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What constitutes a barrel burner? |
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Sparky
Optics Master Extraordinaire Joined: July/15/2007 Location: SD Status: Offline Points: 4569 |
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Posted: December/11/2017 at 18:17 |
Been looking at a few different cals and have heard that some are barrel burners. The 224 Valkyrie for one and the 6.5 PRC for another. So what constitutes a barrel burner for a cartridge?
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3_tens
Optics Jedi Master Joined: January/08/2007 Location: Oklahoma Status: Offline Points: 7853 |
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Any cartridge with high heat and high pressure tends to take the life from a barrel. Rapid firing that doesn't allow time for the barrel to cool shortens life also.
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RifleDude
MODERATOR EVIL OPPRESSOR Joined: October/13/2006 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 16337 |
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High pressure (and therefore heat) + relatively long duration of high pressure (larger case capacity, more powder to burn) = barrel burner.
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Ted
Money can't buy happiness... but it's much more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than on a bicycle. |
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Sparky
Optics Master Extraordinaire Joined: July/15/2007 Location: SD Status: Offline Points: 4569 |
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What would be considered high pressure? Or what cals fall into this category? Mainly looking for a target rifle.
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RifleDude
MODERATOR EVIL OPPRESSOR Joined: October/13/2006 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 16337 |
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Any cartridge that burns a comparatively large volume of powder and forces the resulting gases through a relatively small bore size will produce greater heat and longer duration of heat, which means more rapit barrel throat erosion. This is a condition known as being "over bore capacity." Obvious examples include .264 Win Mag, most of the Weatherby mags, the RUMs, .220 Swift, .22-250, etc. In general, most centerfire rifle cartridges that include the word "magnum" or produce high velocities qualify.
There is no "rule of thumb" I'm aware of that defines the dividing line between moderate and high pressure. However, I'd say any cartridge with a max SAAMI pressure at or above about 62,500 psi or 53,000 C.U.P. is a high pressure cartridge, but max pressure alone won't cause it to be a "barrel burner." Case capacity and bore size are important elements too. A lot of powder burned through a small bore (over bore capacity) increases the duration of heat. For example, .308 Win actually has 1,000 psi greater max SAAMI pressure (62K) than 7mm Rem mag (61K), yet the latter is harder on barrels due to longer duration of hot gases through a smaller bore. So, some common sense comes into play. Keep that in mind when reviewing the max pressures here: |
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Ted
Money can't buy happiness... but it's much more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than on a bicycle. |
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sucker76
Optics Journeyman Joined: June/13/2013 Location: Texas Status: Offline Points: 392 |
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Here is a chart I found that ranks cartridges on an over bore scale. Building on Ted's coment about a large powder volume and a small bullet exit hole, look at the 308 and two others based on the 308. 308=751.6 260=977.4 243=1164.4 The case has about the same capacity but the bullet is smaller. This led to a higher over bore score and a greater potential to be a barrel burner. |
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Stamp collecting since 2015
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Sparky
Optics Master Extraordinaire Joined: July/15/2007 Location: SD Status: Offline Points: 4569 |
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Thanks guys!
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koshkin
MODERATOR Dark Lord of Optics Joined: June/15/2004 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 13181 |
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That's a nice chart and is about right, although pressure also plays a role. For example, 6.5x55 barrels traditionally lasted longer than they do today because they were originally running at a lower pressure.
Another thing to keep in mind that every time someone claims his favourite handload is starting out of his barrel at 350fps faster than it is supposed and he has no pressure issues, two things are likely: he is playing with fire and he is dangerously over pressure and his barrel life is taking a dive. Not everything is a barrel burner than people claim. With 224 Valkyrie, there is very little data yet, but initial indications suggest that the velocity claims some are making are a result of not having a pressure gauge. It was the same thing when 6.8SPC first came out: velocities were high, but it dangerously over pressure. I suspect that when the dust settles, 224Valkyrie will not be as fast as people currently claim it is. ILya
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Rancid Coolaid
MODERATOR Joined: January/19/2005 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 9318 |
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Barrels, like ammo, are consumables. Accept that, carry on.
Were it me, I’d find the bullet flight I like and build a gun around that. This is more or less what I did with a 243AI a few years ago, and I still love that gun! |
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Kickboxer
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Too easy...
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anweis
Optics Master Joined: January/29/2006 Status: Offline Points: 1148 |
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True. What is the best bullet for the job and what do you want it to do? Targets? If you are not burning barrels you are not shooting enough. As a side note, i read somewhere that it takes 8 pounds of powder to burn a barrel. My 6mm Rem went out after 9, one 6.5x55 went after 10, but a .223 i have is still ok after 11 lbs., because i use mild reduced loads. |
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Sparky
Optics Master Extraordinaire Joined: July/15/2007 Location: SD Status: Offline Points: 4569 |
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Mainly for targets and possibly same prairie dog hunting.
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nralifer
Optics Apprentice Joined: July/26/2016 Status: Offline Points: 165 |
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Excellent chart.
Wonder where the 338-06 would fall? Probably between the 6mm Dasher and the 3006 is my guess.
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It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed. TR
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urbaneruralite
Optics Journeyman Joined: January/03/2008 Status: Offline Points: 479 |
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I like that pounds powder to barrel burnt as a metric. Easy to visualize.
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