Rebarrel?

Discussion in 'Browning A-Bolt Rifle' started by oldspice, May 15, 2022.

  1. oldspice

    oldspice Copper BB

    Hi, I have a Browning ABolt Hunter in 30-06. Bought it new back in the days. I didn't shoot that much then. Lately, I have been reloading and shooting over 600 rounds thru the pipe for the last 2 years. I was told that this Abolt is only good for about 1k rounds. I am not shooting at max loads. Just in case, I might have to change barrel. I am wondering if anyone have re-barrelled their Abolt. If so, any smith you can recommend.
  2. Bill Idaho

    Bill Idaho .270 WIN

    30-06 is known to go around 5000+ before worrying about burning the bore out. I have seen .308s go well over 6500 and still shoot straight. Get some throat/bore erosion gauges and check both ends.
    Improper cleaning over the year will affect barrel life to some extent. Proper barrel cleaning will definitely affect accuracy. If you are having cold bore flyers, that is an indication of some fouling issues.
    When I was on the SWAT sniper team, I went to a 4 hour class about the proper cleaning of barrels. There were a handful of representatives from all the big barrel manufacturers. Truly an eye opening event!! After listening and following their collective advise, we were able to reduce our cold-bore flyers to darn-near nothing.
    Anyway, in the grand scheme of things, 30-06 is not a barrel burner. A thousand rounds shouldn't be enough to warrant replacing it, unless something else has caused significant permanent damage.
    Ranger6 likes this.
  3. oldspice

    oldspice Copper BB

    thanks for the reply. This Abolt sometimes amazes me. I was getting 1 1/2" grouping with Remington Corelok 150gr when I first got it. Now with my hand loads, I am getting much better grouping. But, I am still searching for the "right loads". Wish Browning didn't discontinue this model.
    For cleaning, I just ran some patches thru the pipe. After about 50 rounds, I ran a nylon brush. The rifling still looks good.
  4. Bill Idaho

    Bill Idaho .270 WIN

    That particular Remington ammo is not known for its overall outstanding accuracy.
    If you used something like Hoppes #9 for a solvent, you only removed powder fouling, and none of the copper fouling. Get something like "Butch's Bore Shine". Wet the bore completely taking care to NOT get it into the trigger group, and wait 10-15 minutes. Then use a brush one size smaller than the actual bore size, wrap a cloth patch (I use old white t-shirt pieces) and run it through. Do this several times until the patch comes out clean. Then repeat the procedure with Hoppes#9 again.
    Then soak a patch with alcohol and run it through---that "kills" and remnants of either/both solvents. In general terms, this is pretty much the agreed upon method all those various barrel representatives told us.

    Now, bite the proverbial bullet (no real pun intended) and buy a box of something like Federal Gold Medal Match. Bag the gun down as best as you can, and hopefully you should be able to see just how accurate that particular gun is.
  5. oldspice

    oldspice Copper BB

    I am currently testing the IMR4350 with Sierra Game King 165 gr. and getting MOA groups. A little fine tuning should get some really nice grouping.
    I never thought of using alcohol to clean out the chemical. Will try that next time.
  6. oldspice

    oldspice Copper BB

    I bought a bore guide and a bottle of Bore Tech CU+2. The barrel was cleaned initially with Hoppes 9 . So, I ran a wet patch with Bore Tech and it came out completely blue. WOW! Followed the instructions from Bore Tech and repeated a few times yesterday. Ran another wet patch and left it over night. This morning again I ran a wet patch and it came out blue. Repeat the instructions from Bore Tech and the last patch was clean. I don't think all the copper is out. I might need to repeat the procedures a few more times. A bore scope will be helpful. It is on my wish list.
    KyBoB likes this.
  7. oldspice

    oldspice Copper BB

    I tested out some new loads for the Abolt. IMR4064 with Sierra 168 gr. Match King and Hornady 168 Amax. They were factory seconds from Midway. This gun likes both at 48 grains and the groups were just under one inch. Will confirm it on the next trip. IMR4350 with the bullets, I got just a little over an inch. I bought some 175 grains HB factory seconds from Midway. They were cheap 25 cents each and I got 4 boxes. I am not sure why they were seconds. They look fine to me. Will test them out with the H4350 or Big Game in the near future.

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