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Hot Rifle Barrel

bambambam
When firing a bolt action at the range barrels tend to need cool off time.

Does one type of steel retain heat more than another? (SS vs. regular steel)

Does SS heat up faster than regular steal?
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Comments

10 comments

Date Votes
  • tsr1965
    The stainless does not heat up as quickly, but also holds its heat longer when it does. If you are real worried, shoot a 3-5 shot group, and let your rifle cool for 15-20 minutes, depending on ambient conditions. Sometimes more, or sometimes less.

    Best

    EDIT 1

    To those who are non-believers, temperature, dirt/fouling, and high pressures are your barrels worst nightmare. Those items, either singly, or in conjunction with each other, will prematurely eat the throat out of a rifle barrel. The throat is the first thing that touches the bullet to get it in line with the bore.

    I have yet to see a rifle barrel shoot MOA when you can't touch it because it is so hot...free floated or not.

    Best
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  • cbyerly
    If you need to let your barrel cool down during sighting in, there is something wrong with the barrel. A properly made and installed barrel should shoot MOA at any temperature.
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  • Ambrose
    As a related question: Any harm in cooling a barrel at the range by blowing compressed air down the bore?
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  • asphalt cowboy
    quote:Originally posted by Ambrose
    As a related question: Any harm in cooling a barrel at the range by blowing compressed air down the bore?


    None at all.
    I've seen shooters trickle cool water down the bore from the breech. There's even a system sold that uses a D cell battery powered pump and hose to put water down the bore.
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  • 45er
    Agree per tsr1965's edit 1.

    I give maybe a bit off topic for this thread an extreme example of the eating up the throat by machine gun/automatic firing barrels will be chewed up long before with same ammo count in same caliber non-auto's.
    Least from what I've learned about. Hands-on experienced auto-gunners please correct if mistaken?

    45er
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  • 260
    wow.. i learned something new... and i thought i couldn't be amazed anymore.quote:Originally posted by cbyerly
    If you need to let your barrel cool down during sighting in, there is something wrong with the barrel. A properly made and installed barrel should shoot MOA at any temperature.
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  • keystone1974
    Well... The guns I have I always let cool down between 3-5 shot groups because I thought it would make the barrel last longer, but after reading tsr1965 answer I am more sure of it. My 300 shoots more accurate For sure with a cooler barrel
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  • Riomouse911
    I've never had luck with great groups from a hot barrel in any of my rifles from my limited experience, and even my point of impact seems to shift from a "cold barrel" group when compared to a "hot barrel" group, but maybe I'm the exception and not the rule.
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  • wolfpack
    Agree with TSR. Have sighted in quite a bit at the range and groups shot with hot barrels almost always tend to wander. Would never shoot a barrel that is to hot to touch and do not like to shoot barrels anymore that are more than mildly warm. Let them cool.
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  • 11b6r
    FWIW, barrels for the M60 MG were lined with Stellite- harder than a banker's heart. As the barrels heated up- FAR beyond what you would heat a rifle barrel to- you could SEE accuracy dropping off- to the point that bullets would begin to keyhole.

    Simple physics- as metals heat, they expand. Your nominally .308 bore is suddenly getting larger and larger.
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