Expected barrel life

[lovetsx]

What is the expect barrel life of an colt AR15 Hbar barrel?

Is there any way to tell how many rounds have been down it.

 

[Hummer]

Re: Expected barrel life

It depends on your rejection criteria. The gov't acceptance on M16A2 was 4.5" at 100 yards and rejection was 7.2"
With one ammo type we had barrels gone at 6000 rounds. On the other ammo type they went 12,000 and were right at rejection.
Average rifle came in at 3.5". Some less, some more.

That is with a pretty hot run schedule in testing. In light schedule firing they went 20,000 rounds of M193.
You can get the M16 Erosion Gage here and there and that will have a line on it that when it goes below the line the barrel is considered gone. There is another erosion gage made by Jake that has rings on it that will give you a better measurement.
Check out superiorbarrels.com for the Jake gage.

Match barrels are changed out by USAMTU every 700 rounds. I know other guys that let them go 2000 rounds.
It will last longer being cleaned often and never fired with dirty barrel as the carbon gets hard after firing and becomes and abrasive.

As a general rule heavy bullets eat barrels for breakfast. If you can stick with the 55 gr and stay off the max loads it will help your barrel life.

Lube you bolt carrier ports with Mobil 1 synthetic motor oil (I use 0W20 or 0w30) and you won't get near the carbon build up. Put a couple drops in after each 20 rounds or so.

 

[nicholst55]

Re: Expected barrel life

<span style="font-style: italic">Shooting Times</span> magazine torture-tested a Colt HBAR several years ago by firing 10,000 rounds through it basically as fast as they could. At the end of the test it shot a smaller group than what it had at the beginning - but <span style="font-style: italic">not</span> with the same ammo. The throat was too badly worn, and the bullets from the PMC factory ammo they used were keyholing at 100 yards.

So, depending on how hot you get the barrel and what level of accuracy you're willing to accept, you should be able to easily shoot it for 5-6,000 rounds or probably (significantly) more before it's time to rebarrel.

 

[lovetsx]

Re: Expected barrel life

Thanks guys. Would have never thought to use Mobile One. I have some for my Trans am.

How many rounds can I fire before it heats up to where I would be damaging the tube?