Barrel Wear in a Used Bergara HMR in 6.5 CM

[qec]

I'm in the market for a new (to me or new period) rifle for 100 - 500 yrd shooting. Casual at this point. I've narrowed it down to some sort of Savage 10 or Bergara HMR. I have a old Savage 10 in 308 which shoots really well and I like the after market support and ability to replace the barrel. I found a used HMR for a fair price but I'm concerned about barrel life with 6.5 CM. How can I tell how much life is left in the barrel? What wears first? I assume the throat.

thanks

 

[FeMan]

For causal shooting, I would expect to get at least 2500 rounds out of a 6.5CM barrel and perhaps 500 to 1,000 more if its well cared for and a good barrel. Barrel wear is the worst in the first couple of inches of the barrel. If you don't have a round count for the barrel, you can bore scope it. Id look for fire-cracking as an indicator. A barrel with faint and subtle signs of cracking should have some life left in it. A barrel with deep alligator hide is probably at or near its useful life.

 

[qec]

Thank you for the reply. Going to check out the rifle tomorrow.

 

[NZ_Fclass]

The Bergara has a Remington thread, so a Remage pre-fit will work, should you need to change. I'm sure the Urban Rifleman will assist.

 

[qec]

Pulled the trigger (so to speak) today. The price was decent and the rifle looks almost unused. Putting a used Vortex Viper HST 6-24X50 on it. Found a good deal on that as well. Can't wait to shoot it. Next step is to dial in a load recipe.