Too many rounds down range?

A

Auriemma

New member
This weekend I joined a local range (unlimited range time). In 90 minutes I sent 200 rounds down range. 150 of 115gr and 50 of 124gr. My brother in law (a self proclaimed gun expert... gah!) said that's too many rounds for one sitting. The barrel gets too hot and the changes the ballistics. True or not?
 
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Not. I would love to share some data, but I have none. I have had a pocket gun that needed oil added around 200 to keep going.

Too hot really comes from speed of shooting if you had 200 rounds if rapid fire with no wait time, .3s splits and 2s mag changes for 500 rounds, there might be some small concern for wear or part breakage.
 
200 rounds in 90 minutes is not going to burn up, blow up, or wear out your gun. Or "change the ballistics." Think about it, two rounds a minute, average. I am sure you were firing faster per magazine, so you were spending most of that time reloading... and cooling the barrel.

Ignore your brother in law and quit worrying. The internet has gotten everybody looking for stuff to be afraid of.
 
No worries. According to him, he does everything better than me, even things he has never done.

I ignore him on a regular basis... and will again, I'm sure.
 
I always thought, or maybe I heard, that the barrel metal heats and expands during the firing process creating a tighter grip on the bullet and thus improves accuracy.

Is this another gun store counter myth?

If the above is accurate I have no idea as to the variables involved (rate of fire, barrel size and quality, powder charge, etc) that could be used to calculate the "ballistic changes".

200 9mm rounds in 1-1/2 hours? No.
 
I have run a 30 rd mag thru my AR in about 30/45 secs before
THAT will get the barrel smoking for sure but no where near enough to hurt it.
Now do that several mags in a row and it may start to become an issue.
My last Range session with my 45 shield and 2 other guns lasted about 2 hrs and I put 200 through the shield over that span never even think about this issue.


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It isn't going to hurt the gun. But there is an old saying in coaching. "Practice does not make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect".

It is my opinion that slinging that many rounds downrange that fast is probably not the best practice method, wastes ammo, and may well lead to developing bad habits.
 
JMR40... this is how I try to practice. 2 mags, load 10 rounds in each. Start at 3 yards and work out to 8 yards. I get sloppy at beyond that.
Working in stance, grip, and focus. I've been getting 2-3" groups at 5-8 yards that are on center to low by 2".
 
Auriemma said:
JMR40... this is how I try to practice. 2 mags, load 10 rounds in each. Start at 3 yards and work out to 8 yards. I get sloppy at beyond that.

Working in stance, grip, and focus. I've been getting 2-3" groups at 5-8 yards that are on center to low by 2".
Click to expand...



I used to load up mags to the max. For a 15 rounder for example, I'd load them all up.

Nowadays I do 2 to 6 rounds depending upon what I'm practicing. Transition of one to another, or controlled pairs from one target to another. Or controlled pairs to three targets, different distances. If I load too many at once, I tend to get sloppy, as you say.




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Auriemma,
At least now you know who not go to the range with.
Your brother-in-law might be correct if your pistol was made entirely of chocolate.
 
Most people, even some here, do not understand just how tough most decent pistols are. Also the velocity of pistol rounds add to the longevity of pistol barrels. For example, to wear out a 9mm pistol barrel, you're gonna have to shoot a at least 50K down range. For a 45, that number is closer to 100K. So, 200 rounds down range during a session will do nothing to accuracy or the barrel except may dirtying it up a bit. Actually 200 rounds over 1.5 hours will do nothing to the overall wear of the gun if it is a decent gun.
 
Yes I do. Keep in mind, it is my first pistol. But it lives up to its hype.

I've only fired 2 other 9mm pistols previously: friends' S&W and Ruger (don't know the models). But they were enough to keep me thinking about getting one for 3 years.
 
A trip to the gravel pit with a few AR's and pistols is at least a 500 round day and I try to do that weekly. Blow up a lot of chunks of brick into neat puffs of red dust takes some ammo to accomplish.....well any excuse to shoot.
 
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