HL,
I take you to mean that a rifle and load reserved specifically for Big Feet would last a long time because they wouldn't, given the scarcity of Big Feet, see a whole lot of use. Probably you are right: my ole .357 has shot a lot more trees than big hairy critters.
Incidentally, what Jack was speaking of when he said that he had got his Ultra Rifle back with the new .450 barrel is this: New England will sell different caliber barrels to their guns, but you have to send the gun to them for fitting--head space, etc. You can't just order a different caliber barrel. That illustrates their concern for the owner's safety and their aversion to lawsuits.
Some may not be high on single shot rifles like the Ultra Rifle, but, in our family, more game has been killed with my son's Ruger One, a 7 mm mag, than any other gun that we own. I recently bought one of the same caliber.
And then there is the story about my wife's dad Melvin, my son's grandpa, and the 'coon. 'Bout the only gun that Melvin ever owned was a .22 single shot. One evening, a 'coon invaded his chicken house. On hearing the ruckus, Melvin got the little gun, reached into a cabinet drawer where he kept his ammo, put what he thought was a long rifle shell into the gun, and walked out to the chicken house. He opened the door and surprised a large 'coon. Taking aim, he shot at the critter but the critter didn't go down. In fact, it seemed as if the shot did nothing but make it mad. The 'coon, snarling, headed straight toward Melvin. Melvin reduced the stock on the rifle to about 3 pieces while clubing the 'coon.
A few days later, Melvin told my son about the incident and commented, "I don't understand that: I have never had to use more than one shell to kill a 'coon before." My son replied, "What kind of shell did you use?" Melvin said, "Just one of those out of the drawer."
My son looked in the drawer and discovered that his cousin--Melvin had three grandsons--had tossed some rat shot in with Melvin's shells.
All three of those grandsons started out shooting/hunting with that .22 single shot. After Melvin died, my son took possession of the rifle and restored it. You have to look at it closely to tell that the walnut has been glued. It would take a lot of money to get that particular gun away from my son.
