How hot is too hot?

[Nick1911]

How hot can I get my AK without damaging anything? I know that if it overheats then the rifling and chamber can be damaged, so about how hot is that? I fired off 40 or 50 quick ones today and oil started burning off the barrel which freaked me out. Did I hurt it?

Thanks,

Nick

 

[Zak Smith]

Eroding the rifling (throat erosion) is not a matter of "yes" or "no", but of how much. Every round you shoot erodes the rifling somewhat, and rapid fire makes it happen faster. Roughly the more rounds you fire through the hotter the barrel, the more it will erode.

As for metal strength, the metallurgy of the steel will not be affected until you get to the 1000F temperature range.

Since we're talking about an AK and not a match grade M1A or AR15, I merely suggest that you take a break when things start smoking or start on fire.

A friend of mine who does class 3 stuff has had the wood handguards on some of his AK-types start smoking from the wood smouldering. The guns still run okay.

-z

 

[Tommy.Gun]

Shoot your gun until it catches fire...thats too funny...

 

[Gewehr98]

Ditto what Zak says.

It may be all kinds of "cool", especially when bump-firing, but if the barrel gets hot enough to burn off the oil or start smoking the wooden forend and handguard, that AK's barrel throat is most likely even hotter. That makes it even more susceptible to damage, as one tries to send another 30-round magazine or 75-round drum of ammo downrange through it.

While accuracy and barrel life isn't the first thing that comes to mind, we AK owners don't have the luxury of picking up another AK in the back alleys of Ickystan for $5.00, so you may as well make your investment last a while.

 

[444]

I doubt if you hurt anything, but the important question is; Did you hit anything ?
Firing quickly is fun to some point, but not as much fun as firing a couple well placed rounds.
Firing quickly is often referred to as converting money into noise. Put another way, if you are firing quickly and not hitting anything, you could save a lot of money by just lighting a string of firecrackers.

 

[Nick1911]

Well I blew up the stump I was firing at pretty good! No - I wasn't bump firing, seems really un-safe IMO. Just quickly firing. At any rate when I noticed some light smoke I uddered the famous "Oh ?????!" and opened the action up to let it cool down. Guess I'll have to be watchful of that in the future.

 

[Mulliga]

I've bump-fired my AK a few times - lots of fun but a total waste of ammo .

I'd agree with everyone else - when the barrel begins smoking/wood begins burning, stop firing immediately and protect your gun. I also suggest putting it down when the barrel becomes scalding hot to the touch.

 

[WonderNine]

What is bump firing?

 

[BryanP]

This is bump firing (complete with video links).

 

[Greg L]

What is bump firing?

Converting dollars to noise. Sheesh, can't you read?

Seriously now . Essentially holding the rifle at your waist, sticking a finger in the trigger guard & letting the recoil of the rifle reset the trigger & take the next shot. Full auto simulation.

Greg

(edit: or you can just read Brian's links )

 

[J-Man]

When I use my DSA SA58 I regularly smoke the oil off the surface of the barrel and get it hot enough that I can't touch it for at least a good ten minutes of swinging it around to move some air. Even have to use leather gloves because the Rail Interface Handguard gets pretty warm. 200 rounds or so of Aussie surplus .308 in less than an hour. Mostly double taps at moving targets and such.
So far no noticable barrel wear with over 4000 rounds through it. Oh, it's a non-chromed Medium Contour Tactical Badger barrel.
Just my experiences....

 

[Gewehr98]

How'd you inspect it?

So far no noticable barrel wear with over 4000 rounds through it.

Was that with or without a borescope?

 

[Mannlicher]

Nick, unless you are very rich, you cannot buy enough ammo to hurt it.