I'm not interested in 3-gun so to speak but shoot some uspsa side matches with an ar.  Question I have for the 3-gunners is how do you keep from damaging your stainless match grade barrels on those hi count stages?  I've been schooled by the benchresters and the live varmint crowd enough to believe that a hot barrel is a barrel that has been damaged and I've seen some stages that had 'em all smokin'.  Do the serious shooters go through lots of barrels or am I missing something?  

Quoted: I'm not interested in 3-gun so to speak but shoot some uspsa side matches with an ar.  Question I have for the 3-gunners is how do you keep from damaging your stainless match grade barrels on those hi count stages?  I've been schooled by the benchresters and the live varmint crowd enough to believe that a hot barrel is a barrel that has been damaged and I've seen some stages that had 'em all smokin'.  Do the serious shooters go through lots of barrels or am I missing something?

Everytime you shoot, you damage the barrel. As the barrel gets hotter, the metal gets softer. Thus, more damage can occur.

3-gun is not about 1/4MOA accuracy. So for the benchresters, just a tiny but of damage ruins their game.

I prefer a bit of both. PR we can do over 60 rounds in a stage. It's not usually the case, but it can.

SINISTRALRIFLEMAN
"what's high round count?"

I'd say 50 tops but that still gets my 16" gun too hot to touch or lay on something you like.

NOAIM
"3-gun is not about 1/4MOA accuracy"

Would you say then that it would be a waste to get a top shelf barrel for 3-gun?  Or another way to put it.  I like accurate, slick, easy to clean rifle barrels.  If I bought one of these tac drivers, should I steer away from the side match with it and just shoot my dog?

Define "hot"

Sinistral has it correct, 1/4moa is way overkill in 3 gun. The A zone of most targets is on the order of 8". There are times when 6"dia plates will be shot at distance, like at Ft. Benning. But for the most part, it isn't necessary to have accuracy tighter than about 1moa.

Back to "hot" barrels. A shot out barrel for a benchrest shooter is still great for our purposes. Even cool, every shot damages a barrel a little bit more through throat erosion and wear on the rifling. The only time heat is really an issue is when rounds can cook off and that won't happen in about any conceivable scenario for our game.

Talk to Zak-Smith, I believe he ran 540 rounds through a stainless match barrel in around 30 minutes or so during a 3-gun match. I don't remember the details; but I recall being surprised the barrel held up so well.

Heck,

In California, we run 40-60 round rifle stages all the time.  Of course, we are the home of Run & Gun.  That being said, sub-MOA accuracy isn't necessary.  The only upside is that it buys you some slop when shooting fast at distance.  I know that if my donut is on a 12" flasher at 300 yards (4 MOA), then I pull the trigger as I've called a good shot, follow through, move the rifle before I hear the impact of the round and I'm engaging (and in some cases firing) before the flag goes up.

Bottom line, if you've got a 1 MOA barrel, then you are good to go.

SPC Richard A. White, Senior Medic
249th MP Detachment (EACF)
Camp Humphreys, ROK

Quoted: Question I have for the 3-gunners is how do you keep from damaging your stainless match grade barrels on those hi count stages?  I've been schooled by the benchresters and the live varmint crowd enough to believe that a hot barrel is a barrel that has been damaged and I've seen some stages that had 'em all smokin'.  Do the serious shooters go through lots of barrels or am I missing something?

I shoot low powered ammo (around 2800 fps vs 3200) since I roll my own match ammo. Others have said that we don't need 1/4 MOA barrels, and that's true, a 1 MOA barrel is good enough for 3 gunning, and even a semi worn out benchrest barrel would be just fine in 3 gunning, so the answer is no, we don't go through barrels like the benchresters do.

I'm not interested in 3-gun so to speak but shoot some uspsa side matches with an ar.

Hmmm...I've heard that before.  Don't be surprised if one day you get hooked in it like we do