How many rounds is an AR-15 barrel good for?

[ussoldier1984]

Just curious on the life of an AR-15 barrel? How many rounds are they usually good for. Its the stock DPMS oracle barrel. I have no accuracy issues but its something I can not find a good answer on goolge.

 

[Maverick44]

Just curious on the life of an AR-15 barrel? How many rounds are they usually good for. Its the stock DPMS oracle barrel. I have no accuracy issues but its something I can not find a good answer on goolge.

Depends on your definition of "worn out". Someone who's happy with combat accuracy (1-4 MOA) is going to have a very different definition than a precision shooter.

I've never been able to wear out a barrel, but from what I've read, 8000-12,000 seems to be about it for a competition/precision barrel. Some people will even toss a precision barrel at 3000-5000 rounds if they are obsessed with absolute accuracy.

For a standard, plinking barrel, I've heard of them going out to 20,000. Some even claim 40,000 but I think your not going to be happy with the accuracy at that point.

Honestly, if your spend that much money on ammo, a new barrel is barely a drop in the bucket.

 

[grasshopperglock]

That about $15,000 in ammo.

 

[Charlie]

One has to try hard and shoot almost daily for years to wear out almost any barrel! Yes, it can be done but bad ammo and/or negligence in cleaning will certainly speed up the process.

 

[benenglish]

Depends on your definition of "worn out".

QFT.

It also depends on what and how you shoot. A .22/.300WSM with hunting loads will wear out a barrel in about 300 rounds. A .38 Special with target loads will be good for as long as no one neglects it with rust or ruins it with a cleaning rod.

But the OP asked about a stock AR barrel. I assume that means .223 even though that's not always the case. I don't have enough experience (none, really) to make that call. However, I do have access to books. Glenn Zediker, an author I trust who has written several excellent books on (specifically high-power) shooting, puts the typical life of an AR barrel at 5000-6000 rounds. He has high standards for accuracy and he tends to work with loads that are tough on barrels. With that in mind, I figure that an AR barrel should be good for at least 5000 rounds as long as you don't do something stupid with a cleaning rod or deliberately try to erase the leade with a Slide-Fire stock and a table full of loaded magazines.

 

[Texas42]

Also some ammo is made with cheap steel and will wear out barrels faster.

There is a long breakdown of cost comparison of steel vs brass shooting somewhere.

 

[phillmckraken]

He's shooting quality federal brass, no bi metal. Atleast from what I saw at our range meetup a few weekends ago.

You definitely have a lot of shooting to do before that barrel shows any wear.

 

[BRD@66]

This was a 10,000 round comparo of steel vs brass but it has interesting info on overall wear.
http://www.luckygunner.com/labs/brass-vs-steel-cased-ammo/
Federal: 10,000 rounds, 0 malfunctions.
Brown Bear: 10,000 rounds, 9 malfunctions (5 stuck cases, 1 magazine-related failure to feed, 3 failures to fully cycle)
Wolf: 10,000 rounds, 15 malfunctions (stuck cases)
Tula: DNF (6,000 rounds in alternate carbine, 3 malfunctions)

While the carbine firing Federal ammunition maintained acceptable accuracy up to and including the 10,000 round mark, the Brown Bear and Wolf carbines exhibited significant accuracy loss by the 6,000 round mark. It is quite possible that this first started occurring earlier than 6,000 rounds, because groups at 4,000 were well within standards of 5MOA or less, while some shots at 6,000 “keyholed,” or impacted the target sideways.

 

[ussoldier1984]

This question is not about issues I have no accuracy issues just a question of how long they actually last. I can not imagine how many rounds my issued rifle had through it when I was in the service. I always fire American m855 rounds 62 grain.

 

[grasshopperglock]

I've never heard of a barrel being worn out from the cases. Wearing out a barrel is burning the throat.

 

[oldag]

Steel ammo will wear the barrel significantly faster, as BRD quoted above.

Also will depend on the quality of the barrel to a degree.

 

[grasshopperglock]

Steel ammo will wear the barrel significantly faster, as BRD quoted above.

Also will depend on the quality of the barrel to a degree.

What's the steel wearing out? I read the sight at length. I'm seeing cross sections of throat erosion. There's nothing steel touching it.


As quoted by BRD.

 

[Texas42]

The bullet has a soft steel in the coating. That's why they attract a magnet. It's harder than the copper plating in your standard round from NATO countries.

 

[grasshopperglock]

The bullet has a soft steel in the coating. That's why they attract a magnet. It's harder than the copper plating in your standard round from NATO countries.

Hot Damn. I didn't know that. It's bi-metallic with steel in the outside case. Hmmm.

 

[grasshopperglock]

Double Damn. I have a bunch of Tula. Happy days, my barrel is crime lined 4150.


Wear between the two jackets isn't an issue.

 

[jeepinbanditrider]

The linked article also admitted that they heated the barrels up beyond what would normally be done during a range session. Excess heat can speed up the wear on a barrel significantly.

They also put a graph at the bottom showing cost of ammo factoring in barrel replacement and even if you replaced your barrel twice in 10000 rounds it's still saving a good chunk of change shooting steel case over brass case.

The simple fact is most shooters in the US way over estimate their round counts. Most people will not own a rifle long enough to wear out a barrel unless they are doing a significant amount of shooting.

 

[ROGER4314]

There are a lot of variables in barrel life expectancy including how hot you load the cartridges, how hot the barrel gets when you shoot and even your cleaning routines. There are several areas that can wear like the chamber throat, the actual rifling and at the muzzle.

I have never had a 1:7 twist, personally, but the match shooter scuttlebutt suggests that they are tough on barrel throats.

Why worry about barrel life? Barrel replacement is not an expensive process on an AR. Your rifle will tell you when it gets tired. You're more likely to get extractor issues from steel cased ammo. That should come long before the barrel quits.

Flash