I think it is only a matter of seconds.

Mike.

I've seen some fairly old full bore (nato 7.62mm) target rifles being used that were still clearly pretty accurate – only variation due to cross wind when conditions are like that. They start at 300m and then go longer.

The barrels do get changed as some point but as they are generally only used for competition shooting I'd guess 10 to 15 years as there are only so many ranges, some will be too far away for people to travel so I doubt if they are shot every month. This sort of shooting allows 2 sighters before the ones that count are shot. So going on that some where in the region of 1500 rounds plus or minus ??. That;s assuming 300 and 600 are shot every time. Some ranges do another longer distance as well. That might push it up to 2000 rounds.

John

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LOL I don't think life in terms of how much time the bullet spends travelling down the barrel is practical at all. I'd me more concerned about how often I would have to buy a new one.

John

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Depends on quite a few factors.

The obvious one being velocity and bullet choice.

At the bottom end of the scale we have sub-sonic lead .22LR ammo wher the barrel will last many, many 1000's of rounds.

At the other end of the scale we have something like a .220 swift which can chew through barrels at an alarming rate. They are however not a popular choice these days. But .243's which are have a reputation for having quite a short barrel life are.

Basically any cartridge that has a ratio of a large charge to a small bore is prone to burning the throat out. So something like the .220 swift is very bad but the good ole 30-06 is quite good. – For those that don't know a .220 swift uses a 30-06 parent cartridge necked down to .22. In a similar way a .243 is a necked down .308 which is the civilian designation of the 7.62mm NATO round. These are also reasonably barrel kind.

Cleaning and method can also be barrel killers. The drawstring type used by the military for its compactness is very bad as the chord rubs and wears the muzzle and barrel crown unless it is drawn through totally square. (which is virtually impossible) Also unless a carbon steel barrel is cleaned on a regular basis the wash of copper left by the bullet will cause an electrolytic reaction with the steel (not a strong one but over time) and cause pitting.

There are many other things such as the barrel twist rate that can have influence. And of course what the chosen barrel has been made from.

Nick

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Ja, that was the case when I was shooting.

I however did not do much target shooting. Mine was either foxes (on a regular basis) or deer stalking (not as often)

Very often when I had been out foxing and come home at 3 am wet and cold the last thing you wanted to do was clean the rifle. But one did even if it had been only fired once.

Nick

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Yup, sabot rounds.

We and most of the other 'western powers' have used them for decades also. I think the bore is chrome lined.

The German Leopard 2 tank certainly does. And the Americans use the same German gun on their much loved Abrahams tank as they did not see much point in developing their own version.

Nick

Edited By Nick_G on 19/02/2016 11:38:03

Edited By Nick_G on 19/02/2016 11:41:16

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So were you asking a genuine question or setting a test.?

Nick

When I took an interest in NRA full-bore rifle competition back in the 1980s, the ammunition was RG Green Spot, which was the British Army's sniper round in 7.62 NATO (identical in dimensions to .308 Winchester). It wasn't as accurate as hand-loaded ammo, and the trick was to fit a Schultz & Larsen barrel that was made one thou tight. The accurate life of this barrel was reckoned to be no more than 1,500 rounds.

Regards black powder, I had a Joseph Harcombe BP rifle. Dated 1865, it had an ogive 5 groove rifling and measured .567 cal. I made a mould and cast hollow base bullets. I had an old dustbin lid hanging on a wire about 150 yards away which often was swinging in the breeze and quite hard to hit. Stupidly I sold it and regretted doing so later. Also had a BP Beretta shotgun, modern which shattered every clay you shot at, great on Pheasants and Pigeons. again thought an auto Beretta was more use. Regretted that too. Partially because of the Police and the stupid BP regs. and storage.

Regarding barrels, the best cal. at this time is the .338 as it fulfills all needs of velocity and bullet weight and long range accuracy. Many different methods of making barrels from cut barrels to hammered but some of the best are swaged with literally any rifling form you want.

Again, one of the most accurate rifles I had was a Canadian No 4 with only 2 grooves cut in the barrel. I was in Hong Kong and won nearly everything going and got into the Governors 20 for a final shoot out. I walked away with 800 HK Dollars as i also won prizes for being under 21. Most of the ammunition we used was at least some 20 years old and was fine. Firing at falling plates I could down 10 in 18 secs.

Sounds like my guesstimate was about right Mike.

The 22 rimfire target rifles were only cleaned now and again. Basically not very often. A specific person who belonged to the club used to decide when and did it.

Talking rifles my admiration goes to the people most have seen shooting in Zulu. I was talking to some one at the club about the rifles used and he promptly fetched one and asked if I'd like to try it. Next week though so he could load some rounds. Having tried it I can well understand why they always seemed to be shot standing and not prone though that could be done with some care. He generally only part loaded them but did a dozen full for me, with a smile in his face. The kick is horrendous. The only rifle i have shot that was worse used to be used by a few for elephant hunting etc. The charge and slug was reckoned to be as much as the human frame could realistically stand. The zulu style riffles were nearly a bad. I like martini action for single shot but it's thin on the ground.

Old muskets are interesting too. I tried one once and got cheer plus a round of applause when I leaned into it to control the kick. It hurt. They are way more powerful than I suspect most people think.

I also tried to use a winchester john wayne style. They wont load quick enough. A certain copy will though.

John

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