Gun barrel

So has anyone heard of a gun barrel going bad??? I had issues last year big time hitting a deer with my Remington 30-06. Sited in in this spring, it was a bit off but not bad.

My brother used to work at a gun range and seems to think that could be an issue??? Says he seen it a few times?

Maybe if you have thousands of rounds through it or some kind of physical damage. What does a bit off mean? If it’s consistent then it’s not the barrel probably. If you can’t shoot a tight group on a rest with decent ammo then maybe. Could inspect the breech end and see if the rifling looks worn maybe.

Rusty and pitted. I guess if you left it out in the rain and never cleaned it.

Scope bases and rings ca work themselves loose over time. I’d take the scope AND the rings off and re-tighten the screws for the bases and use blue loc-tite on them. Then put the lower rings back on and blue loc-tite them. Re-mount the scope and blue loc-tite those screws. Wait a day or two then go re-sight. If this doesn’t fix it, then maybe another scope is in order.

The barrel on an ’06 isn’t likely to get shot out unless you’re burning some ridiculous hot hand loads thru it. If you don’t care for the gun after shooting it or hunting with it, then yes, rust can become an issue. I’m assuming that you at least wipe the barrel out at the end of the season.

Lastly, have you considered operator error? You are getting up there in age bud. Eyes change with age. Ad a couple cocktails can have a negative effect if you’re tipping a couple in the stand.

I take care of my guns religiously, and as long as one of my guns is out of a case no booze is consumed.

The scope is a vortex diamondback 2 years old
I’ll need to check the scope mounts

I won’t deny the eyesight thing.

What exactly is it doing? Pattern like a shotgun at 100 yards? What model? Same box of ammo as before?

I’d trade out the vortex first . I’m sure you know but if you don’t some rifles are very very ammo picky . Also have someone else shoot it .

What model of Remington?

glenn57 wrote:

So has anyone heard of a gun barrel going bad??? I had issues last year big time hitting a deer with my Remington 30-06. Sited in in this spring, it was a bit off but not bad.

My brother used to work at a gun range and seems to think that could be an issue??? Says he seen it a few times?

More damage is done to a barrel due to improper cleaning than anything. Doubtful that you have fired enough rounds to wash the rifling out. Copper fouling can open groups and give unexpected elevation shots. Most folks do not properly attack copper in the barrel and the cumulative effect can get ugly.

Have burned out many barrels (cut-rifled and button-rifled) and when they go, you get shots off call. The worse they get, the groups open significantly. Those make great tomato stakes.

So many factors and variables. Remington has very good actions and many crappy metal barrels. We’ve had rem, savage, browning…barrels go bad with what I consider minimal use.

Do you clean and OIL the barrel regularly? Unbelievable how much that can throw off your POI. Burning oil builds carbon.

I shoot 100% monolithic copper bullets for hunting. I never clean/de copper a barrel until I see a shift in POI. But that can be 400-500 rounds or more

sorry been really busy the last few days to followup here.

its a Remington woodsmaster 740. i shoot the same brand shells in it all the time.

it gets cleaned after every hunting season. i use a nitro solvent gun cleaner down the barrel, then a synthetic gun oil down it 2-3 times.

ammo threw it?????? maybe 2-4 sighting it in………some years nothing hunting….on a good hunting year….3-4. maybe. i hunt in northern Mn.

my whole family has extended experience with Remington and no issues. i’m more leaning towards it got bumped and knocked the scope off????????

I’ve bumped the scope on a tree of my rifle once and it moved the scope off, which obviously affected the accuracy. This occurred late in the season years ago and I didn’t even realize it until the season was over. I never did any shooting at deer after the scope was moved so it didn’t affect missing any deer.

I took it too a gunsmith during the winter and they took the scope off, inspected it, the rings, and determined it was not damaged. So then they re-mounted and bore sighted it in again. I then took it to the range before the next season and re-sighted it back in.

glenn57 wrote:

So has anyone heard of a gun barrel going bad?

For a deer hunter with a .30-06 used for hunting use only? The short answer is NO. The barrel is highly unlikely to be bad.

I’ve heard it again and again, some armchair know-it-all tells somebody their barrel is shot out and 90% of the time, after some investigation, it turns out to be the scope, rings, or base. Most of the time, it’s loose screws on the base or rings. Occasionally, I’ve seen a scope that has had something break internally and just won’t hold zero.

Just last fall working at the gun club, I had a gent at the 50 and his rifle was very inconsistent. He was getting pretty steamed up, thought his brother in law had “shot out” his barrel last year, etc. I suggested he check his rings and base screws. Nothing wrong with them he says. The next shot, his scope went flying off the rifle!

Remove scope and rings being careful to note if you find loose screws. Remove base and reinstall with blue (removable) thread lock compound. Reinstall everything and bore site. My guess is the problem goes away.

Check the barrel nut on that one. I had a buddy have one loosen and caused major accuracy issues.

After checking the scope,take a good look at the bolt guide and at the receiver. 740 and 742s are know for having issues. My dad has a 742 that was really reliable until one day it just wouldn’t hit the broad side of a barn consistently. It had issues with the bolt. As tucrs said check the barrel nut. It’s under the forearm.

Check the crown on the muzzle. Take a Q-tip, insert so half the cotton end is in the barrel and run it around the bore. If the cotton snags at all, you probably have a burr from cleaning. That can easily change accuracy. Easy fix for a gunsmith. I also agree with checking your scope mounts and rings. I also believe it would be difficult to shoot out, or burn out a .30-06 unless you did a ton of shooting and let the barrel get smoking hot. It would even be hard to bun out the throat in front of the chamber.

i’m reading and watching this thread closely……..i will take a good hard look it over when i’m not so busy…..maybe a rainy day.

I am also curious what model Remington. What model the mount, rings are and who the manufacturer is. Same with Scope, what make and model. I always use steel mounts and rings, typically Weaver, Burris, or Leupold.

Who mounted the scope? Did they use a torque screwdriver? I also always use blue locktite. Vortex recommends 18in lbs for the scope ring caps and base screws can be anywhere from 25-65in lbs depending on the manufacturer. Have you tried bore sighting it and if so can you see the crosshairs move? If the scope is bad you should be able to warranty it at any vortex dealer and walk out with a new one same day.

at this point in time i’ve resighted it in and is good. been busy with other things. when i get time the next thing i’ll do is check to see if everything is tight,

when sighting it in i paid close attention to the scope crosshairs they were fine!!!!

robby its a Remington woodsmaster 740 as i posted earlier. and NO i dont shoot 100’s of rounds a year. maybe 4 for sighting it in. last year i mighta shot 20 shells threw it. on a normal year 1-4 sighting it in maybe 1-2 hunting and thats on a good hunting year!!!!

Personally I’d send in the vortex and get it checked out . The big out west hunters aren’t fans of vortex scopes for reasons . I think the binos are great for the price point though ! And have a diamond back scope on a .17 hmr that’s held zero . That said I had a vortex viper take a tumble out west coyote hunting after tagging a muley , scope was missing 16 inches off . Re sighted and all was good except I didn’t have confidence in the scope . Sent it to vortex with confidence concerns they called me and said it was indeed messed up inside and sent me back a new one .

glenn57 wrote:

So has anyone heard of a gun barrel going bad??? I had issues last year big time hitting a deer with my Remington 30-06. Sited in in this spring, it was a bit off but not bad.

My brother used to work at a gun range and seems to think that could be an issue??? Says he seen it a few times?

Again, have washed out my share of barrels (.223, 6BR, 6BR Dasher, 308 Win and 6.5×284 Norma). As soon as I get unepected/wild shots at 600-1000yds, the throat will get scoped. When they die, X-count goes out of the window and you get wild 9’s or worse (usually, but not always, they are elevation shots).

The same will apply with barrels that are copper fouled. Simple bore solvents won’t begin to touch heavy copper fouling. Imagine how much copper will build up in that hunting rifle after firing a box of ammo each year over the course off 20-30 years….ouch!

The best way that I have found to deal with copper fouling is to brush the bore with Hoppe’s #9 and patch it dry to remove ingintion/powder fouling. Then, apply Sweet’s 762 using a loose, well-soaked patch on a nylon or stainless jag. If you use a bronze jag, it will skew your results as that ammonia will dissolve the jag slightly.

Let it sit 10 minutes and patch it dry. If you see a blue patch, apply Sweets 762 and let it sit 10 minutes. Keep applying the Sweets until you see a clear patch after 10 minutes. The first time you do this on a really fouled bore may take 4 or 5 applications. Don’t get discouraged….it takes some effort. Subsequent cleanings will be easier if you don’t let it get out of hand. It is the method I have used on State/National level match rifles and it works.

Once you get the copper cleaned out, flush the Sweets out of the barrel with a loose patch with Hoppe’s #9 and patch the barrel really dry. It will only take 0-5 shots to foul the barrel in and get it to settle down. I never oil my barrels, preferring to keep them in a dry atmosphere. If you want to see wild shots at the range, just stick some oil in it.

I will verify my zero on a clean bore and set the fouled rifle into the safe. When I take it out for serious businesss, it will hit POA right away.