What is the typical life span of a benchrest barrel and hunting barrels?
Typically, the gilt edge of a benchrest barrel will last for about 1500 rounds. It may still shoot well after that, but the agg’s will be increasing slightly. It seems that the best accuracy is found the closer the barrel is to being new. A benchrest shooters take off barrel may still be capable of agg’ing in the high .2’s and pretty typically will agg in the .3’s in good conditions. As to hunting barrels, barrel life will depend upon the capacity of the cartridge and the accuracy level needed for what the intended use is for the barrel. A large capacity magnum may have a barrel life of 500 rounds if shot fast and hot, while a .223 that is shot at moderate velocities may last as long as 10,000 rounds. As a rule of thumb, the larger the capacity of the case and the hotter it’s shot, the shorter the barrel life will be. .:.