How Hot is Your Barrel

[cw308]

When people say let your barrel cool down . Knowing how hot is hot is what you want to know , not but just touching the barrel . I use a thermal strip that attaches to your barrel . Can be ondered from McMaster-Carr located in NJ tell:# 1-609-689-3000 a package of 10 was $13.00 gave most of them to friends , mine is still on my barrel from Nov. 2015 Part# 59535K13 it has 7 rectangular boxes that change color from heat , the range is 86 to 140 degrees , 113 is the stopping point . You could test if your groups shoot tighter at a certain temp. The strip is 1/2"high 1 1/2" long . I found the article on The Accurate Shooter forum . Hope this information is helpful .

Chris

 

[Rsadams]

Chris
Could you provide a link to this product?
I for one pressed Like" and thank you again.
Jim

You can download their app in the play store believe it or not or look them up online... , it has everything they have including the temp strips...

McMaster Carr is also the cheapest place from what I have seen to buy them.. Some gun places want $9 bucks for 1...

 

[cw308]

Guys I listed the phone number and the part number in my post .I'm sure they were thirteen dollars for ten strips , and they stay put once on the barrel My barrel is a M24 takes longer to heat up and longer to cool . The strips are very helpful . Will keep your barrel shooting good alot longer . For the price you have nothing to loose only to gain . I wouldn't steer you wrong.

Chris

 

[newbieshooter]

Chris
Could you provide a link to this product?
I for one pressed Like" and thank you again.
Jim

http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2018/05/monitor-barrel-heat-with-handy-temp-strips/

 

[Willie]

Been using them on all rifles for about 4 years. Their durability is outstanding. They are very handy for doing my testing of hunting rifles at ambient temperature, or at least, compatible temps. Only con is that they don't really help on carbon barrels, due to their "heat shrink" characteristics, I guess.

 

[Mikemontminy]

Guys I listed the phone number and the part number in my post .I'm sure they were thirteen dollars for ten strips , and they stay put once on the barrel My barrel is a M24 takes longer to heat up and longer to cool . The strips are very helpful . Will keep your barrel shooting good alot longer . For the price you have nothing to loose only to gain . I wouldn't steer you wrong.

Chris

I picked some temp strips up back in March. I think they were about $20.00 with shipping. The ones I bought had a range from 90 to 120. I wish I had seen the ones that ranged from 86 to 140. I have seen the barrel max out the 120 degree strip shooting just over 20 shots in a match. I had to shoot 2 back to back matches and on the second relay the barrel was already over 120 degrees before I started. I have since rigged up an air pump inside a cooler with ice packs and run a line into my chamber to cool the barrel down rapidly. Works great between relays.

 

[bobm]

Several years ago at one of our weekend matches the concern of "overheating" barrels came up. I returned the next day with a Fluke digital thermometer and ten feet of thermo couple wire. The bare leades were placed four inches ahead of the breech face on the outer surface of the barrel. Right about where the rifling begins. A thin one inch square of brass shim stock was placed over the leades and electrical taped in place.

Ambient temperature that day was 90 F. From ambient we recorded the temperature increase for each shot fired. The time between shots was kept at 20 second intervals. Each shot fired elevated the surface temp by about 4-5 degrees. At shot number 10 the surface temp was at 142 degrees F....too hot to the touch of human flesh for very long. We fired another five shots with a final surface temp reaching 157 degrees. Total shots fired for this test was fifteen. Another five shots reached 159 but would not go higher. It seems we were at a point of no elevated temps beyond 159. The barrels returned to ambient temperature in 12-14 minutes exposed to a light breeze.

The rifle was a 24" stainless sporter contour in 7mm-08, charge was 38.0 grs. Varget pushing a 130 SMK.
We repeated this test with very close results with a .260 and 6.5 X 55 rifle and same barrel dimensions.

With the melting temperatures of alloy steels approaching 2600 F, I do not concern myself with hot barrels.

Your morning cup of coffee is served between 160-170 F

 

[cw308]

bobm
Seems more like a flame thrower then a rifle , matches sure beat the heck out of a rifle . I shoot with friends every Sunday weather permitting , haven't shot in a match . Maybe one day . Be Well.

Chris

 

[bobm]

Metallic silhouette rifle matches consist of ten shots fired in 5 minutes 30 seconds maximum time allowed. The concern was when we were deliberating having a 60 shot match instead of a 40 shot match. There would be 15 shots fired in a target stage in approx 8 minutes allowed. Most shooters do not use up the entire time allotted.

I have two 7mm-08 stainless barrels that have been subjected to this firing routine for many years. They have exactly 6530 shots fired each and still print half MOA off the bench. I have no idea what the round count will be when they become no longer competitive. One MOA or more benched groups will start costing me some missed targets with close to the edge trigger breaks.

 

[cw308]

bobm
Your round count is up there , I just got the Lyman bore scope to look down the barrel , wish I had it when I first had it installed to compare , everything looks good but you have to know what to look for .are the lands just as sharp . I can see some minor fire cracking and a gouge across one land half way down the barrel . Looking through the scope it looks 1.5"s long but it's about an eighth . Doesn't strip any copper an still shoots tight groups 2680 round count . I take time between shots , I fire a round remove that case , clean the neck outside an shoulder with 0000 steel wool bow it an shoot another round . Keeps me around one minute between shots . I bench shoot only off a Harris an rear bag . I'm comfortable with the Bi Pod .5 average at 200 yards . It's my one an only Rem 700 308 blueprinted , Jewell trigger at 10 ounces , love shooting it .

 

[bobm]

Can anyone tell me what the standard course of fire, shots vs. time, is for the PRS game? Yesterday at the range a shooter was measuring his barrel temp with a no contact thermal laser unit. A very expensive one from.....Harbour Freight....$29.00 He checked my 7-08 after 10 normal fired practice shots and it read 95 F.

I said no way, more like 145 F. He touched the barrel and quickly backed his fingers off. He trusted it but I brought up the air temp at 85 and normal body temperature of 98.6 He said he may go back for a refund.

 

[Rsadams]

Can anyone tell me what the standard course of fire, shots vs. time, is for the PRS game? Yesterday at the range a shooter was measuring his barrel temp with a no contact laser unit. A very expensive one from.....Harbour Freight....$29.00 He checked my 7-08 after 10 normal fired practice shots and it read 95 F.

I said no way, more like 145 F. He touched the barrel and quickly backed his fingers off. He trusted it but I brought up the air temp at 85 and normal body temperature of 98.6 He said he may go back for a refund.

Lol , ya it's definitely not 95F , unless it's 0 degrees there... I stop at 120 , no need for me to go any higher and during this time of year it takes about 5 shots in Texas were it's 105-114 outside... Kinda why I don't shoot during the summer here... I can wait.

 

[luckeeshot]

I've used no contact or infrared thermometers in my travels as a HVAC tech and I can tell you it must be taken from a non-reflective surface so i used flat black paint

 

[cw308]

bobm
I'm sure it also has to do with barrel thickness . Mine takes longer to heat up an longer to cool down . Using the thermal strip my barrel averages 113 one minute between shots for 10 shots then cease fire 15 minutes will look this how low the temperature goes after CF .

Chris

 

[Mikemontminy]

Several years ago at one of our weekend matches the concern of "overheating" barrels came up. I returned the next day with a Fluke digital thermometer and ten feet of thermo couple wire. The bare leades were placed four inches ahead of the breech face on the outer surface of the barrel. Right about where the rifling begins. A thin one inch square of brass shim stock was placed over the leades and electrical taped in place.

Ambient temperature that day was 90 F. From ambient we recorded the temperature increase for each shot fired. The time between shots was kept at 20 second intervals. Each shot fired elevated the surface temp by about 4-5 degrees. At shot number 10 the surface temp was at 142 degrees F....too hot to the touch of human flesh for very long. We fired another five shots with a final surface temp reaching 157 degrees. Total shots fired for this test was fifteen. Another five shots reached 159 but would not go higher. It seems we were at a point of no elevated temps beyond 159. The barrels returned to ambient temperature in 12-14 minutes exposed to a light breeze.

The rifle was a 24" stainless sporter contour in 7mm-08, charge was 38.0 grs. Varget pushing a 130 SMK.
We repeated this test with very close results with a .260 and 6.5 X 55 rifle and same barrel dimensions.

With the melting temperatures of alloy steels approaching 2600 F, I do not concern myself with hot barrels.

Your morning cup of coffee is served between 160-170 F

Have you ever checked your velocities as the temperature climbs the velocity goes up as well. My loads are running hot already so when the velocity climbs too high my brass is getting destroyed. The primer pockets open up. The cases aren’t in the chamber for more than a few seconds so it isn’t heat soaking into the case doing this.

 

[corsair4360]

Several years ago at one of our weekend matches the concern of "overheating" barrels came up. I returned the next day with a Fluke digital thermometer and ten feet of thermo couple wire. The bare leades were placed four inches ahead of the breech face on the outer surface of the barrel. Right about where the rifling begins. A thin one inch square of brass shim stock was placed over the leades and electrical taped in place.

Ambient temperature that day was 90 F. From ambient we recorded the temperature increase for each shot fired. The time between shots was kept at 20 second intervals. Each shot fired elevated the surface temp by about 4-5 degrees. At shot number 10 the surface temp was at 142 degrees F....too hot to the touch of human flesh for very long. We fired another five shots with a final surface temp reaching 157 degrees. Total shots fired for this test was fifteen. Another five shots reached 159 but would not go higher. It seems we were at a point of no elevated temps beyond 159. The barrels returned to ambient temperature in 12-14 minutes exposed to a light breeze.

The rifle was a 24" stainless sporter contour in 7mm-08, charge was 38.0 grs. Varget pushing a 130 SMK.
We repeated this test with very close results with a .260 and 6.5 X 55 rifle and same barrel dimensions.

With the melting temperatures of alloy steels approaching 2600 F, I do not concern myself with hot barrels.

Your morning cup of coffee is served between 160-170 F

What were the interior temperatures of the barrels? The important temperature is the interior, not the exterior.

 

[cw308]

Corsair
Well that's getting alittle over the top , but I'm sure it's hotter. How would you check that at the bench .The thermal strips are a better system then just touching the barrel .

 

[germanlongbow]

The temp strips were designed for hospital use in patients undergoing anesthesia in operating rooms, a quick reference to external body temp. Someone adapted to rifles. You can get them in boxes of 100 and more online a lot cheaper via medical companies. Scott

 

[cw308]

Mike
Everything is effected , heat , cases and barrel . Not to mention recoil . The strips enable you to adjust how fast your shooting as the temperature rises . Better for the barrel .

 

[JimSC]

I tend to shoot hot but still got close to 2500 from my last .260 barrel before it could not shoot a 5 shot 1/2 MOA group on it's best day. I shoot Savages and use drop in barrels so I figure a 12 - 15 cent barrel cost in on every round. I suppose if I took it a bit easy my barrel life would not increase more than a couple of hundred rounds. Now if I needed to get the barrels fitted by a smith I might think differently