its not performing troubleshoot it or replace it.
 
icallshotgun88 said:
so lets say its 5,000 rounds...

i go shooting almost every weekend...and of course there are some weekends i miss, or times i shoot different guns and not my 700, but i never shoot less 100 rounds with it.

lets say i go every weekend and shoot 100 rounds every time...

thats only 50 outings to the range before I should start considering a new barrel.

so that means every year-ish i should be looking into getting a new barrel..

a year is not THAT long...dang!
Click to expand...

I'm confused.

In your opening post, you say you use FGMM175 ammo, and you've heard barrels last between 3k and 10k shots. You also suggest you may never even reach those kind of numbers.

Now you're saying you're an easy 4-5k/year shooter??? On factory FGMM175s???

If you're a 5k/year shooter, seems like you'd be telling US how long barrels last.

Please discuss...
 
HodgdonExtreme said:
I'm confused.

In your opening post, you say you use FGMM175 ammo, and you've heard barrels last between 3k and 10k shots. You also suggest you may never even reach those kind of numbers.

Now you're saying you're an easy 4-5k/year shooter??? On factory FGMM175s???

If you're a 5k/year shooter, seems like you'd be telling US how long barrels last.

Please discuss...
Click to expand...

i probably do shoot 4-5K rounds per year, but i dont shoot it all out of one gun...
its between about 10 guns...
sometimes i'll go to the pistol range, sometimes the rifle range, and sometimes skeet with the shotguns...
so it was more theoretically speaking, that if i was shooting everything out of one gun, i'd be looking at a barrel a year..
but i dont keep em that long and im not shooting every round out of the same gun..
 
Fester47 said:
I wouldn't worry about it. Shoot the damn thing. If the grouping is off just clean it and repeat. If one day this doesn't work replace the barrel. Worrying about barrel life is like someone worrying and waiting about when they are going to die. Why worry about something you have no control over? Just enjoy the good parts and let the rest go.
Click to expand...

wow, thanks for the great insight on the topic of this thread. such great input.
 
OK 5064 rounds, better? No more no less. No one can tell you for deff. That's why you got such a wide range of (answers?) Barrel life is answered by how accurately you want to shoot. Simple as that. 1\2 moa or 2 moa accuracy? If u are happy with 1-1\2 moa than the barrel can last you maybe 10,000 rounds more or less. This is just a question that gits beat to death and I took the bait. I'll move on. Sorry
 
My Rem 700 Varmint .308 is 34 years old, I am the second owner. I guess it has close to 10,000 rounds through it. It still shoots 3/8" at 100 yards. My hand loads are close to Federal Match, 175SMK at 2650. I have looked around and found the USMC expects about 12,000 rounds from a barrel. I have a barrel on order only because I want a longer tube than 24".
 
Fester47 said:
I wouldn't worry about it. Shoot the damn thing. If the grouping is off just clean it and repeat. If one day this doesn't work replace the barrel. Worrying about barrel life is like someone worrying and waiting about when they are going to die. Why worry about something you have no control over? Just enjoy the good parts and let the rest go.
Click to expand...

That IS actually some of the best advice I've heard/read. Makes a lot of sense to this simple guy.
 
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