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Posted: 3/18/2024 11:41:05 PM EDT
[#1]
How rapid is your rapid?
Sustained rate of fire for the AR is 12-15 RPM…faster than that and it isn’t going to last long. |
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Posted: 3/18/2024 11:55:57 PM EDT
[#2]
Seems to happen to me too.
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Posted: 3/18/2024 11:58:16 PM EDT
[#3]
That's pretty normal. As previously mentioned it doesn't take much to build up a lot of heat.
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Posted: 3/18/2024 11:59:12 PM EDT
[#4]
I think there is like a max rate for semi firing.
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Posted: 3/19/2024 12:01:21 AM EDT
[#5]
wait until you shoot that ROF when its 90 degrees or above. smokin!
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Posted: 3/19/2024 12:51:38 AM EDT
[#6]
If you’re shooting fast enough to melt zip ties, then your barrel will be too hot to touch. That’s how it works. It should cool down fast enough that putting it into a soft case shouldn’t be a problem.
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Posted: 3/19/2024 1:48:04 AM EDT
[#7]
Quoted: I didn't have my temperature laser (didn't think I'd need one) but my 14.5" 1/7 non-chrome lined bbl was piping hot after 120 non-rapid fire rounds. Please define “non rapid”. 15-ish RPM is the sustained rate of fire suggested on the manual. Everything else will get the barrel smoking hot and that’s normal.. especially if you have a govt profile barrel. Quoted: We were shooting GFL 5.56. I wonder if the ammo played a part. I've had this rifle 10 yrs and never recall having a overheating issue. The barrel has approx 2k rounds through it. Or is it time for a chrome lined upgrade? Your barrel is probably fine & CL won’t keep the barrel cooler. |
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Posted: 3/19/2024 4:54:46 AM EDT
[#8]
next time, wrap bacon around the handguards and have a BLT for lunch
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Posted: 3/19/2024 7:47:15 AM EDT
[#9]
Grab a 100% cotton towel and throw in your soft case. When done shooting wrap around barrel before putting in soft case. It will keep it from melting the interior.
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Posted: 3/19/2024 7:54:02 AM EDT
[#10]
Fastest cooling barrel I've ever seen is the Faxon Gunner.
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Posted: 3/19/2024 9:20:24 AM EDT
[#11]
Always take a second one to shoot while one cools. Totally normal for 120 rounds to get a gun hot, unless you spent hours doing it.
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Posted: 3/19/2024 10:29:31 AM EDT
[#12]
Seems completely normal.
My AKs barrels can light things on fire after 120 rounds |
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Posted: 3/19/2024 10:45:10 AM EDT
[#13]
I mean think about it man, of course it's hot.
I had a Polytech M14s stock catch on fire and a Hungarian AK that smoked all of the paint like coating off the barrel after just a few mags. You don't want to touch a barrel after 10 rounds, much less 100 |
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Posted: 3/19/2024 10:54:56 AM EDT
[#14]
You can also open the bolt while you are not shooting to help it cool faster. If you want to cool even faster open the upper and set the bolt out of the upper. When I do strings of fire where my barrel is steaming/smoldering I will leave the rifle bolt open and the magwell pointed into the wind if possible. I can usually get the rifle cool fairly quick doing this and while I am taking down targets and loading up all my other stuff I just let it keep cooling. By the time I have loaded everything else up, policed my area for any items left/trash/brass/etc the barrel is cool enough to go into a case. If it is so blazing hot it is not going to cool and it is a really hot day I will set it in my truck remote start the truck so it can start cooling down and let the AC do the cooling while I load up and clean up.
It really does not take high rate of fire to get a barrel scorching hot sometimes it can just be a heat soak issue where you are continually warming the barrel/rail and not much time between strings of fire. As you keep adding heat to the barrel but no cool down time it is going to get hot. Unless you are doing mag dump after mag dump or full auto fire I would not worry to much about it the barrel is going to get hot if you use it. |
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Posted: 3/19/2024 10:59:06 AM EDT
[#15]
That's completely normal. As a general rule, 3-mags of full-auto level rapid-fire rate and an aluminum handguard will be so hot as to be almost unholdable. Which explains why they started with plastic handguards and heatshields.
On another note, you should do this at least once with every gun you have, because you'll discover things on that gun that need to be addressed real fast Things like muzzle devices that weren't actually tight enough, now coming loose on you. Or zip ties melting (don't run zip ties on your gun). Gas key coming lose, Barrel extension coming loose (Alexander Arms has that problem), etc. |
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Posted: 3/19/2024 1:14:16 PM EDT
[#16]
Yup, you can get a barrel up to 500° F at relatively low rates of fire, one round every 6 seconds, or 10 rounds per minute, well into the sustained rate of fire.
One round every three seconds, you can see 900° F easy 
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Posted: 3/19/2024 1:37:11 PM EDT
[#17]
I am kinda curious how much heat is generated from the friction of the bullet going thru the barrel vs the propellant exploding.
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Posted: 3/19/2024 1:43:40 PM EDT
[#18]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I am kinda curious how much heat is generated from the friction of the bullet going thru the barrel vs the propellant exploding. Jim Sullivan said that most of the barrel heat is from friction. I don't know if that's true, but that's what he said. |
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Posted: 3/19/2024 1:54:36 PM EDT
[#19]
Quoted: I didn't have my temperature laser (didn't think I'd need one) but my 14.5" 1/7 non-chrome lined bbl was piping hot after 120 non-rapid fire rounds. Outside temp was around 80F but we were in shade. The barrel got so hot, I was worried it would burn the inner lining of the soft case. Zip ties holding light cables melted off. I have a Strike Industries 13" MLOK rail and a standard .750 gas block. We were shooting GFL 5.56. I wonder if the ammo played a part. I've had this rifle 10 yrs and never recall having a overheating issue. The barrel has approx 2k rounds through it. Or is it time for a chrome lined upgrade? Assume you were shooting at 20 rpm, or one round every 3 seconds, 120 rounds would take 6 minutes to shoot. Going to the above graphs, #6, about midway between the breech and front sight would have gotten to a temperature of around 700° F. The exposed part of the barrel around 450° F. While we are comparing a 20 inch M16A1 barrel to a 14.5 inch Government (?) profile barrel, the temperatures at percent distance from the breech do correlate fairly well. Different ammunition makes very little variation in the barrel temperature, the energy content is fairly constant across propellants. The biggest thing that varies barrel temperature, after rate of fire, is: Is there a breeze? And want is the ambient temperature? Almost all barrel cooling is done by convection, the heating of the air next to the barrel, that air moving off and the cycle repeating. That's why the handguards have hole on the top and bottom, hot air rises so it causes an upward draft through the handguard. |
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Posted: 3/19/2024 2:39:32 PM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I am kinda curious how much heat is generated from the friction of the bullet going thru the barrel vs the propellant exploding. There was a study done on that question back in 2011. It showed that a 53 grain copper jacketed lead core bullet requires about 235 ft-lbs of work overcome the friction in a 22 inch barrel. A 60 grain bullet of the same construction requires around 305 ft-lbs. If you convert that to calories, you get 77 and 99 calories. |
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Posted: 3/19/2024 9:03:20 PM EDT
[#21]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Please define “non rapid”. 15-ish RPM is the sustained rate of fire suggested on the manual. Everything else will get the barrel smoking hot and that’s normal.. especially if you have a govt profile barrel. Your barrel is probably fine & CL won’t keep the barrel cooler. Rapid fire is not allowed at our range even though its outdoors and my AR9 was double tapping per single trigger pull (another issue for another post). So the four mags were actually four different shooters each with their own individual ROF. My 11 Bravo (Army Infantry) son was the last shooter of course probably emptied his mag in under 20 seconds. |
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Posted: 3/19/2024 9:21:16 PM EDT
[#22]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Assume you were shooting at 20 rpm, or one round every 3 seconds, 120 rounds would take 6 minutes to shoot. Going to the above graphs, #6, about midway between the breech and front sight would have gotten to a temperature of around 700° F. The exposed part of the barrel around 450° F. While we are comparing a 20 inch M16A1 barrel to a 14.5 inch Government (?) profile barrel, the temperatures at percent distance from the breech do correlate fairly well. Different ammunition makes very little variation in the barrel temperature, the energy content is fairly constant across propellants. The biggest thing that varies barrel temperature, after rate of fire, is: Is there a breeze? And want is the ambient temperature? Almost all barrel cooling is done by convection, the heating of the air next to the barrel, that air moving off and the cycle repeating. That's why the handguards have hole on the top and bottom, hot air rises so it causes an upward draft through the handguard. Most definitely felt like it was 500+ degrees F. The heat that was coming through the Strike Industries rail was incredible. Even with angled Fortis foregrip, after the forth mag, the rifle was untouchable. Thank you for all the great information. |
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Posted: 3/19/2024 9:38:48 PM EDT
[#23]
How long did it take to fire the 120 rounds?
What brand were your zip ties? I recommend zip ties made by 3M. |
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Posted: 3/19/2024 11:00:56 PM EDT
[#24]
Lightweight profile barrels heat up fast
They also cool down fast, compared to heavy profile barrels You haven’t seen hot until you’ve turned your can into a popsicle  Attached File |
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Posted: 3/23/2024 10:00:20 AM EDT
[#25]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Lightweight profile barrels heat up fast They also cool down fast, compared to heavy profile barrels You haven’t seen hot until you’ve turned your can into a popsicle https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/498043/IMG_0424_jpeg-3164080.JPG HOLY $HIT!!!!! No heat distortion damage? |
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Posted: 3/23/2024 10:17:11 AM EDT
[#26]
120 60,000 psi shock waves at approximately 5,000 degrees F tends to warm things up. This is also how you ruin perfectly good barrels. Heat kills barrels quickly. Imagine someone sticking a blow torch in your chamber, now add the pressure waves.
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Posted: 3/23/2024 10:19:27 AM EDT
[#27]
 AR-15 Fired Full Auto Untill It Catches On Fire |
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Posted: 3/23/2024 11:35:31 AM EDT
[#28]
Quote HistoryQuoted: next time, wrap bacon around the handguards and have a BLT for lunch |
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Posted: 3/23/2024 1:19:19 PM EDT
[#29]
Quote HistoryQuoted: HOLY $HIT!!!!! No heat distortion damage? Oh there was damage, and that was the point What you’re looking at is the end result of SOCOM’s SURG firing schedule:  Attached FileAfter the 8th mag I let it cool down and the weld on the blast baffle had failed I sent it back to Dead Air and after eight months they returned it with a completely different baffle stack I haven’t done another torture test because I don’t feel like dealing with their crappy customer service again |
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