kinny

I partly answered this question in your other post, but if you want some more info... I have read that rapid shooting by itself does not wear out a barrel, it is more a function of how long the powder burns in the throat of the rifle. For example a heavier bullet with a slow burning powder willhave a longer burn timein the throat and cause more damage/erosionthan a light bullet with a quicker burning powder. How fast you shoot or how hot you get the barrel does not make a significant difference. I am not sure I buy into this theory completely (especially the part about the heat not making a difference). Either way the only way to not burn the barrel out is to not shoot it much. I could tell when my barrels were shot out two ways: 1)the gun would shoot all over the place and 2)the first 4-6 inches of the barrel looked more like a 12 gauge shotgun than a rifled barrel. I suppose you could by a factory replacement barrel (for a couple hundred dollars?) if money is tight, but the best way to go is to put a premium barrel (Hart, Shilen, Lilja, Pac-Nor, Krieger, Douglas, Clay Spencer...) on it. Accuracy will be better, cleaning is MUCH easier, and life of this new barrel will be farlonger than a factory barrel. This will cost you around $600.