m4 carbinbe melt down video

Wow, that's quite a difference. How about the SAW?

What took so long to perform this test it is sad our troops have to have their barrels melt in combat before anyone did these test.

I wonder how the AK would do with the same test. 800 rounds is a lot of sustained fire.

555th said:

I wonder how the AK would do with the same test. 800 rounds is a lot of sustained fire.

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800 is quite a bit of shooting to go full auto with no time for any cool downs.

the test is a destructive test. just to see how far one could take the platform before it failed. the improved barrel should go well over 1k without bursting.

While we're changing barrels, why not a caliber change to something with more stopping power? 6.5 Grendel, maybe 6.8 SPC for CQB..

(I know it won't happen, and there are a lot of other logistics to deal with a caliber change, too- but they've already identified that the 5.56 is inadequate in Afganistan)

as for the AK, check this out:
[video=youtube;eNAohtjG14c]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNAohtjG14c]YouTube - Burning AK47 - 300 Rounds & on Fire[/video]

the title is misleading- it says 300 rounds, but there appears to be 6 drums on the ground, or 450 rounds already fired when video starts?
so it does fail between 700-750 rounds... no firearm can handle those kinds of sustained rates of fire without some sort of cooling system- physics aren't prejudiced when it comes to rifle type

NOBAMA said:

What took so long to perform this test it is sad our troops have to have their barrels melt in combat before anyone did these test.

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I take it you don't realize the M4 is 3 round burst, and they ran many more mags through it in F/A than most if not all guys carry. Please pay attention before jumping to conclusions.

More on topic; if this is the same video I remember seeing, the guy really fumbles around swapping mags. doesn't seem to know what he's doing...

i would guess that if the barrels is red hot the rest of the weapon must be very hot as well. i don't see how it kept from cooking-off live rounds.

You would shoot out any weapon with sustained full-auto fire of that nature. It is why the M249 and M240 have quick change barrels. Supposed to change at about ~200 rounds or so of sustained fire. Small caliber high velocity rounds tend to heat up faster than slower larger caliber when used in barrels with the same lenght and mass, but not by much.

-yarro