Sakset fra 17hmr.net :
"That pro must be shooting one heck of a lot of ammo. I bore scoped a Savage 17 HMR before I resold it. It had over 30,000 rounds through it, still shot under an inch at 100 on windless days and the bore looked perfect. No throat errossion and no copper build up. I clean the chamber and bolt after every shooting session but only cleaned the barrel at the end of the season.
My CZ has easily 15,000 through it and it shoots better than it did new, but I think that was the galss bedding job.
I am sure one will eventually wear out, but like a 22 my bet is you are going to be in the +80,000 rounds before you see any noticeable drop off in accurracy on a hunting grade rifle. Even benchrest 22s go a very long time on a barrel."