# Barrel Life



## CoyoteBlitz (Apr 11, 2007)

I am sitll having trouble on deciding wether to get a 223 or a 22-250. I was reading through the 223 vs 22-250 thread and was wondering how fast does the 22-250 barrel wear out campared to a 223?


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## Fallguy (Jan 23, 2004)

As far as I know a 223 should last longer as there is less powder than in a 22-250. I am sure there may be other variables if you are a reloader, such as what type and amount of powder you use. I buy factory so I don't know for sure.


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## 308 (Jul 10, 2007)

I agree with what fallguy said :sniper:


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## dfisher (Oct 12, 2007)

Yea, I think that the 250 and the .220 Swift are notorious for wearing barrels out quicker than the less potent .22 centerfires. Probably more so, with the Swift than the 22-250 even. Of course, the amount of wear probably depends on a lot of different things too. Barrel quality, load, amount shot, ect....

Good luck with whichever you go with.
Dan


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## CoyoteBlitz (Apr 11, 2007)

Does anyone shoot a .220 Swift at yotes? If you do how does it shoot? Hows the plet damage?


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## Fallguy (Jan 23, 2004)

In the latest Predator Extreme magazine they have an article on the 220 Swift. Each month they discuss one caliber. They address barrel life and accuracy. Sounds like a great gun if you take care of it and don't shoot the heck out of it.


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## CoyoteBlitz (Apr 11, 2007)

I'll have to read it. I am not considering buying it; nothing aginst that caliber I want to have a lot of trigger time and don't want to wear my gun out.


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## Fallguy (Jan 23, 2004)

it sounds like a good caliber if you are a reloader


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## CoyoteBlitz (Apr 11, 2007)

If you can slow themdown a lil bit it would be good.


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## iwantabuggy (Feb 15, 2005)

The faster 22's definitely have a reputation for being barrel burners. I am using Moly in my 250 and pushing the 50gr V-max at about 3915 with hand loads. I believe the moly will give me a longer barrel life. I think more of a concern will be throat errosion due to more powder being burned as compared to a 223. Give me about another 5000-10000 rounds and I'll let you know if the barrel life is extended with the moly or not.

I think throat errosion may be more of a concern on the faster 22's than barrel life is. Throat errosion is worse as you burn more powder.

A 223 is definitely cheaper to shoot, any way you look at it. I went for speed as the gun is probably going to out last me anyway.


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## People (Jan 17, 2005)

iwantabuggy you hit the head of the nail on that one. The more powder you have being pushed threw the tube the more your tube will be damaged. Lets look at the .243 and the .308. The 243 will need a new tube far sooner than a .308 if they are shot the same. The reason is you are forcing all that hot gas threw a 6mm hole versus a 7.62mm hole.

For what the average person will expreience the 22-250 will burn up the throat faster than a .223 but how many years are we looking at? The average person who shoots at coyotes and lets say they shoot 100 rds a year if they even shoot that many you will get so many years out of it your kid will get to use it for a long time before the tube will need replacing.

As your throat starts to go you can put the bullets closer to the lands and you will keep her shooting for a long time. What a lot of match shooters do is when the throat starts to go they have the tube set back and they for the most part will get 800 to 1,500 more rounds out of the tube. They are looking for very small groups and not all of them will do this. One of the guys I shoot with he did it once because the season was half over and he did not have a spare tube. Well long story short he said it was great for 850 rds of 308 palma. He was shooting a match and at 900 he was getting lots of flyers then at 1,000 he was not able to hit black and he just stopped shooting. That is the reason most just replace the tube when accuracy starts going south.

If you call yotes in you maybe able to get by with 2inch groups at 100 yds.


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## 1shot1yote (Dec 23, 2006)

*Coyote blitz wrote:*


> If you can slow themdown a lil bit it would be good.


The reason people shoot .220's is for the speed if your gonna load em down you might as well shoot a .223. I have a swift but i've never shot a coyote with it, my current load is 52 gr hollow points I think they would probably tear up hides pretty bad. Everything I've ever shot with get's blown up pretty bad. I might try some 50 gr ballistic tips though.


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