Rate of fire Vs. Accuracy and barrel life

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Roddy

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Sorry I post a lot of newbie questions in this forum but this is one I never seem to get a straight answer for when I Google it.

How fast do you shoot your precision rifles? Say for something like load development. How fast is too fast? I had been using "shoot until he barrel feel noticeably hot to the touch" method but some people I have heard fire one round then put a small fan in the barrel and wait five minutes.

I don't usually have a lot of time to shoot and my magazine holds ten rounds of .308 so when I am in position it is tempting to keep shooting.

So how many rounds per minute or per hour do you guys shoot?
 
I typically shoot about as fast as I would in a competition in which I'd be using that gun. If not a competition gun, I never let it get too hot for me to hold my hand on the hottest part of the barrel - except for SKS's.

I bought a Coleman rechargeable pump a few years ago and have used it to cool a barrel.
 
Thanks for the response Andy. I don't shoot in competitions so I don't know how fast that is. Do you know roughly how many rounds per minute or per shooting sesion that is? If you really wanted to wring out accuracy would you shoot slower?

And I think everyone shoots SKS's like machine guns!
 
I wouldn't worry about it to much. Youll spend 5x more money on ammo wareing out a barrel then the cost of a new barrel. (For 308. Some calibers will be different)

If at all possible I try to keep my barrels cool but they always end up hot. I try not to get hotter then I can hold with my hand.
 
In some competitions they have to cut the grass between shots, but in the ones in which I participate It's about 10 shots in 10 minutes.
 
Okay thanks again guys.

K0na I'm not just worried about barrel life but immediate accuracy and POI changes as well. I can fire three or four rounds a minute but if my groups open up I don't know if it's because of the barrel getting hot or fatigue or whatever.

That said my new (to me) AI shot two four shot 0.7 MOA groups on my first try so I am happy with that.
 
It depends on the caliber of course, as that determines heat generated.
Also barrel quality plays a part.
With an aI in 308, you'll have no issues going through ten rounds and then giving it a cool down. And even then that's more of a feel good thing. With a quality barrel, you will see little to no difference in accuracy regardless of heat, within reason.
 
Roddy said:
Okay thanks again guys.

K0na I'm not just worried about barrel life but immediate accuracy and POI changes as well. I can fire three or four rounds a minute but if my groups open up I don't know if it's because of the barrel getting hot or fatigue or whatever.

That said my new (to me) AI shot two four shot 0.7 MOA groups on my first try so I am happy with that.
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The only thing you can do is try it and see what happens. Shoot some groups with a few minutes between shots and shoot some fast and see if theres a difference.

Congrats on getting a real nice rifle! Have fun with it!
 
It's just the Arctic Enforcer not the Arctic Warfare but it's close enough for me. I've always wanted one.

Now I am in the market for a reasonably priced 20 MOA mount.
 
I had the same concerns, but im not worried about shooting my barrel out since its a factory remington 5r barrel. I usually shoot 1 group 5rnd group, then slowly reload the next mag with 5 rounds. I shoot that group, put away the fired brass, inspect my grouping go grab the 22lr load up 2 magazines dump them. Then feel the barrel if I cant hold onto it with my entire palm, I keep shooting the 22. This saves a lot of ammo, i would shoot 150-180 rounds in 3-4 hours, now maybe 80-100 in same time. I'm also taking time in between groups to practice proper trigger control (on snap caps). As well as working on proper form in prone w/bipod and now standing with sling, and prone with sling.
 
Any time you use gas to cycle the action your going to lose accuracy because the gas is never going to cycle the action the exact same way. In addition your losing velocity due to some of the powers gas cycling that action. Unless your in a 3 gun competition for example, or fighting off hordes of zombies, your never really going to need rapid engagement. "Well what if I want a quick follow up shot?" well, sure, or just learn to cycle the bolt faster. "I love semi autos, and I can hit anything as fast as the wind with it!" Well that's amazing! I could probably never develop that type of skill, so I bow down to you, and I completely respect that.

MY point is I would never give up precision for rate of fire. You can shoot 1000 shots, but it only takes 1 to hit the mark. IF you can hit your mark 1000 times rapidly, then I bow down to you!
 
bsand said:
I had the same concerns, but im not worried about shooting my barrel out since its a factory remington 5r barrel. I usually shoot 1 group 5rnd group, then slowly reload the next mag with 5 rounds. I shoot that group, put away the fired brass, inspect my grouping go grab the 22lr load up 2 magazines dump them. Then feel the barrel if I cant hold onto it with my entire palm, I keep shooting the 22. This saves a lot of ammo, i would shoot 150-180 rounds in 3-4 hours, now maybe 80-100 in same time. I'm also taking time in between groups to practice proper trigger control (on snap caps). As well as working on proper form in prone w/bipod and now standing with sling, and prone with sling.
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I am something like this. I shoot a slow group, check it out in the spotting scope. Load and shoot a mag of 22. Barrels getting shot out is relative to the opinion of the shooter. If the rifle was shooting sub 1/2 MOA and now it is shooting .6, is it shot out. For some it is? Standard calibers will be thousands of rounds. Shooting at a controlled speed is not going to hurt the barrel. Something like a Lapua or Rum, totally different discussion.
 
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