This method of gauging barrel life is very inaccurate with sporting arms in most calibers. When your looking at or talking about the big overbore calibers Burnt out barrels theory has merritt. When your speaking of the life of a full auto military weapon, definitely! But a single shot, sporting rifle... not something I would worry about.
Barrels are killed with hot/speedy loadings fried in rapid succession. faster with large amounts of powder, slower with smaller. IE hot and heavy varmint shoots are about all that comes to my mind. Where barrels can get "shot out". Now if your a target shooter, striving for the ultimate accuracy. Well then you may have an argument about barrel life and accuracy. But the average shooter, IMHO that its just not a major consideration.
Good rule of thumb is if a barrel gets too hot to hold in your hand, STOP SHOOTING. This is when you can do damage to a barrel. Most sportsmen will not shoot a SS rifle long or fast enough to burn out a barrel this way. This is not to say its impossible, its just not likely.
Clean the barrel. Look closely at the rifling and the barrels crown. I'll bet its just fine and will offer many many years of excellent accuracy.
CW
