Mods please move if this is not the proper place for this. I figured it would get more traffic here. I have a friend of mine that has a AK74 that gets unbelievably hot after shooting through an entire magazine rather quickly. Like I mean almost glowing hot. Is this normal? We don't have this problem with ARs. Some other AK47's that he has does not do this either. I mean sure it's going to get hot after full mag dumps but that hot after one mag?
Ak74?
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Is it, by any chance; a Lancaster Arms build??? IIRC, they were overgassed( too large a gas port tapped in the barrel)... Might also be a best shield( or lack of one) under the handguard issue.
Jackal
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My AK's all get hot after any rapid fire. After 30rds, they get hot enough to smell and waaaay to hot to touch the barrel (if it sizzles liquid, its hot).
Depending on what brand it is it could just be a cheap barrel. I know some Romanian ak's are notorious for overheating barrels. Could also be the ammo.
Sorry guys been away on baby shower duty. Haha. The Ak74 is an InRange very nice quality AK. It is shooting wolf 62 grain steel cased ammo. It does have a Midwest industries handguard on there now but I can't imagine that causing a heat issue. Barrel harmonics is possible and for some reason accuracy has suffered a little but I suspect this to be more with using the newly installed red dot vs the factory installed irons. And wolf is not exactly the most accurate ammo. Any other ideas? I would say you could probably get through 1 mag pretty good but two mag dumps and that sucker is almost glowing hot.
I'd find out if it is really a heat issue or a perceived heat issue. A comparable topic would be actual recoil vs felt recoil. What I'm getting at is the fact of if the weapon is actually heating up more than others of its type or if it is the way that heat is being felt by the operator. I saw that the lack of a heat shield was brought up, that is a likely issue.
The only real way to get results is to set up a controlled test. Have rifle A and rifle B and fire the same ammo, same amount of rounds at the same interval and take heat readings on the barrel. The 'hot to the touch' isn't a good way to go about judging things. ANY rifle barrel is going to heat up to the point it will burn you during sustained rapid fire. A barrel can go from ice cold to giving you severe burns within 30 rounds. Anybody who has ever shot a .50 cal M2 cal or any other machine gun can attest to this fact.
I've seen videos of AK's with 75 and 100 round full auto mag dumps literally catching the handguards on fire. When I say 'on fire' I mean that in the literal sense, as in a burning flame. A lot of people underestimate what heat does to a barrel. Even in machine guns with quick change barrels such as an M240B, firing 200 rounds in two minutes requires a barrel change. I've seen barrels get welded to a 240 from not performing barrel changes. I don't think you're experiencing anything abnormal. I could be wrong but getting heat readings in a controlled environment is the only way you're going to know for sure.
The only real way to get results is to set up a controlled test. Have rifle A and rifle B and fire the same ammo, same amount of rounds at the same interval and take heat readings on the barrel. The 'hot to the touch' isn't a good way to go about judging things. ANY rifle barrel is going to heat up to the point it will burn you during sustained rapid fire. A barrel can go from ice cold to giving you severe burns within 30 rounds. Anybody who has ever shot a .50 cal M2 cal or any other machine gun can attest to this fact.
I've seen videos of AK's with 75 and 100 round full auto mag dumps literally catching the handguards on fire. When I say 'on fire' I mean that in the literal sense, as in a burning flame. A lot of people underestimate what heat does to a barrel. Even in machine guns with quick change barrels such as an M240B, firing 200 rounds in two minutes requires a barrel change. I've seen barrels get welded to a 240 from not performing barrel changes. I don't think you're experiencing anything abnormal. I could be wrong but getting heat readings in a controlled environment is the only way you're going to know for sure.
So it's an Ak-74 in 5.56 and not in the usual 5.45 for AK-74s then? Or do they even make 5.45 in 62gr?
62 or 52 grain loads ?
I shoot military 52 grain out of mine,and I do NOT shoot any faster than I can hit !!
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that is a factor that came about as I aged and found missing was NOT a option:banghead:.
If your shooting 62 grain loads,that might be an issue ?.
just thinking out load,so to speak.
I shoot military 52 grain out of mine,and I do NOT shoot any faster than I can hit !!
.that is a factor that came about as I aged and found missing was NOT a option:banghead:.
If your shooting 62 grain loads,that might be an issue ?.
just thinking out load,so to speak.
Sorry guys I meant 60 grain, not 62. It is indeed a 5.45, not a 5.56. it is Wolf military Classic ammo in 60 grain steel casings.
I think the bottom line here is that "unbelievably hot" is a very subjective thing.
Your unbelievably hot may be my ordinary AK hot.
Best I can advise is to have an experienced AK shooter fire it and give you a judgment on whether it seems hotter than normal.
There's just not much that can make a firearm heat up more than another of the same type shooting the same ammo.
Your unbelievably hot may be my ordinary AK hot.
Best I can advise is to have an experienced AK shooter fire it and give you a judgment on whether it seems hotter than normal.
There's just not much that can make a firearm heat up more than another of the same type shooting the same ammo.
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