Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Competitive Shooting .220 Swift barrel

I just cleaned up and scrubbed out the barrel on my 40X, .220 Swift. I love this gun for shooting groundhogs. I've shot it about 800 to 1000 times over the past 15 years. I've taken really good care of this gun, cleaning the barrel about every 20 rounds. It shoots great putting all the rounds in the same hole. That is what you'd expect from a 40X. However, I checked one thing on this gun before I put it away that has me concerned and wondering. I recently got a Stoney Point AOL gauge, so I thought I'd check the seating depth and olgive to compare it to the current OAL to what I already have my shells loaded to. To my surprise, I found the throat measured so long that I wouldn't be able to seat the bullet into the case head. Now I'm wondering if the throat has always been that long, or is it eroded that much. It still shoots, and I'm of the school, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." But now these questions on ingrained into my mind. I ask myself, 'should I replace the barrel, should I have the barrel cut back, etc.?" What are the costs of replacing the barrel with a good Krieger, Hart, Shilen, Douglas, etc.? How about the cost of cutting the barrel back! Any thoughts, opinions, advice anyone has will be really appreciated. Thanks