08-19-2018, 09:30 PM
Randy99CL Wrote:A test I'd like to see is sticking a temperature probe into the chamber throat after a string of shots.
Then see how much of a difference a fan can make over time.
Randy:
No, a fan won't increase barrel life. Shoot more slow fire and maybe but I don't think anyone can swear by it. Use the barrel as you want to use it and buy a new one after about six or eight thousand rounds.
I once did a test using a ten dollar indoor outdoor thermometer with a probe on a 30-06 Match Rifle I had. I wanted to see how fast the chamber heated up to see if that heat transferred into a loaded cartridge and thus heated up the powder enough to make a difference. Can't remember precisely the procedure I took but it was a couple of five shot sustained fire strings with a temp reading between them. About the only thing that surprised me was that the temp went up in a non linear fashon and once it go so hot, it didn't get proportionately hotter with more rounds fired. Also, you would have to let the live round sit there for a long time before it got hot enough to make a difference in velocity. So long that the chamber would cool down.
I have seen cook offs with the M-16A1, CAR-15, and the initial issued M-4's that had an automatic capability. A bunch of 30 round mags shot on auto will heat up one of those things more than sufficiently for a cook off. Have even seen one of those M-4's get so hot the round went through the side of the barrel. That was a defect in design that eventually got fixed. A cook off is unnerving. So I am pretty hot on muzzle awareness.
Seriously though, get one of those ten dollar pocket size indoor / outdoor thermometers with a probe and wire. A real eye opener for me. Many myths went by the wayside after that test.
LR55