How many rounds through a handgun per range session?

[purd0027]

I've been usually firing 100 or 150 rounds each firearm per range session. I start with my Taurus 66 .357 mag revolver. I usually fire half a box, then half a box of .38 special through my Taurus 85, then half a box of 9mm in my Kahr CW9. Repeat till out of ammo. I don't do any crazy rapid fire, but by the time I'm all done, everything sure is toasty. Am I not leaving enough time for things to cool? Too many through the pipe in one day? Or is heat not a big problem?

[TTS]

Heat shouldn't be a big issue. I regularly put 300-500 rounds though a pistol in an hour long range session.

[mmcnx2]

I can't imagine you could generate enough heat firing any standard pistol/revolver to cause a problem.

Of course that assumes you are not shooting anything way over the top for reloads.

[Ron Burgundy]

I'm not a metallurgist but I understand the human hand would fail from fatigue before a handgun barrel would even begin to experience heat damage.

For what it is worth, my record is about ~750 rounds over the course of a few hours.

[farmerj]

I've unloaded fifteen 15-round mags plus a 30-round mag in under 5 minutes in a Beretta 92FS. It was definitely toasty but still functioned fine. I can't say I was very functional. That's a lot of trigger pulls.

This was the summer I shot about 18,000 round through the same pistol.

The only thing I did was clean it three times all summer. All of this was done intentionally since I was in the guard at the time and the unit I was in was preparing for Iraq. I wanted to have a really good idea what my guns were able to do.

After that summer, I tore the gun apart and put all new springs in it. Works just fine last I heard. Had to sell it due to a divorce. It's been replaced with another 92FS.

[xd ED]

You're probably OK

[linksep]

Several years ago a friend and I used to go to the local Walmart on Friday evenings before our range trip and say "How much 9mm do you have?" and to the reply we usually said "We'll take that, and throw in (one or) 2 bricks of .22lr because that 9mm isn't going to last all night."

About 2 hours at the range with a CZ of some sort in 9mm (can't remember the model) and a Ruger MK-II we would go through a minimum of 1,000 rounds, probably close to 1,500 average. I bet we did this two to three times a month for 6+ months and I don't think my friend ever cleaned either gun.

So yeah, IIRC we would burn through 300-500 rounds of 9mm in 30-45 minutes, then switch to .22lr for a brick or two (until all the ammo we brought was gone). I don't think you're doing any harm by shooting 25 at a time with several minutes of cool-down between strings of 25.

[LePetomane]

Usually 200 rounds total of combined .45ACP and .38 special. Sometimes I bring the FN Five/Seven and I'll put 100 through that.

[Erud]

Handgun cartridges just don't generate the heat or velocity to really wear out barrels like rifle rounds do. Clean them every once in a while and they should pretty much last forever.

[mrp]

[quote="xd ED"]You're probably OK

Yeah, but that's semi-auto.

[Rodentman]

Usually 200 rounds total of combined .45ACP and .38 special. Sometimes I bring the FN Five/Seven and I'll put 100 through that.

Do you reload the 5.7?

[jshuberg]

I usually shoot 150-200 rounds per session. The last couple months I've been doing rapid fire and sight tracking training, shooting 5 rounds in around .6 to .7 seconds. My wait time between strings is 8-10 seconds. I could easily be in and out, minus setup time in 15 minutes. My barrel gets hot. So hot that you cant put your hand on top of the slide and hold it there comfortably for more than a few seconds, and when put into a kydex holster without cooling off it can soften the kydex.

Heat significantly increases the chemical and mechanical erosion that occurs in the bore, but in a pistol barrel, even with this rate of fire, it's not going to significantly reduce barrel life. I've got barrels with over 10,000 rounds through that can still hold a 3" group at 25 yards. If you were Jerry Miculek and doing 1,000 yard pistol, you might have to worry about bore erosion, but anything within the realm of mere mortals, it's not going to be a big deal.

When I run my machine gun, I do mag dumps for fun. 'Cause I can! I use a laser thermometer to monitor the temp, and I keep it from getting above 350 degrees. Above 350, chrome lining breaks down and will mess up the bore. I don't have a chrome lining, it's a cold hammer forged barrel, but I follow the rule of above 350 is a no-no anyway.

I've done torturous damage to the barrel doing this. I'm ok with it, since thats the purpose of that barrel, but even with amount of damage I've done over thousands of rounds, I'm still holding just over 1.5 MOA to 100M.

[TTS]

I usually shoot 150-200 rounds per session. The last couple months I've been doing rapid fire and sight tracking training, shooting 5 rounds in around .6 to .7 seconds.

Are you sure you are doing that in .6 to .7 seconds

[jspace]

Don't worry about it. You won't be able to hang on long enough to eject the spent cases from the wheel guns looong before you get it hot enough to break something.

[crbutler]

The amount your shooting is a nonissue.

IPSC shooters will shoot that much in a single match much more quickly, and probably with a lot stiffer loads.

When I was in my earlier days I thought nothing of emptying a .50 Ammo box full of reloads in 2 to 3 hour session. The guns I used then are still mostly more accurate than I am.

Enjoy the range time.