# Really Stupid Question



## SuckLead (Jul 4, 2006)

Ok, before laughing at me, please remember I just got this AK and this is only the second time I've had it on the range with no experience with AKs before this. 

Ok, so I went out to a new range today and had way too much fun with my AK. Put 100 rounds down range and spent a good deal of time rapid firing (not every shot, though). Here's my question: She was smoking like she was on fire 50 rounds in. Is that normal? She wasn't on fire, I checked, but the smoke pouring out of her was like nothing I've experienced before. When I was done with her and switched to the handguns, my only option was to lay her on the table I was shooting from so she could cool down. She cooled very quickly, I think, but she did leave a minor melted spot on the plastic under her barrel (which wasn't even touching the plastic). The barrel got kind of ashy looking, too (still black, but not the same as when we went in, if that makes sense). It looks better now, but still slightly ashy, now it just looks dirty; it was worse on the range. Normal? 

FYI: Ammo used was 123 grain Hot Shot from one of those tins of 700 rounds.


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## DJ Niner (Oct 3, 2006)

If that was the first time you got her really hot, then it's perfectly normal. The manufacturers put various kinds of preservatives on the metal parts of guns to keep them from rusting during transport and storage (it's not unusual for a gun to spend a year or more in storage at a distributor and dealer between initial manufacture and sale). When you get the gun really hot for the first time, this preservative burns-off, usually leaving a bit of smelly smoke in it's wake. In the case of AKs, sometimes the heat cooks the edge of the varnished finish on the stock, and the upper handguard around the gas tube and barrel support points, too. Whatever they used to coat these things (we called it "Commie Cosmoline" at the shop I used to work for), I really hated the smell it made when it burned-off. As a matter of fact, smoking AKs are so common that I think I've seen a few YouTube videos of them; I think one actually caught the wood/varnish on fire.

The change in the "look" of the barrel is a result of the same effect. If you wipe/brush the outside of the barrel with solvent, dry it off, and then wipe on a thin coat of oil/lube, it should return to _nearly_ the same appearance, but there will always be a slight difference.

Once upon a time, I sprayed a liberal dose of Break-Free CLP on the outside of a brand-new AR's barrel just before I left for the range. Once at the range, on the spur of the moment, I decided to fire a few mags through it quickly to test functioning, and it got a little hotter than I initially thought it would. Result: the barrel parkerizing turned yellow-gray from the stuff (Teflon?) in the CLP. Looked like someone peed on it. My chums were highly amused; me, not so much. EDIT: See photo in the post below.

Okay, enough time has passed; _NOW_ I can admit it was funny. :mrgreen:


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## DJ Niner (Oct 3, 2006)

Unretouched photo (just cropped for size):


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## Ram Rod (Jan 16, 2008)

Barrels will get hot----gas tubes will get hot. A gas tube on an AR-15 will start to glow red after only 50-60 rounds fired consecutively in the dark. Your experience is typical. Solvents and finishes. It will break in eventually. Nothing to be alarmed about---just remember not to touch! The shorter the barrel/gas system--the hotter it will get with less rounds fired.


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## SuckLead (Jul 4, 2006)

DJ Niner said:


> Unretouched photo (just cropped for size):


You gonna leave it that way? That's pretty odd, I've never seen that happen before!


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## DJ Niner (Oct 3, 2006)

It faded a bit with time and few cleanings, but it doesn't matter any longer as I traded it off a couple of years ago. Kinda strange, though, as I've used CLP on many ARs in the past without that kind of reaction. Only things I could possibly attribute it to were: 

- maybe the factory left some preservative on the barrel which reacted with the CLP under heat, or 
- maybe the specific parkerizing chemicals (plus heat) had something to do with it.

:smt102


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