Got my Mini-14 fixed, now may have another problem...

[ab4ka]

I replaced the hammer in my Mini-14 and it functioned flawlessly! I dumped 100 rounds through it in about 10-15 minutes (some slow, some rapid, I mainly wanted to check the mags as some of them are aftermarket) and didn't have a single malfunction of any type.

When I got done the barrel was turning brown and you couldn't touch it (or the receiver for that matter). Under than handguard it was a beautiful blue. Now that it's cooled somewhat, the exposed barrel is a pretty purple color (still blue under the handguard).

This is a stainless gun. Have I screwed up my barrel? :shock:

 

[Quietdood]

I can't wait to hear the answers on this one. I'm not going to be able to answer this but were you putting anything specific on the barrel before this happened? Maybe I can google an answer for you.

 

[ab4ka]

I didn't put anything on it, but it felt like it had been rubbed down with some kind of oil or something when I got it. Even after I hit about 50 rounds it was smoking. I think I'm ok, I just think the person I got it from put something on it.

 

[Al James]

Under than handguard it was a beautiful blue. Now that it's cooled somewhat, the exposed barrel is a pretty purple color (still blue under the handguard).

This is a stainless gun. Have I screwed up my barrel? :shock:

I guess Im confused. Is the barrel stainless or blued? Perhaps the old owner applied car wax, rainx, etc for use in wet weather. I cant see 100 rounds in 15-20 minutes damaging a barrel due to heat. Tell us more. Pics?

 

[ab4ka]

it's stainless. I broke it down and part of the barrel near under the handguard near the gas block is now a blue color. The exposed part of the barrel toward the muzzle has a purplish tint to it. I hit it with some steel wool and it's nothing that's going to come off, it appears to be in the metal. As long as it shoots I'm not too worried about it, I've just never seen a gun do this before.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

I want to take a guess on this one.
I'm thinking if the barrel and receiver got so hot that you couldn't touch it and the barrel changed color you got it TOO HOT. :shock: :D

...Jimbo

 

[ab4ka]

I'm thinking if the barrel and receiver got so hot that you couldn't touch it and the barrel changed color you got it TOO HOT.

I think I figured that part out. Maybe I'm just more surprised than anything...100 rounds doesn't seem like an awful lot to me. I've dumped more than that through other guns before and never seen a barrel get so hot that it changed color.

If the barrel is just going to be a new color now, I don't care, as long as it works. But if that amount of ammo would actually cause a problem, then I'm not too impressed with the gun. Every Ruger I've ever seen was built like a tank so I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the possibility that the barrel is screwed up.

 

[mohavesam]

"built like a tank" and machinegun-grade barrels are two very different things.

Just because a gun accepts a 30-rd magazine doesn't mean it was made to rapid fire a dozen rounds a minute (and for extended periods)!

Yes, there was probably some oil or compound on the exposed barrel OD; yes any sporter-grade barrel can be ruined by overheating. I'm betting cheap ammo and obviously not shooting for accuracy (spray-n-pray?) at 100 rds in ten minutes.

You might want to double-check your expectations on the rifle. 100 rounds is not the problem; 100 rounds in ten minutes just may be. Would you do that to a Ruger No 1, which has a considerably heavier/larger mass barrel?

"...After 50 rounds it was smoking..." but you went ahead and "dumped" another 50 through it?
. :shock:

 

[ab4ka]

I'm betting cheap ammo and obviously not shooting for accuracy (spray-n-pray?) at 100 rds in ten minutes.

You might want to double-check your expectations on the rifle. 100 rounds is not the problem; 100 rounds in ten minutes just may be.

You're right about cheap ammo, I picked up a bunch of Wolf just to have fun with.

Averaging one round every six seconds doesn't seem excessive to me, especially when an inexpensive, commie-built AK will do it all day long. I would expect that my Ruger would be at least that good :?

 

[Ale-8(1)]

The AK was designed from the beginning to be a full-auto weapon. The Mini was designed to be a "great big plinker" as Bill Ruger once admitted. I know guys who have shot the barrels out of Minis in a single afternoon's shooting.

Just an observation.

How's the accuracy now compared to before?

:?

 

[ab4ka]

I'll find out Saturday. I didn't get a chance to really test it before at a distance, but I'm planning to then and I'll see what it does.

 

[Leucoandro]

ab4ka


Here is a clip from an article.

McKaig soon had problems with his M4, which carries a 30-round magazine. "My weapon was overheating," McKaig said, according to Cubbison's report. "I had shot about 12 magazines by this point already and it had only been about a half hour or so into the fight. I couldn't charge my weapon and put another round in because it was too hot, so I got mad and threw my weapon down."

So, this soldier had signifigant problems from an M-4, with about 360 rounds down the barrel in about 30 minutes. You were pushing close to the rate of fire the above person (he shot 120 rounds in 10 minutes), when he had all the issues with his M-4, a firearm designed for high rates of fire.


Charlie


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/ ... 7035.shtml

 

[mattsbox99]

You aren't going to hurt a Mini! I've shot more than that in shorter time without any noticeable color change.

In Julian Hatcher's "Book of the Garand" he suggests that ROF of one round every 9 seconds would give unlimited service life. Granted I know this was a little faster, but your rifle is certainly not destroyed.

Good to hear you got that sear issue fixed.

 

[ab4ka]

From what I've found if it didn't get hot enough to start cooking off rounds I should be ok. It was still functioning properly when I quit. I'll put it on the bags next time I go out and we'll see what it does from a rest. I was hitting some random stuff I had set up to shoot at offhand at about 50 yards so I was happy with that.

 

[mattsbox99]

Too many Mini haters out there only bark about its groups and fail to realize that its not a bench rest gun and never was designed to be. Its plenty accurate for plinking and home defense. Mine makes an excellent coyote and prairie dog gun.

 

[dfletcher]

"built like a tank" and machinegun-grade barrels are two very different things.

Just because a gun accepts a 30-rd magazine doesn't mean it was made to rapid fire a dozen rounds a minute (and for extended periods)!

Yes, there was probably some oil or compound on the exposed barrel OD; yes any sporter-grade barrel can be ruined by overheating. I'm betting cheap ammo and obviously not shooting for accuracy (spray-n-pray?) at 100 rds in ten minutes.

You might want to double-check your expectations on the rifle. 100 rounds is not the problem; 100 rounds in ten minutes just may be. Would you do that to a Ruger No 1, which has a considerably heavier/larger mass barrel?

"...After 50 rounds it was smoking..." but you went ahead and "dumped" another 50 through it?
. :shock:

I don't think 100 rounds from a semi auto rifle is excessive. That's what - 10 rounds a minute times 10 minutes, one shot every 5 seconds or so? And 10 minutes isn't exactly an extended period of time. I wouldn't make it a routine practice but if a fellow dumps a few 30 or 20 round magazines quickly from a semi auto rifle once in a great while I should think it would have no ill effects on the average Mini 14 rifle.

 

[k8vf]

:roll:

 

[k8vf]

Too many Mini haters out there only bark about its groups and fail to realize that its not a bench rest gun and never was designed to be. Its plenty accurate for plinking and home defense. Mine makes an excellent coyote and prairie dog gun.

It might be a good coyote gun if you can get them into 50 yard shooting distance.
But at 100 yards, it might not strike flesh.

(mini 14 tactical 581 series)