John, I don't really know. In his post, Roland gave his experience at 600, some good placements, and a win on a calm day. That sounds just about right.
There are better chamberings for 600 yards. It isn't that the rile isn't accurate, but it puts too much on the shooter. Think on it -- all this talk about less wind drift with high BC bullets is true, what's false is that you can somehow shoot through the wind. You can't, mistakes are just a little more forgiven.
I once took my 1,000 yard HG to a 300 yard mach at Charlotte & shot it in the unlimited class. That was a .520 B.C. bullet (real B.C., measured by doppler radar) at 3,200 fps. I didn't do well. After match 5 (no coaching allowed during matches) Dave Tooley came up to me & said "That rifle's trying to shoot, why the hell did you shoot when you did?"
Obviously, he -- and others -- saw something I missed. I pulled the trigger at the wrong times. So point one is, you just can't shoot through the wind. That day, the HV match followed unlimited, & I decided since I'd shot the prevailing right-to-left wind so poorly, I'd shoot the infrequent left-to-right. And I won that HV match. Neither the poor placement in unlimited nor the HV win had anything to do with equipment, just the shooter.
There is an old saying, beware the one-gun man. If you know your rifle well, holding off with a .30 BR is about like holding off with a 6 Dasher. You just have to hold off more, so any mistakes you make will hurt more.
Still, it's a fact that depending on what compromises you're willing to make, there are better choices for 600 than a .30 BR.
But one of your desires was for a long barrel life. With a .30 BR, 5,000 rounds competitive life is common, more doesn't require too much luck. I've heard of 7,500 or more *competitive* life.
A Dasher or 6 BR with 105s will do everything you want, plus win at 600. The bullets are a bit cheaper, but the barrel will be toast, competitively, in far less rounds. Soon as I put a number to it, every Dasher lover in the U.S. will be all over my tail. How about this: a 6 ppc is sort of expected to give between 1,000 and 1,500 rounds, except for really big match competitions. I think Tony Boyer figures 250-400 rounds for big match barrel life.
A Dasher will give less than a 6 PPC.
If you want more rounds on the barrel and good 600 yard capability, a .308 to .30/06 would be my choice, with a well-balanced bullet about 190 grains. You'll not see that on any match reports, though I do believe a .308 still holds the single group IBS record at 600. Well, single group records aren't the best indicators, aggs tell more.
The Dasher is easier to shoot for wins. Elmer Keith said "recoil doesn't bother me." Depends on what you man by "bother." In benchrest competition, recoil bothers everybody; it is simply harder to shoot a rifle that has more recoil. Firing 20 to 40 rounds without a mistake is very rare.
Most every choice in competitive shooting involves compromises. If rifle weight isn't a factor, recoil ceases to be an issue, but an 75-pound rifle (what my 1K Heavy Gun weighs) is a compromise in & of itself. And while each round costs more, the barrel will last longer. Guy named Alvin Johnson has 99 lifetime IBS points (100 is gold level), and has used 1 barrel on his .300 Ackley LG since 1995. I'll allow that's a bit uncommon.
Here's a column B thought: a mediocre barrel lasts a long time, too. Now what?
Bottom line: from what you described as your shooting goals, Roland led you right. A .30 BR will get the job done for what you describe, and is a pleasant round to shoot. More pluses than minuses on the compromise front. And I too wouldn't be without one.
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