Milspec barrel life

dalek

dalek

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Can anyone provide me either a link or the document # for the specs for the A4 carbine as provided by the .gov? I am in a rather interesting discussion regarding expected barrel life in a military AR. I could swear it was something like 10K rounds before accuracy dropped below 4MOA as a minimum but I can't find documentation to back or disprove this.

Thanks!
 
I don't have the document, but when I was researching bimetal ammo and barrel wear, Lucky Gunner said that Wolf and Tula wear out a barrel in about 7000 rounds, then I saw an NRA article that said a well taken care of barrel is good for about 5000.

Shoot a target now and then with ammo you know the DOPE on, and when it stops hitting the middle, swap the barrel.
 
OldSchool said:
I don't have the document, but when I was researching bimetal ammo and barrel wear, Lucky Gunner said that Wolf and Tula wear out a barrel in about 7000 rounds, then I saw an NRA article that said a well taken care of barrel is good for about 5000.

Shoot a target now and then with ammo you know the DOPE on, and when it stops hitting the middle, swap the barrel.
Click to expand...

What they don't really tell you in that Lucky Gunner test is that its 7,000 if you shoot them repeatedly without cleaning the rifle or letting it cool down. It isn't exactly "real world usage" they put those barrels through. So yeah, if you mag dump 7,000 rounds of Tula your barrel will be worn out...so...just don't do that...and then take the hundreds you save and buy a few new barrels
 
B00ger said:
What they don't really tell you in that Lucky Gunner test is that its 7,000 if you shoot them repeatedly without cleaning the rifle or letting it cool down. It isn't exactly "real world usage" they put those barrels through. So yeah, if you mag dump 7,000 rounds of Tula your barrel will be worn out...so...just don't do that...and then take the hundreds you save and buy a few new barrels
Click to expand...

That is my approach! Tula is usually about .20 a round, Federal about .30 (on sale, best deals). So for every 1000 rounds I shoot, I've saved enough to get a brand new barrel.

And right, I shoot about 200 - 300 rds a month (one or two matches and one or two practice sessions, if I am lucky), and I clean my gun. So if I use the Tula for close stuff and the Federal for long range (and for matches that do not allow bimetal), I am good for several years, then I crank on a new barrel (30 min job).
 
As to the OP I can’t give any links but remember all barrels are not created equal. Don’t expect $99 Bear Creek special to last and hold groups like say a FN or DD. Cold hammer forged barrels tend to have a longer life than button rifled then add treatments like chrome lining or nitride treatment and the life is extended even more. Decent barrel usage (no constant mag dumps or such) has been loosely said to have cheaper button rifled barrels start going away 6k-7K rounds ... good SS barrels start giving up maybe 10K-12K ... chrome lined button rifled can push 10K easy with 15k not uncommon ... chrome lined cold hammer forged push 20K+ with 25K common and even some FN hit 30K ... the real unsung hero is nitride barrels which a good nitride treated barrel pushes 25k-30k or more.

As to mil-spec, I’m not sure about current but a few years back chrome lined barrels were spec’ed for standard military carbines. There is another one that comes to mind and for some reason I think of the 5.56 special purpose rifles (like the Mk12 comes to mind) is actually we’re spec’ed with 18” match grade SS heavy barreled rifles and thus no chrome lining and along with its tighter accuracy requirements I’d bet 10K would be about it. So talking mil-spec barrels for standard stuff I’m guessing chrome lined with some heavier strings of fire would cut the life some (especially in the throat area) but 15k-20k should be common but the armorers likely do watch them a little closer after that count (there was a time in service inspection) gets up there. I’d bet the better resource on this would be @Combat Diver ...
 
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There are two barrel manufactures for issued DoD M4 Carbines. Colt and FN, both being 14.5" 1:7 twist 5.56 Chromed Lined. Barrel life will all depend on ammo, rate of fire and maintenance. I've seen barrels go in 5-6000 up to 30,000 rds. Doing full auto mags dumps will erode a barrel quickly. Take care of it and it will last longer then you.


CD
 
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