Shooting a CZ 550 ln 22-250 ca. Will not shoot hot loads. What kind of barrel life should I get with this gun?
THANKS Jerry

Like any high intensity caliber (6.5x284, 30-378 etc) the best accuracy is usually the first 1000-1200 rounds. After that accuracy decreases. Guess the question to ask is how long will the barrel hold minute of critter? You might get lucky and have one that goes 2000 rounds or so.

My 17 remington barrel (stainless) went at 1100 rounds (top accuracy). It would still shoot good for 10 shots or so but opened up after that.

It all depends on the quality of the barrel, the amount/style of shooting you do and the frequency of cleaning. But for a cartridge such as the 22-250, you should reasonably expect 3-4000 rounds before seeing any noticeable degradation of accuracy.

Back in the late 70s/early 80s, I put an estimated 9000 rounds through a 788 before accuracy began to head south. Even then, I could still crowd 5 Speer 52 grain HPs into an inch.

Corbin-Something about your .17 doesn't sound right, and I suspect something else may be the culprit. The more you shoot, the more you "smooth" things up -- and barrel fouling tends to get better, not worse. This is especially true with the little .17s. With today's barrel steels and quality bullets, 30-50 rounds between cleanings is commonplace with the .17 Rem. And a broken-in barrel should theoretically do better than a new one...

I've shot three barrels out on a Swift with pretty hot ammo. Could never see a reason to load a .22-250 or .220 with slow loads as I have .223's for that. I got 4000 rounds apiece out of them, and they would still shoot 1.00-1.25 groups even though the first three or four inches looked like a crocodile hide. I don't get a barrel hot however, that will cut the life considerably. Shoot the heck out of it and don't worry, they make some new ones every day. Those shot-out barrels are part of being a shooter, I don't let it worry me.

quote:

Originally posted by jy:
Shooting a CZ 550 ln 22-250 ca. Will not shoot hot loads. What kind of barrel life should I get with this gun?
THANKS Jerry

Jerry,

As you said, if you don't shoot hot loads and don't heat up the barrel too much you should have no problems getting several thousand rounds . And this would be on the low end if you are careful.

I have been keeping careful track of the loads through my main 22-250 with a custom barrel and it has throated about .006 per 1000 rounds over about 3600 rounds. When I can't touch the rifling any longer I will keep shooting it until the accuracy falls off. I am expecting 5000 rounds through this barrel.

This barrel is 27" and I load 4350 which gives me great accuracy and is a slower powder compared to some that are used in the '250. I feel this is the way to go when rebarreling the 22-250.

A couple of other things. My brother burned up a Ruger #1 in about 2000 rounds. On one dog town we got into he shot it so hot when he touched the barrel to find out how hot it was he got second degree burns on his fingers. We were in a very target rich environment and if anyone knew that gun they wouldn't blame him but that is another story....

One of the ranchers that we know sent his 22-250 back with me a couple of years ago as he was sure it was shot out. It was throated past touching it with any of my bullets, but I spent several hours cleaning the bore, and putting in my reloads I shot one fouler and the next three made a 3/8 inch group. He is very happy with it again.

Jim

Layne Simpson claimed over 5,000 rounds out of a hot loaded Remington 40-X in 220 Swift and still plugging 1/2" groups!

Your mileage may vary.

I have about 4,000 rounds thru a Pac Nor barrel in 22.250...

The load for most of it, has been 25 grains of IMR 4198 with a Speer 52 grain HP.. for an MV of 3500 fps.. ( 28 inch barrel)....

the last 1,000 rounds has been as accurate as the first thousand rounds were...

I don't set the barrel on fire...and use it mainly for shots at 300 yds and out.. the 223s, take care of the closer business...

A Ruger VT also has about 4,000 rounds thru it.. it doesn't get heated up either...accuracy is as good as it was when I got it... which had about 2,000 rounds thru it at the time.. it was a gift from the family of a Doctor friend who owned it and he passed away...in March of 2003..

I've probably got 2200-2500 rounds through my Rem VSSF 22-250 and still seem to get the same grouping size as when it was brand new. I agree with Seafire about not getting the barrel hot; perhaps switching off to a different rifle if the action is fast. Most of my varmint hunting has been on rockchucks and coyotes where the actions is not fast at all so I don't have the experience of working those P-Dog areas although sounds like it would be fun.

the key is never letting the barrel get too hot to hold (not touch, hold). My first trip to Montana about 28 years ago to shoot prairie dogs, I had a ruger 77V in 220 Swift and 120 cases. Shot as fast as I could acquire trgets in the scope, and cleaned after every 30 rounds. Emptied the bos in 2 1/2 hours. Reloaded with my tong tool, and repeated. Had lunch, repeated twice more that day. Had to stop using patches because the bore felt "rough".
Brushes and a swab. At the close of the second day, I couldn't even get a brush down the barrel. Got home and shipped it back to ruger. No rifling for about six inches past the chamber. I learned from that episode. Take a couple, okay, three or four rifles, and rotate.

Rich
DRSS

Jy: In direct opposition to the view of one of the above posters I ABHORE replacing barrels!
It is VERY expensive and a waste of time and effort.
And it can be avoided (held off!) by simple and common sense conduct.
The simple rules are (and I am fully aware that several others have mentioned them in this thread but they are worth repeating) never shoot a barrel when it is HOT! Let alone not shooting it when its HOT, don't get it HOT in the first place!
And clean your barrels with care and not to excess! Yes barrels can and have been ruined by poor cleaning techniques and by OVER cleaning.
My good friend Irv became jealous of an extremely accurate Remington 40XB-KS in 220 Swift that I owned. He had to have one just like it for our Rock Chuck shooting Safari's.
He had never owned a Swift before.
Once his Rifle came I saw it, many times, shoot 1/2" groups at 200 yards!
We took it Prairie Doggin the second year he had it and he "abused" it by shooting it hot. At 1,500 rounds (he kept track) the rifling was simply not visible for several inches down the barrel! It now shot 1" groups for him at 200 yards! He thought that was horrific and sent it back to Remington for a "new" barrel!
400 and some dollars later he got back his Swift and it now shot 3/4" groups at 200 yards with the EXPENSIVE new barrel!
He had learned a hard and expensive lesson.
My Remington 40XB-KS still shoots wonderfully!
I baby that Swift barrel!
Directly now, to your 22-250 inquiry. I have been shooting a Remington 40XB Rangemaster Model in 22-250 since 1981! I run about 200 to 300 rounds a year through it - using the utmost care and due caution while doing so. 26 (years)times lets say 250 (shots per year average) then equals 6,500 rounds down that tube!
That Rifle is still EXTREMELY accurate - it does show wear but NOT abuse!
By the way jy, this 6,500 round estimation IS a MUCH longer accuracy life than I would have expected from even a barrel of this quality!
I would hope you should get 3,500 rounds of GOOD accuracy from your CZ barrel - best of luck in that regard.
Take care of a 22-250 barrel, don't shoot it hot and don't shoot over max loads in it and you will get a long usefull life out of it!
Maybe not as long as my top quality Remington 40X barrel but long life none the less!
I have a habit of selling my Varminters off if they get to many rounds down the tube - again this is a direct result of my abhorence of buying top quality barrels and then having them fitted to an existing Rifle!
You are looking at a 500 dollar bill by having to do this anymore!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

quote:

e!

The response above is why I like this forum so much. I THANK all of you for the time and effort to reply. You save me time and money with my shooying.
THANKS Jerry

quote:

Originally posted by Bobby Tomek:
It all depends on the quality of the barrel, the amount/style of shooting you do and the frequency of cleaning. But for a cartridge such as the 22-250, you should reasonably expect 3-4000 rounds before seeing any noticeable degradation of accuracy.

Back in the late 70s/early 80s, I put an estimated 9000 rounds through a 788 before accuracy began to head south. Even then, I could still crowd 5 Speer 52 grain HPs into an inch.

Corbin-Something about your .17 doesn't sound right, and I suspect something else may be the culprit. The more you shoot, the more you "smooth" things up -- and barrel fouling tends to get better, not worse. This is especially true with the little .17s. With today's barrel steels and quality bullets, 30-50 rounds between cleanings is commonplace with the .17 Rem. And a broken-in barrel should theoretically do better than a new one...

Bobby,

Rest assured that nothing is out of line with my 17's. In terms of barrel life I am talking about very top accuracy levels. I shoot the 17's at 600 yards and beyond on paper. The throat does NOT get smoother with firings it gets rougher. Have you ever looked down the tube of a 17 rem (stainless or CM) with a bore scope after 1000+ rounds? Heck I can see throat erosion with the naked eye. When the throat starts to go elevation is effected at 600 yards. Yes the barrel will shoot OK beyond 1000-1200 rounds but for my purposes I consider the barrel toast once it starts showing elevation issues. Same thing with a Palma barrel (308 win with 155gr bullets at 3000fps). A palma barrel is only good for about 2500 rounds of top accuracy and then it could "go" at anytime. Its best to go to Perry with a tube that is broken and not on its last leg. I like to have about 800 rounds down the Palma tube before going to Perry and not much more. Sometimes it does not work out that way given the shooting schedule during the year.

quote:

Originally posted by corbin shell:

quote:

Originally posted by Bobby Tomek:
It all depends on the quality of the barrel, the amount/style of shooting you do and the frequency of cleaning. But for a cartridge such as the 22-250, you should reasonably expect 3-4000 rounds before seeing any noticeable degradation of accuracy.

Back in the late 70s/early 80s, I put an estimated 9000 rounds through a 788 before accuracy began to head south. Even then, I could still crowd 5 Speer 52 grain HPs into an inch.

Corbin-Something about your .17 doesn't sound right, and I suspect something else may be the culprit. The more you shoot, the more you "smooth" things up -- and barrel fouling tends to get better, not worse. This is especially true with the little .17s. With today's barrel steels and quality bullets, 30-50 rounds between cleanings is commonplace with the .17 Rem. And a broken-in barrel should theoretically do better than a new one...

Bobby,

Rest assured that nothing is out of line with my 17's. In terms of barrel life I am talking about very top accuracy levels. I shoot the 17's at 600 yards and beyond on paper. The throat does NOT get smoother with firings it gets rougher. Have you ever looked down the tube of a 17 rem (stainless or CM) with a bore scope after 1000+ rounds? Heck I can see throat erosion with the naked eye. When the throat starts to go elevation is effected at 600 yards. Yes the barrel will shoot OK beyond 1000-1200 rounds but for my purposes I consider the barrel toast once it starts showing elevation issues. Same thing with a Palma barrel (308 win with 155gr bullets at 3000fps). A palma barrel is only good for about 2500 rounds of top accuracy and then it could "go" at anytime. Its best to go to Perry with a tube that is broken and not on its last leg. I like to have about 800 rounds down the Palma tube before going to Perry and not much more. Sometimes it does not work out that way given the shooting schedule during the year.

Corbin,

I am assuming the elevation issues would be a DROP in elevation?

Thanks.

Jim

pdhntr1,

What I am refering to is unexplained elevation shots both up and down. This is very common when a barrel gets long in the tooth. Ask any good prone shooter what happens when the barrel goes.

I had a 6mm Remington, It was one of my first rifles. It was built on a Mauser action with a Sharon barrel. My younger brother had one that was similar. We often went prairie dog shooting with those 6mm's. I doubt his lasted 1/5 as many shots as mine did. I did not let it get hot. He just kept shooting.
Finally, when my barrel started to shoot out, I still could get 5 to 10 shots with accuracy but it then fouled and it took a while to clean it-throat was the main problem. I had that rifle for over 30 years. My brother had his about 5 years.
As the above responses note. Take care of your rifle and it will last quite a while.

Lots of worries and comments on barrel life on lots of forums over the years!

Its just like life take care of yourself and you will live longer. same with a barrel take care of it and it will last longer!

Worry all the time about dieing and you wont enjoy what years you do have! worrry all the time about your barrel lasting and you wont enjoy it as much while it last!

Just shoot it and enjoy if you wear it out buy another!