Quote:
Jayc 783 wrote:
...it can't be good for the barrel to run hotter can it? Or does it really matter?
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It depends; how fast are you shooting?
Are you shooting 100 rounds in ten minutes? Or an hour?
Heat is the enemy of barrel life. See this test where 10,000 rounds was put down the barrel of four different ARs in rapid succession (
http://www.luckygunner.com/labs/bras...el-cased-ammo/). This was intended to be an evaluation steel cased ammunition but it reveals quite a bit about the erosive effects of heat.
In my opinion, if you're shooting 30 rounds a hour or less, then it doesn't matter what handguard you have. If you're maintaining sustained fire at a higher rate, then you may want to weigh the comfort of your hand against the life of your barrel.