I wanted to feed off a comment I saw Fireman make , I never really considered I could wear a barrel out since I don’t shoot that much. What is the normal volume through a barrel before it’s considered used up ?

Also, is it different in an old gun I have such as a Remington 742 Woodsmaster vs the newer barrels like the one on my AR from aero precision?

Too broad of a question for a straight answer.

It comes down to what cartridge, what bullet length, how fast. A .308 Win has gone 10,000 rounds. I've shot out a .22-250 in 1200 rounds. I've shot out a .260 Rem in 2500 rounds and a 6.5 Creedmoor in 2500 rounds.

The smaller the bore, the more fire you shove down it, the sooner it is shot out.

Big bore, low pressure round like a .30-30, it'll last many thousands of rounds.

Some folks on here can give you actual numbers per caliber. I’ve only worn out one barrel, and it was a 220 Swift with a bull barrel. Can’t get a much more intense cartridge. Bought it used and shot it a lot at the range, though I never kept a round count. I had to chase the lands after a while and finally had it rebarreled. If a fellow was just mostly a deer hunter and occasional paper puncher, he’d likely never wear out a barrel.

That said, my Dad wore out a 30-30 barrel. Not from thousands of rounds, but more due to decades of never once cleaning the barrel.

Fireman beat me to the answer, and has the numbers, as expected.

223 and 308 have some super excellent life above and beyond most others, but it all boils down to how hard you run it what powder you use and what your cleaning routine is.

Benchrest accuracy can fall off within 1200 rounds with a 6ppc, however a 30br will go 4,000 +

It’s all depends… 300 win mags run at around max is a 700 round barrel a 300 Jarrett might make 700 rounds well cared for.

AR’s are tools, I think reasonable accuracy from one would be around 8-10,000 rounds in 223/556

most 742's are not known for accuracy , even with a new barrel , Probably would not be noticeable if the barrel was " shot out "


your mileage may vary

MO