How to Attach Mirage Shields?

[Texas Solo]

Considering using a mirage shield on my F Class rifle. Serious (maybe dumb) question:

1) how is the shield attached to the barrel?

2) I've seen guys have them zip tied on. My concern with this is creating a hot spot on the barrel.
Sort of like having the one spot of the stock that isn't relieved enough and making contact.
Also, shield contact with the barrel might do the same.

We get some nasty mirage at my club range. The target appears to be moving all over the place.
We shoot 30 round relays and I can see the mirage get worse as we go.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Big Mc]

Considering using a mirage shield on my F Class rifle. Serious (maybe dumb) question:

1) how is the shield attached to the barrel?

2) I've seen guys have them zip tied on. My concern with this is creating a hot spot on the barrel.
Sort of like having the one spot of the stock that isn't relieved enough and making contact.
Also, shield contact with the barrel might do the same.

We get some nasty mirage at my club range. The target appears to be moving all over the place.

Thanks for any help.

Velcro Tommy Mc

 

[bpd459]

Velcro tabs and a couple of my wifes elastic hair bands.

 

[Texas Solo]

Velcro tabs and a couple of my wifes elastic hair bands.

I see that a lot of them are held with velcro, but I'd rather not have something attached directly on the barrel.

 

[F Class John]

There's basically two mirage issues you're dealing with when shooting.

Barrel/scope mirage and range/target mirage. The barrel mirage is from barrel heat will typically show up more like your scope isn't focussed, range mirage is more what you're describing in your question and is the bouncing blob on target with loss of visibility.

A barrel mirage band/shield won't really help with the target doing its blobbing bouncing thing. But range mirage or not, I'd recommend a mirage band just to help reduce barrel/scope mirage from happening. Velcro is most common but some people rubber band them to the underside of the scope which works most of the time if the band is stiff enough to support itself but can move of flip up in the wind. There's a few other ways I've seen it done too but most are velcro. I used to do three or four pieces, now I just use the bare minimum of two small pieces at each end.

But for actual range/target mirage like you may have bee describing in your question you have to use something like a scope objective reducer like the pic below. It won't eliminate it by any means but it can help mitigate it.

 

[Ned Ludd]

I see that a lot of them are held with velcro, but I'd rather not have something attached directly on the barrel.

You're making this into something it doesn't need to be. A mirage band is absolutely needed during the long strings of fire in F-Class. Frankly, I don't know how you've managed to get away with not using one, as the mirage caused by the heat from an exposed barrel halfway through a string of fire can be crazy strong and stupidly difficult, if not even impossible to shoot through and manage any kind of decent score.

Attaching a lightweight mirage band to the barrel with a couple pieces of velcro does not cause any sort of significant barrel harmonics issues. Literally thousands of F-Class shooters have demonstrated this over a period of 10+ years. Certainly one can use rubber bands, zip ties, etc., to secure the mirage band to the barrel, but this is usually observed with the larger/thicker types of mirage bands made out of various "thicker" materials. The thin window blind type of mirage bands do not need anything more than velcro. There is no need to be concerned about affecting barrel harmonics or creating hot spots because of a mirage band attached with a couple rubber bands or pieces of velcro. It's not a problem. Just do the load development with the mirage band in place.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

Yes, velcro is what is way most commonly used. You can just use a fan on the bench too. I keep one pointed across the bbl, just in front of the scope. Lots of people assume it's to keep me or the bbl cool but it's not for either...but to keep mirage blown out from the heated bbl.

 

[urbanrifleman]

Yes, velcro is what is way most commonly used. You can just use a fan on the bench too. I keep one pointed across the bbl, just in front of the scope. Lots of people assume it's to keep me or the bbl cool but it's not for either...but to keep mirage blown out from the heated bbl.

Which fan?

I also make a mirage shield and I use webbing as a diffuser. Works great.

 

[newbieshooter]

Yes, velcro is what is way most commonly used. You can just use a fan on the bench too. I keep one pointed across the bbl, just in front of the scope. Lots of people assume it's to keep me or the bbl cool but it's not for either...but to keep mirage blown out from the heated bbl.

Which fan?

I also make a mirage shield and I use webbing as a diffuser. Works great.

I was told fans aren't allowed in FClass.

Fans are common at benchrest matches as Mike described. I got the idea from @JimPag back when I started shooting a few years ago.

Mirage shield

Was going to buy a production Mirage shield but didn't want to pay shipping on a 5 dollar part so I went out to the shop and came back with a lightweight aluminum shield. Hopefully it works

forum.accurateshooter.com

I got the Ryobi fan since I already had standard Ryobi 18v batteries for other tools - good for about 6+ hours of continuous range time. example: https://www.homedepot.com/p/RYOBI-O...RIES-7-1-2-in-Fan-Tool-Only-PCL811B/318754250

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

Which fan?

I also make a mirage shield and I use webbing as a diffuser. Works great.

There are several. The one I have is a few years old and I haven't seen it in stores lately but I got it at wally world or Target. It's a 10 or 12 inch fan made by O2Cool. It'll run on batteries or a 12 volt wall wart. It was really cheap at the time, like under $15-$20. I run it off of one of those 12v power supplies from amazon that is common amongst people loading at the range using them for the rcbs chargemaster 1500 scales. About 30 bucks and runs for days, non-stop.

 

[Texas Solo]

John, excellent reply. Thank you.
I agree that I was seeing mostly target mirage, but it did get worse as the string got longer. So I was probably fighting both. For what a shield costs, I'll make one. Again, thank you.

 

[Chocdawg]

THD sells single wall polymer sheets in 2’x2’ (or so) pcs. Cut strips as req’d, and Velcro to each. Less than $10.- invested, and plenty more mirage shield material left.

 

[memilanuk]

I was told fans aren't allowed in FClass.

I've always wondered about that. As far as I know, there is nothing explicitly mentioned in the NRA rules. If someone knows otherwise, please cite the specific verbiage.

At most, someone on an adjacent firing point might complain (because... people ) and the RO/MD might rule against it as disturbing other shooters... but I think (personally) that'd be a pretty crappy thing to do as a shooter, and I'd be highly disappointed in that MD.

 

[Dave M.]

Considering using a mirage shield on my F Class rifle. Serious (maybe dumb) question:

1) how is the shield attached to the barrel?

2) I've seen guys have them zip tied on. My concern with this is creating a hot spot on the barrel.
Sort of like having the one spot of the stock that isn't relieved enough and making contact.
Also, shield contact with the barrel might do the same.

We get some nasty mirage at my club range. The target appears to be moving all over the place.
We shoot 30 round relays and I can see the mirage get worse as we go.

Thanks for any help.

Velcro is best in my opinion. I tried magnets earlier this year but it didn’t work well at all. The shield slid down the barrel a little on each shot until the muzzle blast from one shot blew the front of the shield right off.

 

[F Class John]

I've always wondered about that. As far as I know, there is nothing explicitly mentioned in the NRA rules. If someone knows otherwise, please cite the specific verbiage.

At most, someone on an adjacent firing point might complain (because... people ) and the RO/MD might rule against it as disturbing other shooters... but I think (personally) that'd be a pretty crappy thing to do as a shooter, and I'd be highly disappointed in that MD.

I've always wondered as well but I've assumed it would fall under the 'no electronics' for some reason or at least that's what I assumed someone would base their complaint on if someone was to file a complaint?? Heck there's people who have voiced concern about digital timers and lit reticles based on the no electronics rule so......

 

[Sandstorm]

Ther's always someone that will object to gaining an advantage..so to speak.

people who have voiced concern

 

[JFrank]

Can’t speak for F class shooting, I use a bench fan or a barrel mirage shield.
These are cheap and very effective.

Table top fans vs mirage shields for Benchrest

My intentions were to purchase a DEWALT rechargeable fan and do away with the mirage shield Velcro on the barrel but the battery’s are different than what I already own, with new units the charger is sold separately at a premium I’ve held off. Yesterday I tried out this one with good results...

forum.accurateshooter.com

 

[Timberyote]

I use velcro dots to attach mine.

My shield is a redneck one, a slat from a horizontal blind (20") painted flat black.

 

[Will Henry]

I use velcro dots to attach mine.

My shield is a redneck one, a slat from a horizontal blind (20") painted flat black.

Mine is not quite that fancy; being a strip of paper and masking tape. WH

 

[AlNyhus]

Velcro and a piece of exposed X Ray film works for me. -Al