How Much is Too Much?

[Guest Grizzly Johnson]

Was talking to a guy about my shooting my 30-06 to zero the scope the other day. How much shooting is too much shooting to where it could ruin the rifling in my gun and get to where it would not group at all? I shoot the Hornady Light Magnum 165 grain bullets right now, the powder in these shells is supposed to burn cooler to reduce heating the barrel when shooting. I want to shoot this gun as much as I can to get familiar with the yardage and how my gun shoots at different ranges...... but I don't want to mess it up.

[TGO David]

Way more than the average person is likely to shoot their gun in a lifetime.

[Guest Grizzly Johnson]

So you would have no problem taking the rifle to a range and shooting it all day maybe 2 boxes of shells through it? This is a Remington 700 ADL in 30-06 cal. I hate to mess up the rifling.

[TGO David]

I've shot way more than that on countless occasions through my Remington .30-06 and have had no adverse effects. The manufacturer built them to be shot, not to be set aside and admired.

[Schadenfreude]

very rapid semi auto fire burns up barrels, careful aimed fire for groups should not produce excessive heat - competition guns go for several thousand rounds on a barrel & then we are talking about people trying to shoot 1 moa or better, hunting or combat accuracy will go more than that, keeping the barrel clean will be much more of a factor.

Edited December 4, 2008 by Schadenfreude

[Guest Grizzly Johnson]

I shoot groups of 3 and then let the barrel cool, then go again.......

[Guest Astra900]

I bought a Yugo Mauser 24/47 about 3 years ago. It was arsenal refinished and was absolutely like new. Bore was perfect, 100%. I said to my self, I'm going to take good care of it, keep it cleaned properly and so on. BUT, I bought it with the sole intention of wearing it out in a matter of a few years and ONLY after there was nothing left of the barrel, tearing it down to make a nice custom rifle. I shoot mostly Turkish surplus, VERY hot, Corrosive as dog piss on a chrome wheel. August of this year I opened my 4th case of Turkish ammo. I have about 200 more to go before finishing this case. I'll shoot that much the next time I go to the range. (My shoulder holds out better in the winter with the heavy coat:D) I'm just shy of 5500 rounds.

I CANNOT see any appreciable wear to the barrel yet! I do see some slight radii forming on the once sharp rifling, but it is still very strong. This past summer I had the barrel so hot that I had to let it cool because the smoke from the burning cosmoline that was leeching out of the stock and handguard was obscuring my sight picture. I'll do it again. And again. And again.

You have a nice high quality late model rifle, stop worrying. 2 boxes? That ain't but 40 rounds. I doubt your going to shoot them as fast as you can chuck the bolt handle, yeah? Even if you did, so what? Quit worrying, keep it cleaned the right way, and enjoy the rifle for the rest of your life.

[Guest 70below]

I heard a general rule of thumb one time that a chromoly bbl is good for 8K rounds and a chrome lined for 12K.....but I'm sure that is dependant on a lot.

[Guest Astra900]

I heard a general rule of thumb one time that a chromoly bbl is good for 8K rounds and a chrome lined for 12K.....but I'm sure that is dependant on a lot.

Yeah it is dependent on a lot. A .22lr will last for 10's of thousands of rounds. A .270 Weatherby or a .220 swift...Not so much:rolleyes:

[Guest Grizzly Johnson]

Thanks alot guys, I feel alot better!!