How Hot Is Too Hot?

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Posted: 5/24/2005 6:48:03 AM EDT

Newbie here. I have just recently became the owner of a Bushmaster AR-15. I have a lot to learn about this rifle and have only shot it in 2 180 round sessions. My question is after a 30 round clip the rifle was hot . What can this rifle take as far as heat? I dont want to burn it up so how do I know its too hot to keep shooting and time to let it cool for a spell before shooting again? Is there a general rule of shoot say 30 rounds and let it sit until its cool to the touch before shooting again or is this rifle made to handle a good bit of heat before effecting performance or wost case burning it up? Sorry if this question has been asked before. Love the sight and look forward to learning from some of you very well armed enthusiasts.

Posted: 5/24/2005 6:52:50 AM EDT

[#1]

You wont get it hot enough to hurt anything.

Posted: 5/24/2005 6:55:13 AM EDT

[#2]

Quoted:
Newbie here. I have just recently became the owner of a Bushmaster AR-15. I have a lot to learn about this rifle and have only shot it in 2 180 round sessions. My question is after a 30 round ~~clip~~ magazine the rifle was hot . What can this rifle take as far as heat? I dont want to burn it up so how do I know its too hot to keep shooting and time to let it cool for a spell before shooting again? Is there a general rule of shoot say 30 rounds and let it sit until its cool to the touch before shooting again or is this rifle made to handle a good bit of heat before effecting performance or wost case burning it up? Sorry if this question has been asked before. Love the sight and look forward to learning from some of you very well armed enthusiasts.

you will be hard pressed to damage this rifle shooting semi auto. Full auto Beta-C (100 round) mag dumps will tear it up. the hand guards will get hot and you won't be able to hold the gun long before you have to worry about damage to it.

Posted: 5/24/2005 6:55:24 AM EDT

[#3]

It was designed as a machine-gun, with reasonably sustained rates of fire.

You'd have to work pretty hard to get it hot enough to hurt anything.

That said, you'll hear pretty regularly the life expectancy for a barrel quoted
at 8000 rounds or so. I assume that low number comes from worst case
use.

What you DO need to watch out for is a "cook-off". After your magazine of fun,
drop the mag and open the chamber while you go for a beer. You don't want
a live round heating up in the chamber. It's rare but it DOES happen.

disclaimer for the anal: All jokes about drinking and shooting are for entertainment purposes only.
I'm the only one here professional enough to shoot and drink

Posted: 5/24/2005 7:13:23 AM EDT

[#4]

On my bushmaster w/ 14.5-in 1:7 chrome-lined barrel, I have yet to cause any damage that I'm aware of. The most torturous heat-up I've put it through would be 3x 30 round mags one after the other. Within each mag the average shot timing was probably around 1 second a peice (some faster, some slower), and probably about 20-40 seconds between mags to swap em out, wipe the sweat off my brow, re-acquire the target, and start up again. I can't imagine I'll ever feel like putting 90 rounds through it any faster than that on a semi-auto gun (of course, I say that now, but I bet once I learn to bumpfire I'll be abusing it worse).

I was under shade, and the barrel did not appear to be glowing, and the handguards weren't getting soft or smoking either. It was beginning to feel uncomfortably hot to hold the handguards sometime during the 3rd mag, but not so much that I actually took my hands off of them. I let it sit and cool off in the open air for about 15-20 minutes before I bagged it up, for fear of burning/melting the rifle bag with the hot barrel. Next trip out a week later it was still shooting the same groups it did before.

Posted: 5/24/2005 8:00:09 AM EDT

[#5]

Quoted:
\you'll hear pretty regularly the life expectancy for a barrel quoted
at 8000 rounds or so.

8,000 rounds and it's done?! Can anyone else verify this? I'd hate to think the rifle I bought a couple months ago is already 25% through it's life expectancy!

Posted: 5/24/2005 8:02:11 AM EDT

[#6]

Quoted:
Quoted:
\you'll hear pretty regularly the life expectancy for a barrel quoted
at 8000 rounds or so.

8,000 rounds and it's done?! Can anyone else verify this? I'd hate to think the rifle I bought a couple months ago is already 25% through it's life expectancy!

That's a pretty low number. There are barrels with tens of thousands of rounds through them and still running. It all depends on the abuse it takes. A casual semi-auto shooter should be getting somewhere between 15k and 20k before wear becomes an issue, especially on a chrome lined barrel.

And anyway, the rifle itself doesn't have that life expectancy, just the barrel does. A barrel swap is possible.

Posted: 5/24/2005 8:24:44 AM EDT

[#7]

Barrel life is when your group size becomes to large for you to accpet. for some 1MOA is shot out others 4 MOA still has 1/2 of its life left.

Posted: 5/24/2005 8:37:53 AM EDT

[#8]

Quoted:
after a 30 round clip the rifle was hot

Where did you find a 30 round clip? All I have been able to find are 10 round clips.

I wouldn't worry about damaging your barrel with only 180rds now and then. Watch where you place the barrel afterwards, such as leaning against a plastic car bumper or setting in back in a cloth or foam lined case (especially nylon!). After you've burned your legs or fingers a couple times, you'll learn to watch out PDQ. I wear cheapie Nomex flight gloves when shooting.

Posted: 5/24/2005 8:49:16 AM EDT

[#9]

You should read this: www.galleryofguns.com/shootingTimes/Articles/DisplayArticles.asp?ID=1205

Mike

Posted: 5/24/2005 9:09:08 AM EDT

[#10]

Quoted:
You should read this: www.galleryofguns.com/shootingTimes/Articles/DisplayArticles.asp?ID=1205

Mike

So, if you put 10k rounds through your barrel in two days, cleaning every 1k, your barrel will start to show signs of being shot out.

The only question I have and I didn't find on my quick read of the article, is - Was the barrel chrome lined or not? It occurred when the Colt HBAR barrels could have NOT been chrome lined.

Posted: 5/24/2005 9:16:19 AM EDT

[#11]

When I was in the Corps...

I had some ratty ass M16's issued to me, the armorer would comment on its "life" if asked...

One had close to 100K rounds through it and it still qual'd me expert 3 times at the range!

As far as heat goes that same rifle was torture tested to the point of being able to light a cigarette off the barrel!!!

I shit you not.

... and was still damn accurate!

Posted: 5/24/2005 9:17:51 AM EDT

[#12]

Pretty interesting article none the less; I've never seen it before (its from 2001). Thanks for that Mike!

I gave my father a MT Hbar last year for father's day. It had a chrome lined 1/7 barrel. With Colt though, you never know what you're going to get.

Posted: 5/24/2005 9:23:02 AM EDT

[#13]

Too hot is when you can't hold the hand guards anymore. It takes alot more that that to cause damage though.

Posted: 5/24/2005 9:59:01 AM EDT

[#14]

olds442tyguy was onto something I think needs emphasis. You can fire your rifle fast enough to make it hot enough to seriously burn you. The barrel CAN get hot enough to BADLY injure you. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER touch the barrel after a prolonged firing session! Did I emphasize that enough? Yes, the barrel gets that hot. But it WILL NOT get hot enough to damage it from semiauto firing. When it's too hot to hold the hangurards, as olds442tyguy says, it's time for a break!

Posted: 5/24/2005 10:08:15 AM EDT

[#15]

Thanks for all the input. You all are very helpful and its greatly appreciated.. This is going to be a lot of fun and very addictive. Kisara 3 30 round clips came with the rifle.

Posted: 5/24/2005 10:22:21 AM EDT

[#16]

What you have are magazines. A clip is a stripper clip like what the M1 Garand had. You attach bullets to a "clip" and push them through the weapon or internal magazine. It's a common misconception so don't worry about it to much. If it's a box that detatches from the firearm, it's a magazine.

Posted: 5/24/2005 10:41:34 AM EDT

[#17]

Exactly, AR15s have magazines, not clips. And your rifle isnt going to burn up on semi auto. But it will burn you or melt things that touch it when its hot (i.e., rifle case/bag, etc.), so let it cool off before you pack up and leave the range

Posted: 5/24/2005 10:58:46 AM EDT

[#18]

olds442tyguy,B2 thanks for clearing me up and clips vs magazines. Like I said I'm new to this AR addiction and I appreciate any and all help given.. I've noticed I have a bunch of reading to do on this forum also..

Posted: 5/24/2005 1:10:38 PM EDT

[#19]

Some of the best reading I'd suggest on the net would be the Starbuck's Oracle .

Whoops! Make that the AMMO ORACLE . Definitely need to check that out if you are learning about AR's.

Posted: 5/25/2005 11:44:48 AM EDT

[#20]

Thanks Kisara for the ammo oracle. Not sure about the starbucks

Posted: 5/25/2005 11:55:37 AM EDT

[#21]

Quoted:
What you have are magazines. A clip is a stripper clip like what the M1 Garand had. You attach bullets to a "clip" and push them through the weapon or internal magazine. It's a common misconception so don't worry about it to much. If it's a box that detatches from the firearm, it's a magazine.

M1 Garand does not use stripper clips. It uses a enbloc clip ( a pic http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-293759.html)

The M14 and M16 (just to name 2) can have there magizines recharge via a stripper clip

Posted: 5/25/2005 12:04:17 PM EDT

[#22]

Hot is when the front sight post expands and the taper pins start to work out....dont ask me how I know.

Posted: 5/25/2005 12:29:27 PM EDT

[#23]

barrel life depends on what you are looking for when it comes to accuracy.
The AMU changes barrels on their competition rifles every 2,500 rounds. They are looking for X ring accuracy at 600 yards, and need to win. A civilian High Master or Master level shooter may see a drop off in accuracy on the 600 yard line around 5-6,000 rounds. While the rifle will still shoot knots at 200 and 300 yards, the X count will fall off at 600 yards.

If you're bump firing Wolf from the hip in a gravel pit, accuracy and rifling are relatively unimportant. As long as it goes bang and something comes out you smile and laugh.

Heat though is the enemy of long barrel life. 5,000 rounds in a few hours is going to dramatically effect a barrel more than 5,000 rounds over a few years. Why full auto is so hard on barrels. Once you exceed the draw temperature of the barrel, nasty things happen.

Posted: 5/25/2005 3:54:04 PM EDT

[#24]

How hot is too hot?? When you can no longer hold it by the barrel with your hands.

At least that is what I tell my oldest son so his allotment of ammo for the weekend lasts more than 60 seconds...... I think he just tries to see if he can "duplicate full auto."

Posted: 5/25/2005 4:09:12 PM EDT

[#25]

Quoted:
Some of the best reading I'd suggest on the net would be the Starbuck's Oracle .

Whoops! Make that the AMMO ORACLE . Definitely need to check that out if you are learning about AR's.

FROM THE STARBUCKS ORACLE

Behold the Oracle's wisdom:

Personality type: Ass-clown

You tell people that you're an executive at your company. You think that your repeated references to being "addicted" to caffeine make you seem intriguing and dangerous. People think you're a sucker because you spend 60% of your annual income at Starbucks. Everyone who drinks venti latte ends up addicted to crack.

Also drinks: Zima
Can also be found at: Karaoke bars

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - How Hot Is Too Hot?

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