Newbie help

[JOBBER48]

HISTORY
I own a Remington 700 BDL .30-06, 24" barrel (+30 years old). Most rounds shot were factory loads, at 180gr. For the past 15 years most of my Illinois deer hunting was with a 12ga. Near the end of my active .30-06 shooting I began hand loading and shooting lower charge accuracy rounds. Probably shot around ±800 rounds thru it. What is the easiest way to check for barrel wear?

Flash forward – TODAY
Cabela's has a Savage/Cabela's Special Long-Range Hunter 6.5-284, 24" stainless steel fluted barrel, 1-8 twist.
http://www.cabelas.com/product/Shooting/Centerfire-Rifles/Bolt-Action%7C/pc/104792580/c/105522480/sc/105523380/Savage174-Arms-Long-Range-Stainless-Fluted-Barrel-Rifle/1264559.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Fshooting-centerfire-rifles-bolt-action%2Fsavage-arms%2F_%2FN-1102332%2B1000004563%2FNe-1000004563%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_105523380%3FWTz_l%3DUnknown%253Bcat105522480%26WTz_st%3DGuidedNav%26WTz_stype%3DGNU&WTz_l=Unknown%3Bcat105522480%3Bcat105523380
I am concerned if the barrel length is appropriate for the cartridge?
What to expect in "felt recoil" vs. the above .30-06?
What about early barrel wear of this cartridge?
Any thoughts on barrel life expectancy using Norma Oryx 6.5-284 156 gr
V0 = 2790 FPS V100 = 2531 FPS V200 = 2287 FPS V300 = 2056 FPS
E0 = 2697 Ft·Lb E100 = 2220 Ft·Lb E200 = 1812 Ft·Lb E300 = 1465 Ft·Lb

Thanks

 

[SBruce]

If you can no longer seat your bullets out far enough to touch the lands in the rifling, your throat may be eroded....but, your particular rifle may have had a long throat to begin with.?

If your accuracy is no longer acceptable, your barrel my be getting worn out....but, that could also be due to a change in ammo lots or barrel fouling.?

A bore scope can tell the story....but they're expensive; often times, those who have borescopes are gunsmiths and some will attempt to sell you a new barrel when it's really not necessary.

Illinois humidity and lack of use.......rust may be a bigger concern than barrel wear.

I'd say as long as it's shooting to your satisfaction, don't worry about it. I put over 3000 rounds through a 25-06 barrel before it was shot out, and the majority of those bullets were 85 grn going ~3600'/sec.

To my knowledge, folks that are shooting the 6.5-284 are utilizing barrels at least 26" Heard tale of barrels 32" long needed to get all the goody that cartridge is capable of. It's supposedly got a reputation for wearing out barrels easily, but I can't say from personal experience.

I would buy a 6.5-284, but it would have a 26" tube, if not 28".

Best of Luck