Can I damage my barrel if I shoot too many rounds?

[RugerFan]

When I take my Mosin to the range I usually shoot 20 rounds. Last night I shot 40. The barrel was so hot near the end that I got a serious burn on one of my fingers when I touched it. It took at least 15 minutes for the rifle to cool down to the point where I felt safe putting it in the case.

Last night I used a combination of 20 non-corrosive lead bullets and finished with 20 corrosive surplus.

I was just wondering if I could reach a point, by shooting too many rounds at one time, that I could actually damage the barrel?

Thanks for any info.

[BuckeyeSgt]

So far only Mosinkid has destroyed a laminate stock from shooting too much. Can't remember the story completely but he pretty much melted it. They were made for war. Shoot it, shoot it some more and clean it. 20 or 40 here and there won't do anything. Burn up a can of 440 a day and you might have a problem in a year.

[RugerFan]

Thanks for the reply. I figured 40 rounds was probably nothing compared to what the gun was put through in training or during war. The wood stock was not hot, but I know to never get close to the barrel again after 25-30 rounds :-0

Thank you for your service!

[Lotema]

You just need to take two or three to the range each time. Shoot one magazine and switch to the next ones while the first one cools down

[Rongo]

Define "too much". 300 rounds a year with proper maintenance will wear it out pretty good in a decade or so. An occasional 50 rounds a year will keep it in good shape for your Grandkids to shoot.

[Miller Tyme]

I was just wondering if I could reach a point, by shooting too many rounds at one time, that I could actually damage the barrel?

Yes somewhere around 50,000 rounds in an 8 hour period could cause barrel damage.

[Junk Yard Dog]

At todays prices who can afford to shoot too many rounds? The big worry is not your fingers, the skin will grow back, it's the shellac on that stock. The heat cooks the wood and forces the oils to the surface, on the way out they can strip off the shellac on the rifles forend and handguard. 10 rounds, cool ten minutes, ten more rounds, cool ten minutes, five rounds cool ten minutes, or do ten rounds and go shoot another rifle for awhile .

[MarksmanTim]

I usually fire 5-10 rounds then walk down range to check the target (I always shoot at 100 yards). By the time I get back and reload it usually has cooled a little. Or, I have multiple rifles out and I rotate through all of them, shooting at separate targets, and then go check the results.

[Junk Yard Dog]

I bring at least one of my .22's with me and pop off with that as whatever milsurp I brought cools.

[entropy]

Define "too much". 300 rounds a year with proper maintenance will wear it out pretty good in a decade or so. An occasional 50 rounds a year will keep it in good shape for your Grandkids to shoot.

300 rounds a year will wear a brand new barrel out to the limits of SAAMI specs in a decade. Field specs would take a bit longer. And don't forget that even in your own collection, Ron, lies at least one gun dated 1899 that saw twice that 300 rounds per year when I owned it; I was putting 100-200 rounds a day through it for a while there when I lived on the farm! Well, Skipper and I were. That barrel may look ugly inside but it still shoots. (Granted she's no sniper......)


Varminters expect @10,000 rounds from a .22-250 barrel @ 3300 fps, and @5000 from a 220 Swift at just under 4000 fps. A mosin shooting ball ammo at @2400 fps will take a while to burn out a barrel. Go ahead and shoot them, that's what they are made for. Your Gr-gr-gr-gr-grandkids can admire it as a safe queen after the lands are shot out and ammo is impossible to find.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Cleaning will kill it faster than shooting it will. All that scraping back and forth with who knows what rods, and jags, and brushes. It's what I like about the better bore cleaners, they do most of the work for you and require less scrubbing, that means less wear. I shot tens of thousands of rounds in the 80's 90's and 2000's before ammo prices went high. I did this using a sizable number of rifles to spread out the load, as well as commercial sporters that were in military chamberings.

[warhawk77]

Cleaning will kill it faster than shooting it will. All that scraping back and forth with who knows what rods, and jags, and brushes. It's what I like about the better bore cleaners, they do most of the work for you and require less scrubbing, that means less wear.

You heard the man cleaning your rifles causes damage so don't clean them


JK you know how this stuff goes around and people read what they want.

I started using a fiberglass rod to push my patches thru to help cut down on the damage. From what I have read the reason so many got counter bored was because of people cleaning damage. I have friends tell me "I will just use the cleaning kit that came with it it has worked for them for 100 years no reason to change now". That just sends chills down my spine every time and I give them one of my fiberglass rods asking them to never say that again.

[zeebill]

I have often wondered about this but I thought of using equipment other than a steel rod to clean and taking better care of them then they originonally had has got to prolong their life. I have seen many US rifles with shot out barrels and only seen trainers in Russian rifles that have been about shot out. Cleaning with proper storage has got to help for sure. JYD brings up a great point who the devil with the price of ammo could afford to even try and shoot one out? I go with 5 or 6 rifles to the range and get maybe 20 rounds out of one before I hot clean and switch to something else usually so I kind of doubt it is possible for me. I have pounded about a 100 rounds through certain rifles at times just because they seem to be really working for me on that day but that is very infrequent anymore. I guess I would say no but I am not that convinced of my answer! Bill

[Junk Yard Dog]

Cleaning will kill it faster than shooting it will. All that scraping back and forth with who knows what rods, and jags, and brushes. It's what I like about the better bore cleaners, they do most of the work for you and require less scrubbing, that means less wear.

You heard the man cleaning your rifles causes damage so don't clean them


JK you know how this stuff goes around and people read what they want.

I started using a fiberglass rod to push my patches thru to help cut down on the damage. From what I have read the reason so many got counter bored was because of people cleaning damage. I have friends tell me "I will just use the cleaning kit that came with it it has worked for them for 100 years no reason to change now". That just sends chills down my spine every time and I give them one of my fiberglass rods asking them to never say that again.

No, I mean clean them properly using modern tools and chemicals, and do not worry about leaving a little fouling in them, copper fouling at least. Better to leave a little copper in there then over scrub it.

[Junk Yard Dog]

US rifles wear much easier due to the shallower cut of the grooves and the somewhat narrow lands, but Uncle knew that and didn't care, he just replaced the barrels when they got worn. All of our service rifles since the M1903 have been made with easier barrel swaps in mind , except the 1917, and that wasn't our design. The Mosin rifling is deep and easy to see, yet scrub it for 50 years and you will see the damage.

[warhawk77]

Cleaning will kill it faster than shooting it will. All that scraping back and forth with who knows what rods, and jags, and brushes. It's what I like about the better bore cleaners, they do most of the work for you and require less scrubbing, that means less wear.

You heard the man cleaning your rifles causes damage so don't clean them


JK you know how this stuff goes around and people read what they want.

I started using a fiberglass rod to push my patches thru to help cut down on the damage. From what I have read the reason so many got counter bored was because of people cleaning damage. I have friends tell me "I will just use the cleaning kit that came with it it has worked for them for 100 years no reason to change now". That just sends chills down my spine every time and I give them one of my fiberglass rods asking them to never say that again.

No, I mean clean them properly using modern tools and chemicals, and do not worry about leaving a little fouling in them, copper fouling at least. Better to leave a little copper in there then over scrub it.

I understand just giving you a hard time.

[Junk Yard Dog]

You should clean the rifle at least one time using the supplied equipment, just to get an idea of what the commie soldier had to deal with in the field. Just don't use the chemicals he used if you can find any, probably full of shit that causes cancer.

[evildog]

I'm thinking Ivan didn't let them cool for fear of the oils ruining the stocks......especially in Stalingrad. I think as long as you flush the barrel with water when done before leaving the range and just run a bore snake down the barrel a couple of times and maybe some light oil on the bolt you should be fine and not wear the barrel out or damage it.

[RugerFan]

Thanks for all of the replies. I took the rifle to an indoor range today (shooting brass/lead) just 2 days after shooting the 40 consecutive rounds. I could not believe how smoothly the bolt works now!!! Closing the bolt was really never an issue, but opening it after a round had been fired required some "man handling" for sure. Today just using my thumb and index finger was all that was required.

Could it be that all the heat finally got ALL of the crud out of the chamber?

As for cleaning, I've started spraying a lot of Windex (or cheap generic) through the barrel and running a swab through it as soon as I get home. I plan to do a more thorough cleaning about every 150 rounds.

[Junk Yard Dog]

I'm thinking Ivan didn't let them cool for fear of the oils ruining the stocks......especially in Stalingrad. I think as long as you flush the barrel with water when done before leaving the range and just run a bore snake down the barrel a couple of times and maybe some light oil on the bolt you should be fine and not wear the barrel out or damage it.

Don't forget to oil the bore as well after cleaning it.