So I melonited my 308 barrel...

[EROCO]

600 rounds through the barrel and I am only seeing .002 of throat wear and..

* the cold bore\clean bore shot is not much different at all from the warm 50 rounds plus through the barrel

* I am shooting primarily 208 AMAX with 47.7 gr of RL17 @ 2700 fps on a 27", 1 in 10 PACNOR barrel

* I shot some 175 SMK today with 44.7 RL15 and this is the result

Very happy so far..

 

[turbo54]

Re: So I melonited my 308 barrel...

Cool. How many rounds through before you melonited? Who did the melonite? I'm sending a barrel next week.

 

[EROCO]

Re: So I melonited my 308 barrel...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: turbo54</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Cool. How many rounds through before you melonited? Who did the melonite? I'm sending a barrel next week. </div></div>

I put 30 rounds through, cleaning after every few rounds.

I also removed all the copper before turning it in..

Also, the .002 wear could've been the bullet as I am seeing as much as .003 variance in ogive from bullet to bullet.

Looking through a borescope I see no heat damage from the throat whatsoever..

 

[EROCO]

Re: So I melonited my 308 barrel...

Oh, by the way melonite was done by Burlington engineering @ Orange, CA

 

[Lofty]

Re: So I melonited my 308 barrel...

What about velocity?

 

[turbo54]

Re: So I melonited my 308 barrel...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Lofty</div><div class="ubbcode-body">What about velocity? </div></div>

+1!!!

Tomorrow is my barrel breakin day. Chrono will be with me, but only God knows if it'll work... I hope it does, but if it doesn't, I aint waiting for another say...I need to get the barrel sent off soon!

 

[EROCO]

Re: So I melonited my 308 barrel...

Good question. I chrono'd the first 30'rounds out of the batch of 50 I made.

After the melonite I would say I lost about 25 FPS ave. I more than made up for that with more powder, hence 47.7 of RL 17 and still no pressure signs but great accuracy.

 

[excaliber]

Re: So I melonited my 308 barrel...

Most people see an increase in velocity after having a barrel nitrided, (melonite). The process makes the surface of the barrel harder which in turn slickens the barrel. I don`t know why you lost velocity, you might need to increase powder charge since you are not getting any pressure signs.

 

[sinister]

Re: So I melonited my 308 barrel...

2 reasons for a velocity change: first, if treating or plating builds up surface thickness the bullets will be a tighter squeeze fit and your pressure and velocity will rise. On the other hand if the coating or surface treatment increases lubricity it will take less pressure to push a bullet down the bore and you will need to increase your powder charge to get where you were before treatment (as you would if you moly-coat bullets).

 

[Lofty]

Re: So I melonited my 308 barrel...

I've read both sides. Some people claim velocity loss, some gains.

 

[EROCO]

Re: So I melonited my 308 barrel...

I definitely did lose velocity, not much but it was a lost nonetheless..