I just hit 3000 rounds and while I haven't noticed a large drop off in velocity or accuracy, I have noticeable throat erosion which has required an adjustment to COAL to maintain the group size I'm accustomed to shooting with the gun. I have lost a little velocity, but its negligible and only apparent when I take the average of a large number of rounds. I'm going to start planning to replace the barrel this July or August. By then I should be close to 4000 rounds.

My current barrel is 22" long and I'd like to go a little longer. I'm thinking 24", but I see 26" barrels on a lot of 6.5 Creedmoor riffles. Is there an optimum length for 6.5 Creedmoor with a 140 grain bullet?

I'm looking at a Criterion barrel in a medium Palma contour, but am open to other options so recommendations are welcome.

Savage barrel - $400
Barrel threading - $75
Black nitride satin finish $100
Total $575