throat erosion=barrel life?

[JeffG]

I bought a used savage varmint barrel, the throat has visible erosion out 1-2" beyond the chamber. I have yet to mount and try it, and may end up shortening and rechambering it. I'm curious what kind of round count you p-dog shooters are getting before you lose your accuracy, and what visible signs you're seeing in your end-of-usefulness 204 barrels.
Thanks,
Jeff

[Bill K]

Way to early, in my opinion, but I have, so far, shot about 3 thousand rounds threw my 204 and it is still into 1/2 groups. My little "Peashooter" a 20VT has only 1 thousand and is, of course, not even close to and lose of accuracy. Bill K

[Keith in Ga]

One of my .204's has over 3000 rounds thru it, and will still shoot 1/2" at 200 yds. The throat looks pretty bad, but it still shoots!

[Silverfox]

My first .204 Ruger is a Savage 12VLP and I have just over 2,700 rounds through it and it is still shooting 1/2" or better groups. I do have a bore scope, but haven't taken a look at the barrel yet. I also haven't shot this rifle since the fall of 2010. I loaded up about 180 rounds and was going to let my son use this rifle for PDs and coyotes, but he hasn't found the time to go out hunting with me

My two other .204 Rugers don't have very high round counts. One has 678 rounds through the barrel and other one has 329 rounds down the tube.

I would certainly advise you to get the barrel mounted and a scope installed on that rifle and do some load testing to see what kind of accuracy you can still get with it. Do that BEFORE you set the barrel back. As for setting the barrel back and rechambering it, I'm not sure that is worth the money involved unless you can do the work yourself. The last time I had a barrel set back it cost me $125.00. The barrel setback and rechambering can be a crap shoot. If you do set the barrel back and rechamber, you still have an old barrel and I'm sure since there is visble erosion 1" to 2" beyond the chamber, you also have erosion further down the barrel.

Yes, a new barrel will cost you $200 to $350 or so and chambering and installation will probably run about $150 to $200, but then you have a custom barrel with chambering to your satisfaction and will most likely be able to shoot 3,000 shots or more with excellent accuracy. On the other hand, the setback and rechambering may work and then again, you may have just spent $125 for no appreciable improvement in accuracy.