I was orignally toying with the idea of a .375 H&H, but realized I'd get a lot more shooting out of a smaller caliber. I have a .223 single-shot, and a .30-06 bolt, and was looking for something in-between for everything up to deer-sized game. A .243 came to mind, and I noticed a couple of comments regarding barrel life for this caliber a while back, and was wondering what your opinions were?

I do reload, and usually go for the most accurate load I can get vs. the fastest, and that's usually 3% or so below max listed. I shoot about 2000 rounds/year or so, mostly in hot weather. The rifle I'm considering is a Savage, not sure which model.

Thanks

Plan on getting a new barrel every few years, the Savage is nice, because you can swap barrels yourself.

quote:

Originally posted by MajorCaliber:
Plan on getting a new barrel every few years, the Savage is nice, because you can swap barrels yourself.

At 2,000 rounds a year the above quote is about spot on. Loaded with a bit of modesty the .243 might go longer but I'd still not expect more than about 5,000-7,500 rounds from one before accuray deteriorates.

The most critical factor is if you shoot the barrel too hot and how you clean it.

az223-IMO the old thing about the 243 tube life is a bunch of horse apples. I've used them quite a bit and have not noticed them to be shorter of life than the others.

If you're shooting 2K rounds a year thru it then you will find you'll get 2 years max out of it. I've found that for the accuracy that I want, most tubes (the way I run them) start to go when you're right around 2K rounds and most will go fairly quickly after that.

There again a lot of this depends on your cyclic rate and outside temp and that lot.

Good luck to you, I saw where Shaw is now making some kind of a replacement Savage tube now and that may be something to take a look into? If you do let me know as I am looking into getting another PD rifle and am thinking of Savage. IMO by far the most accurate factory rifle out there day in and day out.

Mark D

Like any rifle barrel.. as long as it is not used at a high rate of fire.. it will last as long as any other caliber....

4 to 5 thousand rounds out of a barrel is average for most people...

If you shoot varmint weight bullets and want a lot longer barrel life, with great accuracy... try a load of 22.5 grains of Blue Dot powder... with any bullet weight....

IN a heavy barrel it generates a lot less heat than loads using other powders that you use a lot more volume of powder per round...

It shoots tight groups even in worn barrels....

I believe it will increase a barrel's life by 300 % in most cases... even high volume varmint shooting....

cheers
seafire

quote:

Like any rifle barrel.. as long as it is not used at a high rate of fire.. it will last as long as any other caliber....

I don't agree that a 6mm will last as long as say a .30 cal. Some .30 caliber bores will give service for 10,000 shots and thats been documented by the military.

I still favor the 243 for varmints and since I don't get that many shots in the field a barrel lasts a long time for me. I would not use a Shaw barrel for a varmint rifle.

The flat trajectory, moderate recoil, high accuracy and crushing power on varmints makes the 6mm's stand out today. It's a high performance round.

As mentioned above one can load the 243 Win a little on the light side for varmints and still have a hammer.

quote:

Originally posted by MajorCaliber:
Plan on getting a new barrel every few years, the Savage is nice, because you can swap barrels yourself.

Or if you are interested you can have several barrels in different calibers and switch them around as your mood dictates...

Just remember to take the correct box of ammunition with you when you head to the
range

How long a barrel lasts depends on several factors.

I once killed a 25-06 barrel in less than 2500rounds, but in all honesty the barrel
was definatly "going south" by the 1500 round mark...

Then I wrecked a 30caliber barrel on the same rifle by shooting a bullet past a gas check that fell off the previous round... Oops...

BTW, if you are seriously conbsidering a Savage/Stevens bolt action Midway currently has some great closeout deals on some A&B barrels for the Savage Stevens rifles

AllanD

How many shots in a row would be wearing the barrel too much? I shoot with 100 grains bullet on a running target. Is 10 shots too many?

JTK

JTK,

If your using the rifle in a competition and the low recoil, fast barrel time and high velocity are an advantage and indeed they will be then stay with it. Now if your just practicing or shooting for fun at in that 10 event which you infer is rapid fire then you will burn the barrel faster than with a larger bore.

Ten shots fast! Yes thats a hot barrel.

Thanks for the replies; the heat factor and velocity are probably the biggest ones to consider, and I'll be shooting varmint loads out of it mostly. Shooting in 100°+ heat doesn't make my .223 any hotter, but it doesn't cool fast by any means. Plus when it's hot here, there's usually no wind.

I guess it's like anything; use it a lot, and it will wear. I do like the fact that Savage barrels can be changed without too much difficulty (so I keep hearing, anyways). I've changed barrels and done trigger work on 10/22's, so I don't anticipate the Savage being too formidable.

So now the question is, do I save for the rifle, or for a safe, which I need? But I need the rifle too, since I don't have one, right? Decisions, decisions...

I have washed out (or destroyed) 5 x .243 Win barrels. The one that shot the longest before seriously affecting accuracy, was a Ruger M77 VT, it lasted 4500 rounds, mostly 87 V-Max, 95 Nosler BT and 105 gr A-Max bullets handloaded to 90-95% of potential. the one that was shot out the quickest, was a Remington VLS, going at only 2000 rounds. the rest were replacement barrels, all Vektor, and they average about 2500. I also had one barrel blow up after 700 rounds. All my other .243's (excl the Ruger), digested mostly (99.99%) 105 A-Max's @ around 2950.

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:

quote:

Originally posted by MajorCaliber:
Plan on getting a new barrel every few years, the Savage is nice, because you can swap barrels yourself.

The most critical factor is if you shoot the barrel too hot and how you clean it.

I use a .243 for PD's and now have several seasons on it (3) I'm approaching that 2000 round mark no sign of loss of accuracy or wear. It's still whacking them regularly over 500 yards.

Like Vapodog says it's all about not getting them to hot and how you clean them.