How much shooting is TOO much shooting?

[brgr]

How much shooting is To much shooting, when it comes to heating up the barrels.

I have read many, many posts about not letting your rifle heat up to much. Well how much is to much???

I just got a Savage 308 and I love shooting it. Now when i was out, I shot about 22 rounds thru it over a span of 1 1/2 to 2 hours. My barrel was always a little warm but never really hot except when I would shot a 3 shoot group within about 2 minutes. I would then let it cool to the point were I could grab the barrel and hold it for a good 15 to 20 seconds without much discomfort from the heat.

So is this a desent way to see if the barrel is cool enough or should I be waiting until the barrel is pretty much cold before I continue shooting.

Thanks in advance. I love shooting this gun, I just don't want to damage the barrel on it.

 

[Coal Dragger]

When the barrel is hot enough to brand cattle it is too hot. The pace you were shooting at with a .308 WIN is not going to hurt your barrel much. All barrels have a finite life, and the more powder you are burning, especially in a smaller bore, the shorter your barrel life will be even at a moderate shooting pace.

 

[unwise11]

I do the same thing, after 5 shots I wait, typically shooting my .22

 

[ole farmerbuck]

I shoot a lot of p-dogs. If the barrel gets too hot to hold on to i switch guns. Have never had to switch because of loss of accuracy.

 

[Onmilo]

You've been shooting too much when you forget the second O on the "TOO"

 

[General Geoff]

when the stock begins to smoulder, you should probably let the gun cool down

 

[taliv]

you're not even in the ballpark.

firing one round per second will probably reduce your barrel life a bit, but won't "damage" it. shooting an NRA rapid fire string of 10 rnds in 60 seconds won't damage it either. benchrest shooters often shoot as fast as they can so they can shoot before the wind condition changes. doesn't hurt their barrels.

but the truth is, barrels are wear parts. expect to replace yours in a few thousand rounds.
think about it like this... a good barrel, like a krieger, runs about $350. or, roughly 1/3rd the price of 1000 rnds of match ammo. So say your barrel only lasts 3500 rnds. You'll have spent $3500 in ammo, before you you have to spend $350 on a new barrel.

 

[Pronghorn]

when your Ak-47 lights on fire your shooting too much.

When your holding your gun with oven mitts you have been shooting too much

 

[unwise11]

when you cant afford gas to get home from the range because you bought too much ammo.

 

[MCMXI]

but the truth is, barrels are wear parts. expect to replace yours in a few thousand rounds.
think about it like this... a good barrel, like a krieger, runs about $350. or, roughly 1/3rd the price of 1000 rnds of match ammo. So say your barrel only lasts 3500 rnds. You'll have spent $3500 in ammo, before you you have to spend $350 on a new barrel.

It's worth having a good gunsmith look at the barrel before you decide to turn it into a jack handle. It's possible that he/she can run a reamer 1/4" to 1/2" in to clean up the throat depending on how much throat erosion you have and assuming the bore/lands are still good and that barrel has the correct geometry. If your gunsmith cut the original chamber and still has the reamer, you won't even see a transition. If you have a new crown cut as well, the barrel may be good for another 5,000 rounds. If on the other hand a new barrel is the only cure and you have your heart set on a Krieger, plan ahead and order one six months before you need it.

 

[TonyAngel]

I just got a Remington 700 in .308 a few weeks ago. Maybe a month. So far, I've put about 600 rounds through it. I love shooting the thing. I put a Wyatt's detachable mag on it and have one five round and one ten round magazine, so I shoot 15 at a time.

I just wouldn't worry about it. Like it was said above, by the time you blow out the barrel, you will have spent a lot more than the cost of a barrel on ammunition. I've already talked to a gun smith and he told me what has already been mentioned. When the throat erosion gets bad, I could have him lop off what he needs to off of the back end and recut the chamber. In preparation for when my barrel goes south, I picked up a pull off LTR barrel. I've also found that I could order a Krieger blank and have it cut and installed for around $500.

There are plenty of options. Quit worrying about it and just shoot.

 

[caribou]

Nope, ran an AK till it glowed dull but glowed, tookseveral 30 rnds, and 4 75rd rapidfire drums and one SMOKIN' handguard.
Did that a couple times, actually as in the Arctic we have fireworks and noise maker gunshoots at New Years (its dark) out on the road with teh nbeighborhood shooting all night long (Eskimos love any reason to shoot a gun), cause Fireworks at the 4th are no good under 24 hour sun......
Gun still chugs when the triggers pulled,puts the buullet where you want it, no damage.

 

[taliv]

1858 yep. Only downside to that is an inch less velocity.

 

[sansone]

when my groups loosen-up the brrl is too hot, but that's my skinny one. with my bull brrls I stop when too hot to hold brrl with hand closed around it

 

[foghornl]

When you need a 10-cubic-yard dump truck to haul home all your empty brass from that days shooting....

 

[brgr]

when your Ak-47 lights on fire your shooting too much.

When your holding your gun with oven mitts you have been shooting too much

HAHA. I've put quite a few rounds thru my AK-47 to the point were I could have used an oven mitt. The front stock was a little warm to say the least. Wasn't glowing (well I really wouldn't have known since I was shooting during the day), But man that gun was hot.

 

[semper_fidelis]

when your gun catches fire and your arms fall off. never before.

 

[One-Time]

You will fatigue at the range before your barrel ever does