Harm by...
Rifleman Mag did a piece couple years back defining barrel wear as "flaking" of the steel in response to the nitrides in the hot powder gases. Obviously, with a .308 working at 55K CUP, a lot more reaction per shot and the next bullet scrapes the flakes off. On the other end, say, a .45 Long Colt with lead bullets, working at 15 LUP, how many flakes are formed and with the next shot how many are scraped away by a soft lead bullet. A lot fewer. Thus, the lead bullet barrels seem to last almost forever if kept clean and not allowed to corrode by the bad chemicals of yesteryear. Black powder makes nitric acid, sulfuric acid, etc. Luck. Happy Trails.
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