So, how quickly is a .500" long throat that has added angles to the rifling going to erode? Just FYI, the +P does not extend the throat length, it only changes the ANGLES in the LEADE of the chamber.
Cheers.
This is taken from an article on the 338 Terminator which has a +p throat. It explains it fairly simply:
The Cartridge
The 338 Terminator is a monster. It's effectively a 338 Lapua Mag Improved +P. The brass is custom made for Defensive Edge, and it carries the "338 terminator" headstamp. The brass starts out as extremely high-quality 338 Lapua brass, and then it's fire-formed by Defensive Edge to push the shoulders forward a bit for its "improved" design. They sell the brass for $400 for 100 pieces.
This "improved" design with the shoulders pushed forward, and at a steeper angle, allows for more case capacity, which in turn allows for more powder. After seeing the high velocity and learning that the brass started as 338 Lapua Mag brass, I couldn't figure out how it was able to handle the performance without showing signs of pressure.
A conversation with the rifle's designer cleared it up and this is, in my opinion, the most novel part of the entire system … It has a unique chamber that allows for a more powerful round while minimizing the chamber pressure. More on this after some ballistics of the round.
The 338 Terminator has some impressive stats. The 338 Lapua Mag has been king for a while in the big-boy long-range cartridges. Then 300 Norma Mag came along and our military really started to like it because it outperforms the 338 Lapua Mag with less recoil. The 338 Terminator handily outperforms both (on paper).
I shot 1,000 yards with 5.9 Mils of elevation above my 100-yard zero and 1,250 yards with 8 Mils of elevation. That's a heavy bullet, traveling very flat, and packing a wallop on the target.
How did they get a 300-grain bullet traveling over 3,000 fps without serious over-pressure issues? The special chamber.
The Chamber
Defensive Edge has a patented chamber design wherein they use a special throat to handle the power of these monster rounds without dangerous pressures.
Instead of simply having an elongated throat and thereby having too much free-bore with a consequent adverse effect on accuracy (I'm looking at you, Weatherby), they have the rifling start at the throat, but they don't have the bore down to its final diameter yet.
There's a step wherein the bullet engages the rifling as it should, however, it isn't under full pressure yet because it isn't necked down to its final bore size until it can travel a bit. I described this as a graduated throat (to the dismay of the designer).
This really is novel — it allows the bullet to be controlled and start spinning without the abrupt start normally incurred with a standard chamber. My money is on this helping to increase barrel life too. After all, the throat is usually what goes first on a barrel because of intense heat and pressure generated by powder particles and friction from the bullet.
This unique throat design lowers pressure so much that a standard cartridge/load will not meet its normal performance expectations in this chamber. The reduced pressure prevents a cartridge from reaching the velocity it would normally, so this throat/chamber design is best suited for monsters like the 338 Terminator.