Got shut down today cuase it was -30f this morning so now I`m home and I got to wondering when its too cold to fire a ss bbl. Its about -10f right now, is it bad to fire a gun if its that cold? If my crono was working Id be tempted to do a velocity comparison of realy realy cold and just cold but how good is it for my gun? I could dress warm enouph but I dont think the close would stop any flying particles. Is there a standard temp that is not safe to fire a match ss bbl?
Whats too cold for SS?
- Thread starter patchhound
- Start date
Google search for Nil Ductility Transition Temperature,NDTT) of Stainless Steel. I know the free machining types of SS have a higher temperature due to the Sulfur and Phosphorus added.
A sample would have to be tested to see what the fracture temperature is.
BTW the Titanic and WW2 Liberty ships had a fracture temperature of around 35 deg.F.
It is NOT a myth.
A sample would have to be tested to see what the fracture temperature is.
BTW the Titanic and WW2 Liberty ships had a fracture temperature of around 35 deg.F.
It is NOT a myth.
Krieger Formerly made SS barrels of two different alloys 416 and 410. They sent out a memo last year saying that the 410 was being discontinued. I ordered a #2 weight in 308 two years ago and it came in 410 instead of 416. They specifically asked if it was going to be used in cold climates an I said yes, Canada and maybe -40. They recomended the 410. It machined fine, and shoots great. I am not aware of any barrel manufacture using 410 today.
Rustystud
Rustystud
Yes there are differences. 416R steel,used for stainless rifle barrels) has sulfur deliberately added to the alloy to promote machinability. How much? Normal steels are typically restricted to 0.02 to 0.05 wt% sulfur. 416R can contain up to 0.13 wt%, and this is typically ADDED to the alloy during production. This can lead to bad things...chino69 said:
Adding sulfur increases NDTT,onset occurs at higher temperatures), which is NOT what you want when cold weather is expected. The actual change in NDTT depends on a number of factors, but badly alloyed 416R,i.e., excessive wt% sulfur, and/or large concentrations of free sulfur present) can fail at temperatures well above freezing.
Some of the properties of 416R can be found at http://www.crucibleservice.com/eselector/prodbyapp/stainless/cru416rs.html
I tried google`in the NDTT of 416R SS and man, if the answers in that somewhere I`m sure not smart enough to find it
This could be a serious question for hunters that might use a 416 SS bbl for elk hunting where temps could and do get real real cold. Think I will make my next hunting rifle cromo. I got a freind who who was elk hunting a few years back that had his gun KB when he took a shoot. It was a factory SS bolt action,won`t say what brand) and if I remember right the temp was around -20f. The bbl got torn into four pieces and he JUST got his thumb torn open by the stock tearing apart. The factory blaimed it on snow or ice in the tube but could it have been metal failure from the temp. I`m Know there been many hunters who have used ss for hunting for years and years, maybee theres something they need to know?
This could be a serious question for hunters that might use a 416 SS bbl for elk hunting where temps could and do get real real cold. Think I will make my next hunting rifle cromo. I got a freind who who was elk hunting a few years back that had his gun KB when he took a shoot. It was a factory SS bolt action,won`t say what brand) and if I remember right the temp was around -20f. The bbl got torn into four pieces and he JUST got his thumb torn open by the stock tearing apart. The factory blaimed it on snow or ice in the tube but could it have been metal failure from the temp. I`m Know there been many hunters who have used ss for hunting for years and years, maybee theres something they need to know?
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