Seems like a battle when you mix the breeds of shooters... Not uncommon.
That being said, I'll say this, I'm a highpower match shooter out to 1000 and a hunter. Mostly a hunter these days as I haven't shot a match since about 2003 and Camp Perry Nationals.
My take on this, you have to know what you are after here, and thats the same for Butch and Rick.... IE Butch wants accuracy to win with, and rightly so, most BR is shot close and wind isn't as bad as it can be... and accuracy rules. Rick wants a bit more speed out of a case for a bit more wind protection and a bit less drop and a bit more energy.
We can stop there, and say that its been argued if you want more, why not go to the next level... mags and such, well evidently thats not what Rick wants to do and is happy as is, and thats what matters. We could argue the other way around, if by butch, speed isn't an issue but accuracy is, why not shoot BR with an accurate 22 LR. Yep I'm stretching it both ways really but you see my point.
Bottom line to this, you can fireform with bullets, and most hunters do that, and it works fine. You can fireform with wax and small charges and most match shooters even HP that I know do that generally(223AI is a strange exception). Both are right. Neither is wrong. If it makes you happy and works and is safe thats whats right.
I will say this as an aside vs barrel life, I used to think it was many things, but later in life I've come to realize the La Berge brothers(fairly well known LR shooting clan that I'm friends with) always said they thought the best indicator is that it was X pounds of powder down the tube in a certain bore diameter.... and that actually makes most level sense to me. The more I burn the quicker the tube dies.
The other issue that crops up is turbulence point... that certainly seems to mean something in tube life, though I think its quantifiable, I don't think it means that much as to extra numbers of rounds....
