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Old December 10, 2012, 04:13 PM   #22
taylorce1
Senior Member
 
Join Date: November 18, 2005
Location: On the Santa Fe Trail
Posts: 8,209
Quote:
Originally Posted by jbat35
I have burned out a .243 already. 3500 rounds shot at a pace that the barrel was kept warm but not hot, and it was shooting worse than 5 moa on a rest.
In your OP you mentioned a .22 LR and 12 GA as your only two firearms. Now you say you burned out a barrel on a .243 in 3500 rounds? How fast did it go from shooting decent to shooting worse than 5 MOA? What did you do with the .243 after you burned the barrel out?

Quote:
Originally Posted by jbat35
What ever rifle I get will be shooting at least 2000 rounds a year, so it needs to last.
Buying in bulk you'll be looking at $1000-2000 a year in ammunition costs, even for .223 depending on what you buy. Regardless of your living arrangements I'd be looking for a place I could go reload. For less than $1000, you could buy all new reloading equipment and load up your first 2000 rounds pretty easily.

8 lbs of powder $150
2000 small rifle primers $60
1K 55 grain FMJ bullets with 1K prepped military brass $180
1K 55 grain FMJ bullets $105
Lee Classic Turrent Press (not as fast as a progressive, but faster than a single stage) $200
Lee Deluxe Die Set .223 Remington $33
Total cost to reload 2K .223 rounds $728

Of course there will be some shipping that I didn't include but even at $800 for your first 2K reloads you save in the neighborhood of $200 the first year. The next 2K reloads you'll be looking around $400 +/- depending on what deals you can find on bullets, powder and primers (buy powder and primers local to save Hazmat fees). You may have to buy a brass trimming tool as well, but .223 brass lasts a long time, plus if you shoot at a public range there is always a ton of it lying around to pickup. If you are seriously going to shoot 2K a year I wouldn't even waste my time buying bulk ammunition, and go straight into reloading, even if my buddies were helping to offset the costs.


Quote:
Originally Posted by jbat35
Another problem is up here where I live there is rarely less than 20 mph of wind, and have fun shooting a 17 grain bullet in that at anything more than 50 yards.
Yesterday 07:49 PM
A 17 grain bullet at 2194 fps in a 20 mph wind is only 8.4"/8 MOA at 100 yards of windage full value. Shooting in adverse conditions and still being able to hit your target can be just as fun as shooting tiny groups IMO. I've shot a ton of prairie dogs and it is rarely a calm day in the towns, doesn't stop me from having fun with my .22 LR or WMR.
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