Are you actually going to bore your own barrel? WOW.. that is really going to be a project. Good luck with this. As for the proof testing, I have no idea how they test the amount of pressure that the rifle will take.

I know the old rifles we did not trust we used to load them, tie them to a tire and fire them off with a long string. When you're young a foolish thinking ahead is not a requirement. Then you get thinking about what you just did, and what if that was the last amount of stress that barrel could take before it was ready to rupture.

Just a quick comment on BPI products. These include much more then the CVA line of rifles. You need to add Tradition's, Winchester, New Frontier, and even some others. Yes they are not proof tested to standards some people find acceptable. If that bothers you, then do as Mike said, he does not buy them. I personally own a number of them. I do not load them hot, then again I do not load my Thompson Centers, Green Mountains, or Knights hot even though they are alleged able to take the pressures.

What I am getting at is, if you own a BPI product and have any doubts as to the structural integrity of the rifle, then by all means for your own peace of mind get rid of the rifle and get something you trust. If this testing issue does not bother you, then load the rifle according the recommendations of the manufacture and shoot it. The choice is yours.