SmallCaliberCentral

Given the fact that these rifles seem to have extra ordinarily long throats, shooting relatively short bullets to begin with and a lot of hot high pressure gas forcing it's way down a tiny bore have any of you experienced significant throat erosion to the point of needing to set the barrel back? If so after how many rounds? Also does anyone know whether this would be more or less prevalent in a stainless vs chrome moly barrel?
I ask this question since I'm shopping for a better barrel and deciding on whether to spring for the stainless or CM steel. Also whether it would be prudent to go the full 26" to still have enough length after I set the barrel back in the future. I'm thinking 24 would be stiffer than the 26, but would be a limitation as it probably would be too short for getting good velocity after shortening.

Sorry, I just realized I posted this in the wrong place.. I guess it doesn't belong in the reloading section.

Bitter: PM sent.......

Hi Bitter Clinger,

This is an interesting question and one I ponder myself. I think the .204 is relatively kind on barrels and is less "overbore" than other cartridges but I'll leave it to others to chime in on this. On a .25-06 of mine, I've seen .005" throat erosion over 450 rounds but I doubt it's a valid comparison to the .204. As for taking barrels back, IMHO and after talking to some gunsmiths, you're better off just re-barreling the rifle at the end of the day.

Best regards,

KetelOne