Well... I knew the .308 was pretty much 'stick a fork in it' done. I thought the 6.5-08 probably had a least another 1k rds of life left, especially w/ a setback and rechamber, though that's questionable from looking at the throat and the length of the damaged area.

I agree w/ the comments about shooting MA/HM scores; and I'm a long way from that point right now. Question is, is it smart to shoot something you don't know if that flyer out in the 8 ring is you, or the barrel finally going T.U., especially if you aren't that stellar of a shooter to begin with. I need all the room in that 10-ring I can get w/ the wind around here

Guess it's only one or two 'important' matches I really care about. After that it's all going to be pretty much reduced course practice stuff. Just kind of disappointed in the barrel life (like I said, I was expecting more. Then again, it's not really 'dead' yet either.).

Thanks,

Monte

I've got two match rifles; the first, is a 6.5-08 w/ a 30" Pac-Nor SuperMatch barrel that came from another rifle w/ 600rds thru it, and now has an additional 1500rds thru it. The second is a .308 Win. Palma gun, w/ a 30" Krieger w/ about 6000rds thru it.

I'd picked up the .308 for a good price considering the barrel was probably close to done. Got a new barrel on order, and took it over to a local gunsmith who has a borescope to see how bad it actually was. Just for giggles, I brought my 6.5-08 (w/ ~2100rds thru it) along for the trip, as I was planning on getting it set back this fall/winter to extend it out to 3000-3500rd life, hopefully.

Looked thru the .308, and it was predictably ugly (heck a 155gr SMK has about 1/10" left in the case above the boat-tail when seated to the lands) and rough. 6000rds of hot Palma loads tends to do that! No cracking, really, just some deep scratching (like a rake thru gravel) along the lands and grooves.

The gunsmith then mounted the 6.5-08 in his jig and set up the borescope again, and warned me to 'make sure I'd taken my heart medicine'. WTF? I about hurled looking at that barrel. I'd say it was twice as bad as the .308, but I'm not sure that'd do justice. Erosion, lots and lots of heat cracking, probably extending a good 4-5" up the bore.

The little bit of piddling I'd done w/ the .308 after I got it seemed to shoot OK. Not great, and not that consistent (granted, it was not a load tuned to that gun) though. Sub MOA most of the time, sometimes a lot better, sometimes a little worse. The Pac-Nor 6.5-08 has never been what I'd consider a 'hammer', has always copper fouled more than I would have expected, etc. Accuracy, while not outstanding, was pretty good though (1/2-3/4 MOA @ 600yds). Recently, though, the throat suddenly move out 15 thou. After re-adjusting the seating length, it started shooting OK again, but probably a little less accurate than it had been before. It did seem to perk up a little w/ a change of bullets to something perhaps a little more tolerant of the abuse.

Right now I'm looking at a 3x600 2-day match coming up, and both rifles on the 'injured reserve' list. Guess I could shoot my service rifle AR, but that could be ugly On the one hand either of the bolt guns probably stil shoot better than I can honestly hold on target, and will probably survive thru the end of that match that way. I'm wondering if I should just keep an eye on the throat length of the 6.5-08, order a (another!) new barrel for it as well, and shoot the crap out of it in the meantime, mostly 200/300yd Offhand, RapidFire, and reduced Prone practice, or just stick it in the corner until a new barrel comes in and not waste good match bullets and whatnot on it.

Ideas, opinions?

Thanks,

Monte

Highpower targets are big. Don't go throwing it away because of the bore scope. Admitedly both barrels are near the end of their match lives but even if you didn't look through the bore scope you knew that already. If it's not showing up on target then it's really not a problem is it? Finish the season with them then worry about it when the snow flys. If you are not high master you won't notice until the barrel really starts to throw fliers like an 8 at 10 o'clock on a good call, then it's toast.



PS I think a lot of shops pay for their bore scopes by all the barrels they get to prematurely replace

I've never borescoped a barrel, but in my other life as an engineer, I've been involved in a number of borescope examinations - pump passages, turbines, reactor vessels, etc. It takes a long time to really understand what you're looking at. The managers would always end up puking in the corner and screaming about the apparent impending disaster unfolding before their eyes. The worker bees expressed some concern, and the borescope technicians sipped their coffee and said, "Yup, looks pretty normal." The point is, if you want to use a borescope on barrels, scope every barrel you can - new, old, factory, custom and everything in between. Otherwise, you really can't make a judgement in a particular case.

Kevin, still shooting at Forbes?

Barrel condition is constantly changing at some level from first shot to last.
Keeping up with the condition is part of the game.
Conventional wisdom says a high use barrel is either getting better or getting worse and I tend to agree.
If the 6.5 is still shooting at or better than your capability, enjoy the match.
There's always something new to learn and experience is the only way to get that knowledge.
JMO
good shooting

Covey16

Hey, hey, hey.
Army(1974-1979) or Air Force(1980-1996), or, I did date an Irish girl who lived on Melrose avenue in the Bronx in 1977.
Those damn high power matches cook barrels. I know you live in the "Hart" land, but try a Krieger for the next go-round. Also, those polygonal rifled Pac-Nors hold up pretty good in .308. As soon as the barrel starts throwing flyers it's time to toss it. Especially as we are learning this sport we have to be able to trust the barrel so we can learn how to call our shots, and make informend sight corrections.
JCN

Shoot 'em this year. Get 'em rebarreled over the winter. It'll drive you nuts until you do.
JCN

Yes John I sure am, league match this weekend in fact if the rain holds off. Apparently you know me? Where have we met?