Practical Tips To Extend Barrel Life

Barrels aren’t cheap. You want to keep your gun’s barrel in pristine shape for as long as possible. 

Here’s the problem. Your barrel is going to wear down over time. Let’s be blunt: there are explosions happening in your gun’s barrel every time you fire it, and things tend to wear out quickly when other things are exploding in them. You are going to have to replace the barrel with repeat uses. You can, however, extend the life of your barrel by understanding some of the principles of wear.

Most wear occurs in the throat of the barrel, the area of the bore where the rifling begins. Heat from pressurized gas runs through the throat, rapidly heating the metal. This causes a small amount of the metal to enter it’s liquid phase. From there, the pressure from the gas blasts away the heated metal. Over time, this increases the distance between the bullet and the rifling in the throat; the rifling becomes worn away. This will have a number of negative effects on your accuracy.

For one, the bullet may not remain straight before it engages with the rifling. That will cut your accuracy pretty quickly. Secondly, gas has more room to blow past the bullet before the bullet creates a seal. This will decrease the bullet’s velocity; yet another blow to accuracy.

How To Tell if Your Barrel is Worn

You’ll probably be able to guess that your barrel is worn down before you start more intense investigations. You’ll notice the drop in accuracy and velocity. There are a few methods that you can confirm your barrel is getting worn out:

• You can buy a borescope and check yourself
• You can take your gun to a gunsmith for inspection

Keeping detailed records about your gun’s accuracy is a great way of detecting problems; if you notice a steady decline in accuracy over time, it’s definitely worth checking the barrel.

Reducing Wear on Your Barrel

We’ve looked at the primary causes for barrel wear: it usually occurs in the throat, and it’s caused by heat and pressure. That means the primary factor in determining the speed of barrel wear is going to be the types of cartridge you use.

Cartridges with a high maximum SAAMI pressure are, inevitably, going to wear your barrel down more rapidly than cartridges with a lower max SAAMI pressure. That means choosing lower pressure cartridges will prolong the longevity of your barrel. This, of course, comes at a cost: you’re going to necessarily sacrifice velocity when you lose pressure. That’s not a viable trade-off for everyone, so it’s worth looking at some other methods.

You should also consider case capacity, especially with the uptick in the number of overbore cartridges on the market. More case capacity means more powder, more powder means more heat when the gun fires, and more heat means your barrel will wear faster. Choosing cartridges with lower case capacity can help prolong your barrel’s life.

The powder itself is another factor to consider; different powders have different burn rates. Choosing a powder with a slower burn rate might help reduce wear on your barrel.

A more recent method of reducing barrel wear is the use of coatings, including Molybdenum Disulfide (Moly). There are a number of problems with this method – chiefly, that some competitions forbid the use of these coatings. There’s a lack of extensive studies on the effect of these coatings on wear, but preliminary evidence shows that the coatings may drastically increase barrel life. Exactly why these coatings seem to work so effectively has yet to be fully explored.

These solutions are all fine and dandy if you’re willing to change the ammunition that you’re using, but I know many of you will want to continue using what you know. Fortunately, there are a few other ways you can increase your barrel life. The first is simple: let your gun cool down a bit after firing. Remember, heat is one of the most important factors in barrel wear, and rapid firing allows heat to accumulate quickly.

You may also consider changing the way you clean your gun. There are generally two types of cleaner: chemical and abrasive. Abrasive cleaners scrub at the inside of your barrel, which can actually increase wear. Chemical cleaners, on the other hand, use solvents that won’t affect the interior of your gun. You should also make sure your cleaning technique is top notch; practice on an old gun if you need to. Cleaning inevitably promotes some degree of wear, so only clean your gun when you need to.

Should your barrel wear out, replacing it might not be necessary. Though most erosion occurs near the throat, it can sometimes occur near the crown, which is easier to fix. Recrowning is a much less expensive process, so be sure it’s not crown related wear before replacing the barrel.

You might also opt for a process known as setting back the barrel. Your gunsmith will remove around an inch of the barrel near the throat, then re-ream the chamber. This gets rid of the part of the barrel that’s usually the most eroded (the start of the throat). Enthusiasts who use high capacity rounds might opt to get a barrel that’s a bit longer than they usually would just so they can easily set the barrel back once it’s eroded.

Finally, you can opt to purchase a custom-made barrel. These barrels are often much more durable than their factory made counterparts. Custom gunsmiths like Insite Arms can help you find the right barrel for your preferred type of ammunition – even if you love high velocity overbore cartridges.  

Author Bio

Thomas Peterson is associated with Insite Arms, where he works as a content coordinator. His attention to detail and high standards for well-written stories has propelled him to be the respected writer he is now. Away from work, he enjoys hunting, watching action movies, and golfing.