Odd question regarding .460 S&W Mag...

[codefour]

I am new to this forum and this is my first new thread here. First off, this is an awesome forum. The inmates of S&W forum seem very helpful.

Now, my odd question. I have a 460 XVR with an 8 3/8 inch barrel. I reload all my own ammunition for this great beast. I read somehwere that the average barrel life for a 460 XVR is 1,200 to 1,300 rounds with full house 460 loads. Is this true? Can anyone of the S&W experts confirm this?

If it is true, do you think shooting down loaded lead SWC loads will help improve barrel life? I am working up a recipe with 20.0 grains of Power Pistol and a 300 grain MBC lead bullet at 18 BHN. I was loading a 300 grain XTP mag with a full house charge of 40.0 grains of H110 (2000 fps).

I tried an advanced search on this subject but I had zero luck.

Thanks in advance for any responses.

 

[jaymoore]

... [D]o you think shooting down loaded lead SWC loads will help improve barrel life? I am working up a recipe with 20.0 grains of Power Pistol and a 300 grain MBC lead bullet at 18 BHN. I was loading a 300 grain XTP mag with a full house charge of 40.0 grains of H110 (2000 fps).

I tried an advanced search on this subject but I had zero luck.

Thanks in advance for any responses.

Reduced loads definitely will extend the useful life of the barrel. (As long as they're not so reduced that you get one stuck mid-bore!) Lead bullets will help even more.

As for the barrel life with full house loads- Seems reasonable enough, but that's just my SWAG.

Other options: .45 Colt and .454 Casull. But you will have additional cylinder cleaning to contend with if you shoot a lot of lead bulleted .45 Colts before swapping to the longer cased stuff.

 

[codefour]

jaymoore, thanks for the response. I am definitely cutting back on the full house poads. I think an E-mail to S&W might not hurt. IF it is true, that is pretty lame. These X-frames are not that cheap.

 

[DonD]

I don't have any proof to back up my opinion but I really doubt that barrel life is 1200-1300 rds. Heck, even early .220 Swifts @4000fps probably lasted longer than that and today's barrel metallurgy is vastly better.

Ask S&W customer service, you might get a real gun enthusiast who would have a reasonable answer for you.

And of course, lower pressure loads and/or lead slugs will definitely increase barrel life. Don

 

[jaymoore]

...today's barrel metallurgy is vastly better...

Not really! About the only material advancement in barrel steel since the .220 Swift (which was responsible for the introduction of the stainless alloy rifle barrel to reduce erosion way back before WWII) has been the addition of Vanadium to some alloys- i.e. "CMV" alloy in higher end AR barrels. (Could include Stellite, but it's not used for much more than short inserts that I'm aware.)

Manufacturing methods are far different than in the 1930s, though.

And barrel life can be measured in different ways. I'd think in this case it's the number of cycles before accuracy is noticably degraded. But it could just as well be the amount of time before the forcing cone erosion is so bad that the revolver will lose velocity and/or spit undesirable amounts of particulates out the sides.

A clarification surely wouldn't hurt! This beastie does things that are unprecedented. That S&W could keep it from self-destructing in short order is no small feat. Not to mention the minor miracle that cases can be extracted without a mallet! Chamber pressures are unlike any other revolver round of which I'm aware.

Where's the "big dogs" on this forum to answer techie questions? Or are they collectors more than shooters?

 

[DHOLLA]

My dad has about 3k plus through his 10inch all hornady ftx with similar factory loads. His 12" has even more. We shoot at Metcafe if you ever want to get together for some big bore shooting.