The name L.E. Wilson on another thread here brought to mind the Rifle I saw shooting at an Official Bench Rest Shoot near Tacoma, Washington about 5 years ago!
How many rounds do you think can be shot down a 222 Remingtons barrel before accuracy starts to deteriorate? Think about that as I relay this amazing story.
I was at this Bench Rest Shoot gleaning accuracy tips from the "pros" and had spent a wonderful day watching the light Varmint Rifles compete then the Heavy Varmint Class and finally the "unlimited" Class began competition. During a target check a buddy elbowed me and told me to go inquire about a particular (and comparatively humble or plain looking) Unlimited Rifle. It turns out this particular Unlimited Rifle had been made and owned and competed with by the famous die maker L.E. Wilson of Cashmere, Washington. It was not shiny and had only the most basic of accoutrements as compared to all the other unlimited's competing that day. The startling thing about the Rifle of course was that it was chambered in caliber 222 Remington and was in the middle of the standings for that day out of about 25 other unlimiteds! Then the amazing fact about the Rifle was made known to me by the present owner! This Rifle had more than 15,000 rounds down that original barrel! It was literally shooting (in my mind) absolute accuracy! I mean the only thing keeping it from 22 caliber "one hole" groups was wind and mirage! In other words the owner (competitor) was just farting around having fun shooting and trying to outguess the other competitors in regards to wind and mirage! That Rifle shot VERY well! Then the owner relayed another amazing fact about the Rifle and how they got so many accurate rounds from this one barrel! Every so often the barrel was removed and the old chamber cut completely off! The (straight or no taper) barrel was then turned around and rechambered on the other end and the bullets were sent the "other" way down that barrel! As I recall the present owner said this was the third reversal of bullet travel for that barrel! That barrel I am guessing had originally been installed in the early 1970's before the 6mm PPC came to dominate the BR competitions. And before the magic barrel length of most of present day use was discovered! This barrel was still longer than the other "unlimited" competitors and who knows how much more it has been shot.
The moral of this story is the 222 Remington is a very accurate and long lived (barrel wise) chambering! Also careful cleaning and judicious loading will no doubt prolong barrel life. For those not familiar with BR shooting it is not uncommon for a competitor these days to scrap a PPC barrel well before 2,000 competition rounds have been shot. I have talked to many BR shooters who commiserated they only got 1,200 or 1,400 "accurate" rounds out their last expensive barrel and chambering job!
The reality of this observation is the 222 is not going to wear out a quality (and properly cared for) barrel for many thousands of rounds. The leades to the Rifling will wear away and accuracy may suffer thusly at that point but if a barrel can be set back a time or two then I am sure the quality barrel will last 10,000 rounds of 222 Remington use! A close friend of mine used up a splendidly accurate Remington 40X barrel in caliber 220 swift in 2 years and approximately 1,500 rounds fired. My friend admitted to prolonged strings of fire on the high plains Prairie Dog Safaris he had been on with it! The leades of the Rifling were not only gone but rifling did not appear for some distance down the barrel (at least one inch!) as we inspected it with a Siebert bore inspection tool! Lesson learned there as to why his once ultra accurate Varminter went blah! Heat kills barrels!
Long live the Deuce!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

The .222 Rem I got in 1953 lasted it seems for about 8000 shots. Then I traded it for a new 700.

But who knows why the groups opened up to 5/8" and more? Back then I did not know as much and maybe the crown went or I damaged it in some way?

In any case that 722 had a low comb and the 26" barrel was too big for what the rifle was good for. The 700 shot even better and it's stock made good shots more frequent.

Fast shooting has to be the main problem. I know a guy who wore out a 308 barrel on an M 60 in one night!

I have never shot a barrel out on a 222...The one I have now is way up there and still in the 1/2" hole....when it gives up the ghost it will be a 1" gun for the next 10,000 rounds and I can live with that...

About 4yrs. ago I decided the factory barrel on my Sako Riihimaki 222 was gone so I rebarreled it with a Shilen SS #3. After break-in the best it would do was 7/8s to 1in. By chance I discovered the glass bedding had shrunk over the years. With the new barrel I had only opened up the barrel channel and rebedded an inch or so under the chamber. Upon rebedding it the groups were cut in half. Later I had a chance to inspect the old barrel with a borescope and the throat looked just fine-about 6500rd. through it. I'am now worndering if I really needed to rebarrel. The Shilen does clean easyer and group tighter.