7mm Rem. Mag. Barrel Life and Accuracy

[Mightey White Hunter]

I recently bought a used 7mm from a friend of mine who has put aproxximately 1000 rounds through it. I personally have shot about 200 through it since I purchased it. What kinds of things should I be looking for when it comes to barrel wear and throat erosion?

 

[JD338]

What kind of shooting has the rifle seen? Handloads ? Do you know what kind of accuracy the rifle had in the past vs. now?

If you are getting MOA type of accuracy, you should be fine. If you are in the 2 MOA area, you might want to start thinking about a new barrel.
When you get to this point, have the action blueprinted and the lugs lapped. Go with a quality barrel any you will have a new tack driving rig.

What make rifle do you have?

JD338

 

[Guy Miner]

Sometimes you can actually see the throat area take on a dark appearance as erosion sets in badly. Sometimes that can't be seen without a borescope.

Sometimes a shooter can't tell the barrel is going until accuracy really falls off, and even a serious cleaning won't bring it back.

Hard to say what kind of barrel life you'll get - depends on many factors, including what accuracy level is acceptable to you. Many magnums are pretty much toast by the 1500 - 2000 round mark. That is a lot of shooting through a hunting rifle.

 

[Mightey White Hunter]

The Rifle is a remington 700 BDL. If I had it bluprinted and the lugs lapped along with a new barrel about how much money am I looking at?

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

It would run anywhere from $600-800 I'm guessing. My 7 RM is a rem BDL as well and it shoots .5 MOA with several bullets. Only thing done to it is a trigger job and a holland muzzle brake. No trueing up, no bedding, no floating, no lapped lugs. I would first try working up a good handload before you go spending all that money. Theres not to many 700's that wont shoot .5-.75 w/out to much headache. As far as barrel life, 2000-2500 would be my guess. Good for a couple years of shooting...

 

[AggieDog]

I'd put a new barrel on it before I would consider doing any blueprinting, etc. Best return for your dollar. period

 

[Rob1SG]

The first thing I would do is have a gunsmith tell what they thing. Then buy a Chronograph and check velocity of my rifle with known loads (factory) or chrono'd handloads. If your going to rebarrel you might as well have the action trued at the same time. Check the websites of say Pac-nor or other barrel makers to see the cost. I had mine done with a Shilen by a local guy for about $700. E R Shaw is the cheapest I've found but the wait is a year to get your rifle back. Good luck