Being from "Ohio". Or as others on this thread Mn,Wi,NY,........Great Lakes, East,etc. Using a 22-250 or Swift hunting for Eastern Coyote, Woodchucks and some rod & gun club range shooting.
You just don't have to worry about "barrel life" at all. Unless your planing on shooting a heck of a lot of bench. It which case you likely would not choose either.
For Woodchucks these calibers along with the .243 are hard to beat. In no time the hunter wants to set up for the longer shot on these. On a good evening you may take a whopping 5 shots........spread out, for Woodchucks. Eastern coyotes & fox......my last 10 sets. Including most of yesterday, no shots fired. The average for eastern coyote day time hunting is probably like 1 in 8 sets, seeing a coyote. Just not much shooting.
At first, brand new , you may shoot it at the range quite a bit, geting her zoned in. Then that wears off. In my area the 22-250,Swift & .243 are the most popular for woodchucks and fewer but larger coyotes. They do everything a .223 does and more. NO ONE, here even talks,mentions or worrys about barrel life. THIS, is after decades of use for those calibers in the region.
In the Southwest & West and "colony varmints" as Jack mentions from time to time. Again these rifles have been around for decades and apparently it is a concern in those areas. I guess this is the type of information the world wide web brings us. Differant regions, differant shooting, differant concerns and calibers.
IMO- The last new calibers .204's , 17hmr's, etc have been made with the Southwest & West in mind. Frankly they are "lesser than" as compared to 22-250's and 22 mags for here (larger varmints & much less shots).
Just some thoughts in regards to regions IMO.
Of those 22-250's. In a heavy varmint model. I prefer the Tikka,CZ & Savage. All are accurate in terms of factory varmint class,out of the box. All have good adjustable triggers. In the upper end models (for Savage) all have good stocks, engineered well enough for the varmint hunter with some bedding, etc. I feel the actions & workmanship on the Tikka are superior. But, all are close....very close. And Savage keeps getting better with their upper end stuff. CZ, has a new kevlar stock varmint that interests me, etc. I really like those and they are priced about the same in there better series. Savage just keeps moving forward (good for them). Look what they have know done with there rim fires.......nice ! Many weekend warriors are shooting the above three in "factory class" events, egg shoots, etc. and wining. The larger clubs post the finals on the net. Take a look and you will see by far Savage in 22-250 & .223. Winning this class, along with some Tikka's and CZ'z. 10 years ago it was Remington.
One other differance in the above rifles is hammer forged or button rifled. Along with 1/14 or 1/12 twist. The Savage is Button rifled with a 1/12. Others I beleive are hammer forged and 1/14. Maybe Jack, can help clear up this rumor statement from some manufactures. They state or at least lead one to beleive that a smooth hammer forged "factory" barrel lasts longer. Beats me ?
Well....I finished my morning coffee(grin)......have fun.