Have fried a few barrels over the years, some relatively quickly on prairie dog towns. Thought the .204 Ruger was THE answer for PD shooting, but finally realized it fries barrels within 1500-2000 rounds if you shoot it a lot. That was using it in combination with a .17 HMR to "start" a town, even though I always took at least one other centerfire to shoot when the .204 got hot.
Lately my PD combo is still a .17 HMR for start-ups, and a .204 for when the shots tend to get over 250-300. But in between I use a CZ Varmint ,17 Hornet, which doesn't heat up the relatively heavy barrel (.75" at the muzzle) much at all except on those really warm days of 90+.
Have burned out more than a few big-game cartridge barrels just practicing and trying loads, including two .270s.
