Where the hell do people come up with this [bleep]?? A WSM will NOT have any shorter life than any other magnum, period. People make this stuff up all the time.
The physics have not changed. Sure, a WSM may have a shorter life than an '06, but I will gladly pay to see someone show me how a 300 WSM will have a shorter barrel life than a 300 Win Mag.
Barrel life depends greatly on the shooter. My buddy and I used to shoot prairie dogs a lot. Using the same brands of barrels he wore out 22-250 rifle barrels much quicker than I did because he routinely got them hotter than I did.
And, as others have mentioned, so what if a 300 WSM barrel only lasted 1500 rounds, that is a lot of hunting, to be sure.
I have a 300 Wby Mag that has had over 1500 rounds down the barrel. It still managed to kill a great 6x6 bull elk in New Mexico this fall at a lasered 434 yards.
First off, I agree that the 300 WSMs barrel life will be similar to the 300 Winnys. A guy in my 1K BR club shot a Lazzeroni Patriot, which is about the same shape and case capacity as the 300 WSM. To around 1500 rounds his barrel was competitive. After that it would start shooting an ocassional wild flier. realize 1k BR is VERY hard on barrels, as they are shot hot and dirty. A hunting rifle's barrel ought to last much longer.
I will gladly pay to see someone show me how a 300 WSM will have a shorter barrel life than a 300 Win Mag.
It is not unreasonable for someone to wonder if a 300 WSM would have a shorter barrel life than a 300 Win, given a 243 often has shorter barrel life than a 6mm Rem. The turbelence point idea might have some merit. However, I don't think the 300 WSM has any more turbulece point issues than a 300 Winny--though I am not sure.
I have a 300 Wby Mag that has had over 1500 rounds down the barrel. It still managed to kill a great 6x6 bull elk in New Mexico this fall at a lasered 434 yards.
That is a good shot under field conditions to be sure and one that many guys would miss. However, consider this:
- The kill zone on an elk is what, at least an 18" circle?
- At 434 yds that's 4 moa
- With a 4 moa rifle sighted in EXACTLY to it's point of aim, the bullet won't diverge from point of aim by more than 2 moa
- Therefore, a properly aimed and sighted in 4 moa rifle will will hit an elk in the kill zone 434 yds.
Thus, your example doesn't tell us anything about the accuracy of your rifle, though it does once again show that you don't need a tack driving rifle to cleanly take animals at extended rages. What you need is a proficient shooter, as you obviouusly are.