Wearing Out Your Hunting Rifle...

Grumpy

Grumpy

The Grumpy Grease Monkey mechanical engineer.
Staff member
wearing out your hunting rifle... caliber tends to have a big effect on the number of cartridges fired, they have manufactured many millions of cartridge firing rifles, especially in the last 150 years , and a great many of those are still functional and reasonably accurate if they received even minimal maintenance care and cleaning and lubrication,
lower pressure cartridges like a 44 mag or 45/70 are almost impossible,
too wear out, using cast lead bullets,with the rifling in typical hunting use,
and if the rifles properly cleaned and maintained,
small bore high velocity cartridges like a 257 wby , 7mm rem mag, or 300 win mag,
are far rougher on potential bore and rifling life span durability
I can tell you from decades of helping new hunters and going on dozens of out of state hunting trips,
that the vast majority of hunting type rifles never get shot, nearly enough to come close to wearing out due to use..
lack of proper maintenance maybe, but not worn out.
if your looking at a military clone in 223, or 7.62/39 it might get shot a good deal, and shot rapidly and over heated, thats a bit different.
Id bet most used rifles have hundreds of cartridges shot through them in only months not years,
if its a 308, 30/30. 30/06 or 270, it may or may not have seen extensive use.
as always it helps to know what your looking at!
I stopped by a local gun-shop this A.M. to pick up a few rifle cleaning supplies along with a buddy that was looking for a new elk hunting rifle.
he was kind off fixated on buying a 450 marlin BLR after,
borrowing and using mine for a few local white tail hunts last fall.
as we got out of the car, in the gun shop parking lot, a pickup truck pulled in and a guy opened the crew cab rear seat doors,
and brought out a rem 700 in 416 rem, I commented briefly "Nice looking rifle" he smiled and said..
yeah, Its a darn shame but I need to unload/sell it.
I asked him what he wanted,for that rifle,and he said I was hoping to get $500,
I doubt its had more than 60 cartridges through it since I bought it back in the early 1990s,
but its been taking up space in my gun safe and does not get used.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.416_Remington_Magnum
my buddy pulled me aside...ask me if I thought the rifle might be worn out?
I said, its very VERY unlikely due to the cost of ammo, and the rifles recoil level that the rifles even properly broken in yet,
most big bore rifles have had very few shots through them,
I know of one ruger #1 in 458 win ,
thats had been passed through 3 owners, "members of my hunt club",
and has had less than 6 boxes of 20 cartridges though it yet!
if it was a 257 weatherby that might be a valid concern, but with a 416 rem..
I bet hes telling you the honest truth...
I bet the vast majority of the rifles like 416 Remington, 458 win and 458 LOTT,
are purchased, shot a few dozen times a year at most,
and theres a good deal of time passing between uses,
if the rifles cleaned and properly oiled and cared for,
it will last several owners lifetimes of usage.
most people don,t have my masochistic tendency's, and recoil tolerance,
and most people don,t reload high quality , reduced velocity , accurate ammo for big bore rifles.
I also mentioned that that was darn good rifle for cast bullets and reduced loads
,and most people don,t appreciate , accurate but heavy rifles with noticeable recoil.
that rifle would make it a decent thick timber elk rifle, out to easily 300 yards, with proper hand loads.
mean while the guy, , he went inside, .....the gun shop offered him $375 , he was not happy.....
my buddy steps up and listening to the conversation, was talking too the guy who owned the 416,
while the counter guy looked over the rifle,
and surprised me and the guy behind the counter... when he said,
Ill give you $425 cash right now, if your really interested in selling.
this did not make the counter guy happy... but the guy who owned the 416,
and my buddy walked out while I paid for the cleaning supplies.
the end result was my buddy now owns a 416 rem rifle with a signed bill of sale,
and we got a photostat of the guys drivers licence , and cars licence .
on the way home my buddy said I just saved about $600 and got a bargain..
I agreed but Im sure hes on the gun shops counter guys S%^T list :rolleyes:

http://us.castbulletengineering.com.au/bullet-moulds/rifle/416-calibre

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1010265854?pid=282505
 
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well, I spent some time helping, the guy who purchased the 416 remington bolt action rifle
reload some cartridges to test out at the local range to get the rifle sights set.
we are using this mold, after he got the mold and gas checks
we are starting with a moderate mid power load of 60 grains of imr 3031,
and a 215 fed primer, in the 416 remington,with a cast 350 grain bullet
I expect that to provide about roughly 2000 fps with his cast bullets.
mold
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1010265854?pid=282505
gas checks
https://www.sagesoutdoors.com/416-rifle-caliber-gator-gas-checks/

he expressed a bit of concern over the lack of flat trajectory ,
but doing the math its certainly has the potential to shoot more than flat enough in its trajectory,
for anyplace we are likely to hunt and retain far more punch that anything we hunt might require.
I suggested he sight in at 175 yards thats 3.5" high at 100 yards,
as its been decades since Ive seen or needed to shoot game past 200 yards.

Having the tools and skills,
to hand load a rifle like a 416 remington or 375 H&H or 458 LOTT,
with cast gas check bullet designs
can allow you to customize ammo over a huge range of projectile weight and velocity,
not easily available to non-handloaders
you sure don,t need to have the recoil and power available from either cartridge's full potential,
for hogs or deer,at moderate ranges, a 300 grain bullet at 1500 fps is adequate
,but you can load ammo that easily provides , a 350 grain bullet at 2400-2500 fps
all the power you want or might need if you choose to do so.

cast416.png
 
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over the past 5 decades Ive purchased and used and occasionally sold off or traded off dozens of different rifles,
they are all still in service, (most sold to friends)
none show any appreciable wear, even after decades of use,
in some cases two or now three, owners and many hundreds of rounds fired.
now I rarely regret selling or trading off rifles, as I generally won,t do that with any rifle I find to be particularly useful,
unless I found and tested and own something I think is significantly better at a particular application.
now that does not mean the rifle I traded off or sold may not be 100% functional or accurate, only that I found something similar,
I personally think was better suited to my needs.
example
I purchased a marlin 444 and found it worked really well,
no matter what you read in magazines, the vast majority of large game like deer elk, hogs, bear and moose,
is shot at ranges well under 250 yards in almost all areas, in the 50 plus years Ive hunted big game in several states,
Ive had less than 4 chances too shoot game at over 300 yards,
not because I can,t shoot that far bust simply because I don,t see game,
at past about 250 yards duer too terrain or brush.
er444.jpg

but after a decade or so I purchased a very similar,marlin 45/70,
marlin_444_rifle.jpg

and that 444 marlin found a new owner, I found that a good bit of the 444 marlins perceived lack of accuracy,
was the result of the scope and mount I had on it.
but the 45/70 was more effective, so I did not really regret selling it as it went to a friend that really likes it and takes good care of it.
but after I purchased a browning BLR in 450 marlin I sold my marling 45/70 and had no regrets,
truthfully a 444 marlin will do almost anything the browning BLR can do and the difference in power or accuracy while obviously there,
and demonstratable,is not so significant that, the rifles can not be used interchangeably in most cases, for hunting similar game.
so why change? well its mostly personal preference in my case I like the box magazine, smoother, forward locking lug action,
and slightly better accuracy I get with the browning BLR,
browning_BLR.jpg

and I like the option of a 400 grain jacketed or cast gas check 458 diam bullet at near 1900 fps.
if I hunt thick timber for deer or elk where ranges seldom exceed about 200 yards I find my 450 marlin caliber Browning BLR,
exceptionally effective if I want more power and range the 458 win or 458 lott certainly provide that option,
but Ive yet to see the need, for more power as the 450 marlin BLR with a hard cast bullet ,shoots clear through an elk at even longer ranges.
both the guys I sold those marlin lever guns too are still using them regularly, the 444 is at least 50 years old and still accurate
(originally purchased in 1969) the 45/70 marlin purchased in the late 1970s,
is also used regularly, the browning BLR 450 marlin was purchased ,
when they first were offered.(back around about 2001-2003)
 
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btw just a side note!
one of the guys I know rather well was rather impressed with that 416 rem and went looking for a similar bolt action,
he mentioned it at the range and the guy at the next bench mentioned he had a rather similar rifle but in caliber 8mm mag for sale.
now this guy called me and asked for my advice, and I asked him if the price was decent.... he said it was being priced at $500
simply because the current owner had not used it in 20 years and had only shot 2-3 boxes of cartridges through it.
I told him, if he could afford to, and wanted a damn nice longer range ELK rifle,
BUY THAT RIFLE its a DAMN BARGAIN! at that price, its ballistically rather similar to a 300 mag,
and I know a couple guys that have found similar rifles are both accurate and effective.

the 220 grain sierra boattail bullet is a well-respected projectile in that rifle,
Id have no issues using on on any elk hunt,
the 8mm mags a very underrated and underappreciated cartridge,
it certainly deserves to be more popular than it is.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1010522046?pid=193951

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8mm_Remington_Magnum

https://www.chuckhawks.com/8mmMag.htm
 
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