Barrel life of less than 20 seconds….

[AJMD429]

.
Just thinking about barrel wear…

Say a 2,500 fps load in s 24” barrel.
Avg velocity would be around 1,250 fps for the 2 ft travel, taking around 2/1,250 sec, or 0.0016 seconds in the barrel.
Accuracy life for barrels pretty much under 10,000 rounds if seeking top accuracy.
So after about 16 seconds of actual use, even the best barrels are all done-in…

[Griff]

So what you're saying is that speed kills! Whereas by your calculation, my 24" bbl in the 45 Colt 1885 @850 fps would last about 47 seconds... 850/2=425; 2/425=.0047; .0047x10,000 = 47 seconds. I would theorize that barrel wear is more dependent on friction than simple speed... in that my lubed lead bullets @ 850 fps would have far less friction than a similar speedy jacketed bullet.

[JimT]

My Dad put close to 300,00 rounds through his S&W .357 "L" frame before he rebarreled it. The only reason he rebarreled it is because of a squib that stopped halfway down the bore and since it was in the middle of a practice high-speed 6 rounds the next shot bulged the barrel. After all those bullets running down that barrel the rifling was still sharp and the gun was still accurate. BUT the bulge was ugly. Rebarreled he was back at it in a short time. We know he put more than 350,000 rounds through that gun because the main shooting was counted a logged.

[Ysabel Kid]

Fascinating way of thinking about it!

[jeepnik]

Ah, statistics. Or as the very famous writer once said, "there are three types of lies, lies, darned lies and statistics. It's also statistically possible for a barrel to blow up on the very first round.

[marlinman93]

Anything that shoots at very high rate of speed is not going to be all that accurate, even with a brand new barrel. The military or anyone else who owns these firearms are not buying them for great accuracy; they buy them for firepower.

[El Chivo]

that's like totaling up a lifetime's worth of orgasms and coming up with three minutes worth

[AJMD429]

that's like totaling up a lifetime's worth of orgasms and coming up with three minutes worth

Wow.....what a way to cash in your chips....!

Yeah I think the lead bullets, even if driven fast, surely cause near-zero barrel wear.

It is mostly the hard-core match-shooters who notice accuracy deterioration when it goes from 1/2 MOA to 1 MOA.

Being in my hands will likely limit any gun to 1-2 MOA even off a rest, so I've not had a barrel wear out on any gun yet.

Of course I wonder how many total seconds of 'use' any of my firearms have had.

My 10/22 I had from age 12 to 35 or so must have had several hundred thousand rounds through it and I never noticed a change in the 1-2" at 50 yard accuracy.

My Mini-14 of similar vintage probably had only 10,000 or so rounds and had similar accuracy - maybe 4-5" at 100 yards - from start to finish a couple decades later (traded it for a newer 'Ranch' model).

[Old No7]

that's like totaling up a lifetime's worth of orgasms and coming up with three minutes worth

To quote The Kid...

Fascinating way of thinking about it!

Don't burn out your barrel...

Old No7

[piller]

I have always heard that it is the flame cutting which erodes barrels.

[El Chivo]

I have always heard that it is the flame cutting which erodes barrels.

and it's the throat, not the rest of the barrel that makes the difference

I was looking into some 308 family calibers, and looking at barrel life. I thought 7mm 08 was a good compromise between speed, flat shooting, and barrel life. Never did get one though.

[piller]

PillHer and I both have a 7mm08. The kick is mild, but it works as well as any mid range centerfire. I would not be against using it on elk or moose.