I've bought a few that had the muzzle end ram rodded to death and had to have the bbl shortened. Never seen one worn out.

 

I think heat caused by auto/semi auto fire is the biggest enemy of rifled barrels. A Vietnam Vet told me that he destroyed the barrel on a M16 by rapid fire. He said tracer bullets would curve and meander no matter where he aimed... the rifling was destroyed. Although doubtful I suppose you could fire a 336 long and often enough to cause enough heat to damage the barrel because of tube mag capacity and time needed to reload.

I still have my first .22 single shot rifle. I received it for XMas in 1949. I could not guess the number of rounds I've shot through it but it is 10s of 1000s probably. The rifling is still like new.

 

Have you ever posted a pic of that 1949 beauty. I'd love to see one.

 

Improper cleaning ruins more barrels than shooting them does.

 

I have one now (early 50's SC) that was neglected to death. Looks like a river bottom when looking down it. Outside is pretty good, tho, so I have salvaged a lot of parts including the action for my 30TK project

 

I hope you tried to clean the barrel out before you parted it out.......I'm sure you did.

I bought a 1960 SC 32 spl. and you couldn't see any rifling in it,I bore scrubbed the death out of it and the pieces of lead pored out of it,the barrel has perfect rifling and looks like a mirror now.

100 yards with it:

 

Very unlikely to have a barrel that is shot out on a 30-30 lever gun. I've shot many, many times more 30-30 rounds in a Contender pistol than you would ever shoot in a 30-30 lever gun and have yet to burn out a barrel, even shooting fairly hot loads. I know guys in silhouette who have shot more 30-30 rounds in a month than most folks shoot in a lifetime of lever gun use and no issues at all, even after years of heavy use. The 30-30 just isn't a barrel burner.

What you are far more likely to find on a used 30-30 lever gun is a damaged crown and pitted bore. Even a pitted bore does not mean the gun won't still shoot. A damaged crown can also be repaired. I wouldn't lose any sleep on this one.

 

I would suspect a lead fouled barrel if I saw one without rifling, before I would assume it was shot out.

 

An AR barrel is rated for something like 8K rounds before replacement might be mandated. Of course this is also .22 caliber projectile at near 3000fps.

I doubt that many of even the heaviest 30-30 shooters hit that 8k, nevermind whatever wear number the larger and slower 30 caliber bullet will hit.

For all intents and purposes, a 30-30 levergun's barrel should last through several generations of shooters.

 

I was thinking the same thing. I have a AR that will get a lot hotter shooting the smaller 223 than I could get a 30-30 in a lever action.

 

we have one now on it's third generation in the family - still looks new

 

Agree with galaxieman--either lead fouled or really dirty and in need of a good scrubbing. Might be pitted terribly if it was shot with black powder loads and not properly cleaned.

 

Shot out or damaged? What deteriorates a bore is the scorching hot gases from burning powder, especially slow burning powder, and extra especially in a barrel that is overbore. The 30-30 burns on average 30 grains of relatively quick burning powder and is not overbore in any way. I cannot seen anyone shooting over 10k rounds out of a levergun.

More likely the barrel has been neglected and abused by the horrible jointed cleaning rods and improper cleaning. Melvin Forbes, a somewhat famous gunsmith said in an interview while back, that out of the thousands rifles that he has rebarreled, the throat was only shot out of a couple. The rest were damaged by improper cleaning.

 

I had a 51' #94 that you could still make out the rifling but it wasn't pronounced.

 

Yeah, I've shot-out a number of barrels. But not via the .30-30! Those low-intensity rounds are kind to barrels. I'd think it would take a LOT of shooting to wear one to the point of needing replacement.

And at that point, perhaps having it re-bored to .375 would be a fine choice anyway... :biggrin:

 

Then again, if you shoot cast bullets, you'll never have to worry aboutwornout barrels....

 

That's a purty rifle, 35 Remshooter...