Barrel heat question.

[Tenntrapper]

I am aware that barrel heat can/will affect accuracy, but does it damage the barrel?
I'm asking this as it pertains to 7/08 specifically. As you may be aware, I am fire forming brass. I don't get huge windows of time to shoot, and shooting 3-4 rounds then stopping till barrel cools is very time consuming. I know people do multiple 30 round mag dumps with their ARs and AKs, so just wondering if it hurts the barrel?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[Madbowh]

I prep my range days with this in mind. I bring multiple rifles to shoot. I believe you will damage a barrel by overheating it. My ar I bought in 5.56 because I feel 5.56(nato) barrels are meant for war meaning nonstop shooting where a hunting(average) rifle is not. Every weapon I used in the army we never thought about overheating because they are designed that way because it's life or death. Jmo

 

[FTG-05]

I would think that with fire forming, you would not be using full power loads. Hence, a couple dozen isn't going to hurt the barrel, no matter how fast you can cycle the action (assuming a bolt action).

 

[DaveTN]

I suspect the metallurgy of every brand of barrel can be different, so there is no real way to know. Everything we did in making a military aircraft part had Mil-Specs including certification for material, heat treating if any, processing and finish. We only made one gun part and it was the same.

The private market appears to be fast and loose. They are always trying something different.

I shoot a lot of rounds in a sitting (a couple of hundred) but I don't shoot them fast. If I was doing mags dumps I would probably email the manufacturer and see what they had to say about it.

We used to be able to talk about all this stuff on the gun forums with manufacturers and other shooters. Anymore everyone is worried about a lawsuit. Rightfully so when that's obviously how the government plans to put gun dealers out of business. I've seen sites that won't even let you post loads out of fear of lawyers and the government.

 

[Remi]

Too much heat can damage a barrel, especially the throat. I've shot 10 shot groups fairly close together from a few rifles before and haven't seen any ill effects.


If multiple shots and barrel heat is impacting your accuracy you have a bedding issue. If you have to wait between shots or you can't shoot more than 3 without weird stuff going on I'd look into what's ailing it.

 

[DaveB]

especially the throat.

Heat is the enemy of steel, right after moisture

Fireforming should not be sufficient to hurt unless you are doing say more than 30 at a time. Get a non-contact thermometer (Harbor Freight has them) and write down your readings (like FF30 temp = 245). Experiment until you can find the hottest spot on the barrel.