As someone interested in buying a rifle for target/predator shooting and a little of deer hunting, I heard that these calibers have a short life expectancy of 800-1000 rounds. Has anyone got any experience of this and is there a way to lengthen the barrel life? These are very nice dual-purpose calibers and I hate to re-barrel the rifle every other year.

Danny Boy

Danny,

Things you can do to extend barrel life are, don't shoot max capacity ammo thru them, don't let the barrels get too hot, when shooting at paper or rocks, let the barrel cool a little between rounds, keep the barrel clean, use a dewey or similar coated rod, use a bore guide and avoid damaging the muzzles crown.

Malm

Shoot the big for caliber bullets with a little less velocity. They carry better anyway.

Unless abused by shooting over and over for extended periods and not allowed to cool that might happen...otherwise with ordinary shooting, not pampering, I would say 3000 rounds would be a better estimate...some lose and edge at 2000 or so...but not a heck of a lot...Lot of varibles involved here...but put it aside, not a practical issue.