- Thread starter jvr
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Barrels get ate up at the throat from heat and pressure.
I don't think bearing surface of the bullet is a significant factor.
I don't think bearing surface of the bullet is a significant factor.
I was always under the impression that powder to bore ratio was responsible for the stress cracking and erosion that is the cause of barrel wear, ergo less powder in heavy for caliber bullets than light to medium caliber bullets equals a little better barrel life
If I understand it correctly "IF" =the heavier bullet should increase dwell time before leaving the cartridge therefor exposing the throat later in the combustion process and therefor reduce heat exposure leading to better barrel life.
Then again: barrels are consumables and magnums are like sports cars or motorcycles, If your scared to put the hammer down you would probably be better off to get something more economical. If you want to hit hard you have to be willing to swing hard.......just shoot it and don't loose sleep over the little stuff.
Then again: barrels are consumables and magnums are like sports cars or motorcycles, If your scared to put the hammer down you would probably be better off to get something more economical. If you want to hit hard you have to be willing to swing hard.......just shoot it and don't loose sleep over the little stuff.
I'd throw out the fact that heavier bullets generally get loaded with less powder, therefore slightly less gas/plasma gets produced, to burn out the throat, but I'm no physics expert.
Chris
Chris
Heavy bullets absolutely eat up barrels faster, no question whatsoever about that. In the course of washing out literally hundreds of barrels in testing over the years, and keeping round count logs of every shot fired, heavy bullets (in the same chambering, i.e., 308s shooting 150s-168s vs 308s shooting 190s-200s, 6mm BRs shooting 70-75s, vs 6mm BRs shooting 105s-115s and so on) the heavier bullets routinely ate up barrels in about a third fewer rounds. D.ID is exactly correct on this; dwell time and overcoming the bullet's inertia before it moves it down the bore allows those gases and high temps to do their damage much more severely than the lighter bullets do. A quick check with a bore scope will confirm this. The last 3/4s of the barrel will generally look like new, while the first quarter or so will look like bad road in dire need of repaving. Much more obvious with barrels used with the heavy bullets than the somewhat more uniform wear you see with slower twist, light bullet barrels.
IF there was any truth to this theory, it would be 50-200 rounds of decreased barrel life at best with calibers such as a 308 (easy on barrels) with compressed loads. And who is going to notice 100 rounds? "Man, I sure wish I had 100 more rounds left in this barrel.". Shooting a 308 with 220gr compressed loads doesnt exactly turn it into a 7mm STW barrel burner. Youre thinking too much. Just shoot.
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Check your math. If Mr. Thomas's "theory" is correct, a .308 with a standard barrel life of 6000 rounds with light bullets would have a barrel life of 4000 rounds with heavy bullets. That's a 2000 rounds difference, and yes, that would be noticeable. But no, this will not effect my bullet selection in the slightest.
2000 rounds less barrel life my ass. Just for shooting a heavy bullet? Its getting deep in here! So, IF the above theory is true, wouldnt it mean a 220 swift shooting 40gr bullets would get more, or just as much barrel life as a 223 shooting 60gr bullets, for example?
Now you're getting onto a whole 'nother topic altogether. This entire thread is about shooting heavier/lighter bullets in the same cartridge. As soon as you switch to a different cartridge, you start worrying about case capacity to bullet diameter (overbore), powder choice, blah blah blah.... This is a "all other things equal" kinda deal.
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