I have been told groups open up when the barrel reaches the end of its life. Can you mess with the load to shrink this size or will flyers and large groups persist no matter what you do?
End of life barrels
- Thread starter Mj30wilson900
- Start date
It does not necessarily make the groups open up. I've had decent accuracy on a toast barrel but I saw that I was losing speed.
You can tweak the load all you want but if the barrel is done, what's the point?
You can tweak the load all you want but if the barrel is done, what's the point?
You can chase it a little bit, ultimately you do more chasing than actual shooting. It’s up to you to decide where that line is.
Barrels are consumables. You are wasting time and money dicking with a shot out barrel.
Now if you chamber your own stuff, you can do a chop/setback and get some more life out of it, but not worth paying someone to re chamber it (hence why if you do your own work, it can be worth it).
Groups will open up, velocity will drop, will start throwing flyers, SD will grow.
When in doubt, throw it away. If you shoot a moderate amount you should always have a fresh barrel or two waiting to spin on when the last one gives up the ghost or is pulled a precautionary round count.
Now if you chamber your own stuff, you can do a chop/setback and get some more life out of it, but not worth paying someone to re chamber it (hence why if you do your own work, it can be worth it).
Groups will open up, velocity will drop, will start throwing flyers, SD will grow.
When in doubt, throw it away. If you shoot a moderate amount you should always have a fresh barrel or two waiting to spin on when the last one gives up the ghost or is pulled a precautionary round count.
I have 5k rds through my BRA barrel and it group pretty decent at 100yds. But beyond that it was everywhere. I wouldn’t waste anymore money if your not confident in your barrel no more
That was pretty much what I was thinking. I didn’t know just how much I could string it along before dumping it
I’m shooting a 6.5 Creedmoor.
Today I shot at 1,000y for the second time.
The first was exactly 2 years ago nearly to the day at the same range.
My barrel was nearly new 2 years ago and I was shooting 0.4moa with hand loads and 0.6moa with factory ammo.
Today my best group was 0.6moa with hand loads after 2500 rounds down the barrel.
A new barrel is on order and should be arriving in about 4 weeks.
Today I shot at 1,000y for the second time.
The first was exactly 2 years ago nearly to the day at the same range.
My barrel was nearly new 2 years ago and I was shooting 0.4moa with hand loads and 0.6moa with factory ammo.
Today my best group was 0.6moa with hand loads after 2500 rounds down the barrel.
A new barrel is on order and should be arriving in about 4 weeks.
