08-20-2018, 12:38 PM
Randy99CL Wrote:Thanks for the info guys!
I read an article recently that talked of how hot the expanding gasses are; way hot enough to melt barrel steel. We're lucky that the bore is only exposed to those temps for milliseconds at a time.
LR, that temp probe is a good idea that I will try myself.
I'm working to buy a bolt gun in 6.5CM and am wondering how heavy a barrel I should get. I won't be blasting with it; just slow targets and steel. Actually, I have picked out the gun I really want and the barrel is pretty heavy. (Tikka T3x Varmint)
I recently bought a T/C Compass (sporter weight) in 204 Ruger and haven't fired it yet. Wondering how much of a problem heat might be with that barrel. I can imagine parking outside a PD town and firing a lot of rounds in a short period of time.
I don't know what I'm worrying about, I've never owned a rifle long enough, or shot one enough, to wear out a barrel.
And LR, have you seen the IV8888 videos on melting down weapons? There are a few of them and they're interesting and fun to watch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cr9e3N6HEw
Randy:
You will never go wrong if you ask the barrel maker to use a Palma taper. If he knows what he is doing, it will be thick enough to take heat but thin enough not to weigh a ton. All the match rifle barrels I have bought over the last twenty years have had Palma tapers. I have some with fluting but did that to take more weight off the barrel. Providing the barrel was heat treated and fluted properly, it won't have any effect on performance even when it heats up pretty hot. I also don't think the difference in cooling between a fluted and not fluted barrel is enough to make a difference.
Even shooting a slow fire string, my barrel gets very hot. So hot sometimes I can't hold the rifle by the barrel. No change in zero or anything else. Just use a mirage screen.
I have seen various videos of guys deliberately destroying semi and fully auto firearms from shooting them until something melted or failed. Not sure why they would do such a thing because it is super dangerous due to out of battery firings and or blowing the receiver apart.
Barrels are expendable items. Shoot six or eight thousand rounds from a Grendel barrel and it is probably done so just buy a new one. Your 6.5 CM barrel will probably be done at 5K rounds of easy slow fire. 6mm barrels? Have at least one on hand because those go very fast. 2 - 3K and they are pretty much toast from my experience.
Ten dollars or so for a indoor / outdoor thermometer with probe was well worth the money. In a pinch, you can even use it to get the air temperature!
LR55