Please give me your thoughts on this. My favorite bolt action is a 7mm Rem Mag. I would like to shoot it a lot more but have read that 7mm RM barrel life is often short. Questions :
(1) Is this true about 7mm RM having short barrel life ? (2) Can it be loaded down to 7x57
velocity and expect barrel life to be increased
( for practice ) and save full loads for hunting ?

quote:

Questions :
(1) Is this true about 7mm RM having short barrel life ?
clearly a matter of opinion.....IMO it's not short at all.....show me the guy that will shoot his 7mm Rem Mag 1,000 times in a lifetime!


(2) Can it be loaded down to 7x57
velocity and expect barrel life to be increased
( for practice ) and save full loads for hunting ?

This is a reloaders secret.....you can back off about five grains and often not lose much velocity at all.....you could probably achieve better than 7-08 velocities by dropping pressure about 8,000 PSI

This will improve barrel life and you could even hunt with that load if you chose to.

my dad has one that is 25 years old he shoots it the most out of all his guns. it still shoots as good as it did when new. barrel life also depends alot on how you shoot the gun.

When you talk about barrel wear, most of what causes it is heat. Use a measured approach and never let the barrel get so hot that you can't pick the rifle up by the barrel and the rifle should last a long time. Play Rambo with it and probably by your fifth or sixth shot, you've got measurable throat erosion.

My 7RM went 2500-3000 rds with the original factory Sako barrel. The second barrel was a Ron Smith gaintwist SS barrel which went 2000 rounds or so. The third barrel had maybe 1000 rounds through it before it was stolen.

The reason for the high round count was I shot about 100 rds on gophers every weekend one summer plus did alot of shooting at the range.

All loads were full power. I NEVER put another round through it when the barrel started getting warm from previous shots.

Bobby B.

quote:

Originally posted by clayman216:
Please give me your thoughts on this. My favorite bolt action is a 7mm Rem Mag. I would like to shoot it a lot more but have read that 7mm RM barrel life is often short. Questions :
(1) Is this true about 7mm RM having short barrel life ? (2) Can it be loaded down to 7x57
velocity and expect barrel life to be increased
( for practice ) and save full loads for hunting ?

Some bbls will wear out faster than others depending on steel used, how much pressure the loads cause, velocity, powder...and on and on. Personally I don't see the point in downloading anything other than to accomodate the type of bullet you shoot, such as slowing down a ballistic tip for better performance.

But if you just want your 7mag to last, just take good care of it and don't heat it up too much.

quote:

(2) Can it be loaded down to 7x57
velocity and expect barrel life to be increased
( for practice ) and save full loads for hunting ?

Yes! My 7mag drives tacks with 150gr Sierra BT's at about 2700 fps using IMR4895. good practice load and good hunting load, too. No one ever said the 7X57 wasn't a good deer cartridge!

Most current manufactured barrels outlast the heavy shooters... IF YOU DON'T OVERHEAT IT; CLEAN IT WITH A ROD GUIDE; DON'T LET IT GET COPPER FOULED.
Bob

The more you clean your barrel.
The hotter you shoot your barrel
the more and slower powder
the faster velocity.
The faster it wears out.

Remember that it often takes hours to mgf a decent barrel, and then this barrel only last from 2 - 10 seconds of use

quote:

Originally posted by jørgen:
The more you clean your barrel.
The hotter you shoot your barrel
the more and slower powder
the faster velocity.
The faster it wears out.

Remember that it often takes hours to mgf a decent barrel, and then this barrel only last from 2 - 10 seconds of use

If cleaned properly, how does the more you clean your barrel equate to more wear?

I think the cleaning damage story got started back when folks used jointed cleaning rods and cleaned from the muzzle end. And had never heard of a bore guide.

Thanks for the input just what I am looking for - keep them coming !

Cupper in manny forms acts as some kind of lubrication, and contact protection.
The whole idea an function of "break inn" comes down to maximum wear from every single shot.

A completely clean barrel, is totally naked and totally unprotected by the normal cupper lubrication in the barrel after fiering a few rounds.
A totally cleaned barrel will wear more during the first few rounds, then from the following.

The problem of poor accuracy after limited rounds caused by fouling, is basically a matter of "not ideal" barrels.
Often barrels born cylindrical, will loos accuracy rapidly caused by fouling, while slightly tapered barrels generally maintain high accuracy during mutch longer strings without cleaning.

That brings up the question: You are at the range and you have just cleaned your rifle. Right down to the metal. You swab the last of the copper cleaner out and run a patch soaked with brake cleaner through the bore. Once the brake fluid has evaporated, do you start shooting or do you lightly oil the barrel before going back to shooting?

I don't think anyone disagrees that a few fouling shots are needed to stabilize the bore --you can see with a chrony how a few shots are needed before the velocity evens out-- The idea of leaving the crud in the bore is a bad one. Carbon is hydroscopic (it draws water) so why leave it in the barrel? And I think it is more the carbon that lubes the barrel rather than the copper.

I never oil a bore unless the Rifle or barrel is in storage or stored in excessive humidity .

After cleaning I simply put them away and periodically check my Desiccant . Now if being stored longer



than 3 months without shooting ( Which never happens around my place ) I would Oil action bore

barrel nearly everything except stock ; I would wax my stock if it were an Oil finished stock .

quote:

Cupper in manny forms acts as some kind of lubrication, and contact protection.
The whole idea an function of "break inn" comes down to maximum wear from every single shot.

A completely clean barrel, is totally naked and totally unprotected by the normal cupper lubrication in the barrel after fiering a few rounds.
A totally cleaned barrel will wear more during the first few rounds,

Copper built up kills grouping, it is not a lube....if you want an easy lube use Moly coated bullets, but Moly produces its own problems.
Yes, breaking in a fresh barrel is shoot one, clean, shoot another one, clean.....some folks vary that a bit, but the bullet is knocking off tool marks and surface inclusions. So, you are "wearing out" your barrel, but a trivial amount compared to its potential life.
Building up copper is death to both accuracy and barrel life because the soft copper will hold grit and abrasive ignition products, cutting the bullet AND the barrel surface on each shot, especially if the barrel is overheated.
I shoot all my hunting rifles and benchrest rifles clean and dry....no lube, And yes, you usually need a fouler if your after ultimate grouping. The fouler does a lot to condition the barrel surface including removing any surface moisture.
Some barrels can do superbly with no foulers at all...."why" is speculation.
Bob

I have an original 1962 m700 BDL in 7mm mag the year that both the caliber and gun were introduced. Unfortunately its been heavily used ever since, consuming 1000's of primer flattening Hornady 175 gr RN. The gloss is worn on both the stock and bluing. There is also some throat erosion. I have been toying with the idea of rebuilding it back up to something else. It has the oversized magazine so it could be anything I want. If there was some collectors value I might think twice but the old 700 action has been flawless for 48 years. Not surprising, some mousers are still going strong after 60+ years.

quote:

Originally posted by BISCUT:

quote:

Originally posted by jørgen:
The more you clean your barrel.
The hotter you shoot your barrel
the more and slower powder
the faster velocity.
The faster it wears out.

Remember that it often takes hours to mgf a decent barrel, and then this barrel only last from 2 - 10 seconds of use

If cleaned properly, how does the more you clean your barrel equate to more wear?

i asked jack belk this very question .. he presented a well andtruely f'ed barrel... with 200 rounds down the tube .. of a 22hornet ... and it was GARBAGE

quote:

i asked jack belk this very question .. he presented a well andtruely f'ed barrel... with 200 rounds down the tube .. of a 22hornet ... and it was GARBAGE

You gotta do something really bad to ruin a Hornet barrel in 200 rds....like clean it with an oversized brush and acid without a rod guide OR shoot the WRONG DIAMETER .22 bullets.

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
...jack belk ...

Who would believe belk? I really think Jeffe is smarter than that.

200 rounds.....with a Hornet?? Naaah.

I know a fellow that has put some 4000 shots threw this, since he got it back in 1963. Shot mostly 175 gr bullets out of it of one make or another. Shot a lot of game with it too. The groups started opening up a bit. You could still cover three shots with a silver dollar, he still carries one of those in his pocket. So he just had a new barrel installed. He thinks that being in his mid 70's now, he will not be able to shoot enough game to wear the new barrel out. For hunting Accuracy, you should get 2500 to 5000 shots out of it depending how picky you are. Barrels are fairly cheap, add up how much brass primers powder and bullets would cost to shoot that much!

quote:

Originally posted by jørgen:
Cupper in manny forms acts as some kind of lubrication, and contact protection.
The whole idea an function of "break inn" comes down to maximum wear from every single shot.

A completely clean barrel, is totally naked and totally unprotected by the normal cupper lubrication in the barrel after fiering a few rounds.
A totally cleaned barrel will wear more during the first few rounds, then from the following.

The problem of poor accuracy after limited rounds caused by fouling, is basically a matter of "not ideal" barrels.
Often barrels born cylindrical, will loos accuracy rapidly caused by fouling, while slightly tapered barrels generally maintain high accuracy during mutch longer strings without cleaning.

That hasn't been my experience at all. I clean often and I clean properly. Improper cleaning can certainyl be atributable to early wear, but that wasn't what was stated.