Thankfully they are built like a tank. I have a 10/22 that I have had for about 23 years and about 18 or so years ago I had a little incident with it. I was out plinking one day, shooting at some cans about 50 yards away. On one of my shots I missed a can or so I thought, I took a second shot at it taking a little more time and missed again. I noticed the second shot sounded a little funny and I didn't see where it hit so I took another shot at a target a lot closer, to my horror nothing came out of the barrel. When I got back home sure enough the barrel was plugged, apparently the first shot was a bad round that stopped about half way down the barrel and I had put two more right behind it. I took the barrel off and if I looked right down it I could see a slight bulge where the bullets had stopped but there was no other damage. I soon had a new barrel and I was back in business.
I had almost forgot about this until I was cleaning up today and found that old barrel.
I had almost forgot about this until I was cleaning up today and found that old barrel.