Thanks guys. Sorry for the late reply. I've been out scouting for critters the last little while.
Jimm,
I have about 600 rounds down the barrel now and I have indeed looked at it with a borescope at about 550. It has never been abused (fired hot) and has been cleaned religiously every 30-40 rounds and it shows just a tiny bit of dry lakebed look. Nowhere near the point of being hard to clean (still 3 patches of Coppermelt to be clean) or degrading the ballistic coefficient. Comparing it to the Moag which fires the same amount of powder although a heavier bullet, I predict the thunder will last at least 150% longer than the Moag did. The 338 lapua improved burned and I mean <font color="red"> burned </font> the first three inches of barrel within 400 rounds!!!! It has since been cut off and rechambered but I don't have much hope for it. 95 grains of powder down ANY hole is not going to be easy on a barrel but if it stays cool like the ABS barrel does, you can increase barrel life substantially.
In comparison, my 6br improved barrel has about 2300 rounds through it now and looks about the same as the thunder. It should go another 2000 rounds before noticeable bc degredation sets in.
Bottom line: Any gun that I build from now on that is a known barrel burner will have an ABS barrel on it and maybe even the ones that are easy on barrels will get one too!