Heat effects on shotguns

[Hangingrock]

Most people who keep a shotgun as a defensive firearm don't even own 200 rounds of slugs and buckshot to put through it at one session.

a life time would probably apply to most people.

 

[19-3Ben]

Well that's it. I'm inspired. My 870 is going for a ride to the range this afternoon. I do put about 200rnds/yr through the 870. It's no longer my main HD gun so it doesn't get a lot of attention but it does need more!

 

[Panzerschwein]

Theres nothing much more fun than doing a woods "run n' gun" with the ol' model 12 riot gun I own. I have a USGI 12 gauge ammo pouch 1942 reproduction that holds 12 shells.

I like to run around in the creeks behind my house and act like I'm on Guatelcanal in WW2! Shooting fast at water jugs and reloading combat style. It's fun!

That barrel does get hot though, wish I could find a surplus heat shield and bayonet lug that was on the real M12 trench gun.

 

[Fred Fuller]

wish I could find a surplus heat shield and bayonet lug that was on the real M12 trench gun

A reproduction would be MUCH kinder to your budget... try

http://partsforantiqueguns.com/winreparts.html

 

[1911 guy]

i was always told as a kid that the older guns we had (shotguns specifically) could suffer barrel damage if shot too much, to the point of getting very hot, on cold days.

Of course, i was told this by my grandfather who, while well intentioned, wasn't always 100% accurate.

Or was this a leftover of the damascus steel days?

 

[Longhorn 76]

Well, heat can affect a shotgun. My dad's Browning Superposed, was. Two of them were doubling up with it at a live pigeon shoot in Ft. Sill one time. They were using hotter than normal loads for the live birds, and managed to de-solder the barrels.

 

[oneounceload]

That's pretty amazing. At the live box pigeon shoots I have attended, the shooter never shot more than 5 birds at one time, so a max of ten shots and there was usually a minute in between shots as the bird boy had to put another bird in the trap. Wonder if that Browning had a previous issue?

 

[Frostbite]

Well, heat can affect a shotgun. My dad's Browning Superposed, was. Two of them were doubling up with it at a live pigeon shoot in Ft. Sill one time. They were using hotter than normal loads for the live birds, and managed to de-solder the barrels.

Were they handloads or commercial loads? Had the shotgun had any previous issue?

 

[Longhorn 76]

Well, there were two of them using the same gun, so it was getting a workout, for sure. The rule is that the bird has to fall within the circle to score, so they were shooting hotter than normal loads. They were reloads (old Texan progressive I still use), but I suppose there could have been a pre-existing condition. Browning fixed it gratis. Still have the gun.

 

[Frostbite]

So, up until now, the reported problems related to heat in shotguns are barrels separation on a perhaps defective double gun using hot handloads and some extraction difficulty with a (likely pump or semi-auto) shotgun fired pretty rapidly a good number of times. Barrel warping due to overheating is clearly excluded for pumps and regular (read not experimental or from out of this world) semi-autos.

Seems like good news: one does not have to fear overheating a pump shotgun or damaging it with the proposed reliability test, even less with normal use. Good to know even if I do not intend to do that test myself (ammo $ will be better spent training with target ammo on clay pigeons)!

 

[oneounceload]

Not really. Pigeon loads are typically running 1-1/4 oz at 1300+ fps and a lot of older pigeon guns were only about 7#-12oz so they had some recoil, but the barrels (older Brownings DID have some issues with poor solder) should still stand the shooting. I have watched gents shoots SxS pigeon guns made in the early 1900s with those same pigeon loads with no issues to the gun

Box pigeons IS an addictive game, as is Helice. (It can get pretty pricey as well - best to have a sponsor)