[Wyrd bið ful aræd]

I find the current fixation on barrel life very interesting. Granted some of it is legitimate, with an uptick in long-range competitive shooting and whatnot, but I always chuckle when guys who go to the range once every month or so fret and preach about the barrel life of their hunting rifle after watching a documentary about snipers in Afghanistan.

I have 130 year old guns that are tackdrivers, and will still be when I'm done with them. Most of us don't shoot nearly enough to worry much about barrel wear, but that doesn't stop bubba from hyper-analyzing his Walmart bolt gun's barrel every time he pops off a few rounds.

[Seruzawa]

Barrel life also is affected by rate of fire. This is why automatic weapons are used in burst mode. The usual shooter with a bolt action rifle isn’t going to put that much wear on it. The rate of fire is much too slow.