Comments on: Beat the Heat with Barrel Temp Strips

By: skeet_Man

skeet_Man — Mon, 08 Jun 2015 14:11:40 +0000

Bottom ones look like the temp strips used for fish tanks…

By: Ray

Ray — Mon, 08 Jun 2015 10:00:21 +0000

I miss Nomad47’s posts, I pray his wife is getting better..

By: Bob Dole

Bob Dole — Mon, 08 Jun 2015 01:36:01 +0000

Thank goodness this fine product now exists since I am too incompetent to use the sense of feel/tempature the good Lord saw fit to put into my hands.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 12:48:27 +0000

As a varmint hunter I have always wondered the same thing. This year I will try the strips for the first time, but would really like to understand what max temp is before damage starts to occur, as a guideline. I have never had any rounds cook off, but others in my group have. I always keep two rifles at hand for cooling reasons.

By: Neil Gibson

Neil Gibson — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 08:49:11 +0000

The ultimate ‘too hot’ would be the autoignition (cook-off) temperature of the propellant. This is around +170C (+338F) for single-base propellants.

Other problems encountered would be droop, differential cooling of the barrel and general thermal expansion problems.

The first meaning the hot barrel is less stiff, and hence the barrel droops due to gravity. The longer and hotter the barrel, the more droop you get.

The second is the result of greater cooling on one side of the barrel that the other. This causes a temperature difference on either side of the barrel. the result is the barrel (muzzle) moving towards the cooled side. The effect can be reduced by thermally lagging the barrel (keeping it all at a similar temperature).

The third are general expansion effects which cause the barrel to move as heated due to slight material differences, fixings, etc.

Editor: Neil — Thanks for telling about these other effects that can occur when barrels get too hot!

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 02:31:33 +0000

So how hot is too hot? Do we have a benchmark?