Geneseo1911
Member
So I have been considering Duracoating my S-12, but I was concerned about the 600 deg. limit they mention on their website. I knew SGs operate at much lower pressures (and by the ideal gas law, lower temperatures) than rifles, but I wanted to make sure there wouldn't be any problems.
The S-12 has a tendency to invite rapid fire.
So, I tested it, and since I thought someone, somewhere, at some time might also wonder about this, I even went so far as to write it down.
I took the Saiga to my private range (back yard of the farm), removed the fore end, and took measurements with an infared temperature gun. I measured at the front of the chamber, the barrel just in front of the gas block (as this is the first part of the barrel that is exposed), and the tube that the operating rod lives in. A little ways into the testing, I discovered that the gas block itself was hotter than the chamber, so I added that measurement as well. All temps in deg. F (obviously)
The birdshot was my own 3 dram 1 1/8 oz target reloads. The buck was some 10 pel. 00 that I loaded. I don't have the specifics in front of me, but it has some pretty good kick. It's definitely hotter than the S&B I have.
Rounds fired...Chamber temp...Bbl temp...Gas block temp...Tube temp
Baseline.........78..................77...................................77
5 rounds bird..88...................100.................................77
""..................94..................110..................................85
""..................103.................130.................................87
10 rounds bird.120.................145.................................112
(the Pro-mags I was using were pretty reliable last time out, but I had a bunch of jams this time. Looks like I need to do a bit more work on them)
10 rounds bird.125.................150.................................120
10 rounds buck.145................192...............155.............130
""..................150.................200................167............140
At this point, it appeared as though the temperature increase of firing a mag was nearly matched by the cooling occuring during reloading said mag, so I loaded 3 10 rounders that were working somewhat reliably, and fired 30 rounds of birdshot as fast as possible.
30 bird............167.................220................195............146
So I learned that even blazing as fast as I can, I don't think I could get any part of the gun to 300 deg. Apparently "too hot to touch" isn't that hot. The gas tube after the last string was hot enough to make you let go instantly. It appears as though Duracoat on a SG (even a S-12) will be no problem whatsoever.
I had assumed the hottest part of the gun would be would be the chamber or just after, but scanning the whole barrel revealed that it was just in front of the gas ports (towards the muzzle end), which occurs right around the midpoint of the barrel. I was a bit surprised by this.
The S-12 has a tendency to invite rapid fire.
So, I tested it, and since I thought someone, somewhere, at some time might also wonder about this, I even went so far as to write it down.
I took the Saiga to my private range (back yard of the farm), removed the fore end, and took measurements with an infared temperature gun. I measured at the front of the chamber, the barrel just in front of the gas block (as this is the first part of the barrel that is exposed), and the tube that the operating rod lives in. A little ways into the testing, I discovered that the gas block itself was hotter than the chamber, so I added that measurement as well. All temps in deg. F (obviously)
The birdshot was my own 3 dram 1 1/8 oz target reloads. The buck was some 10 pel. 00 that I loaded. I don't have the specifics in front of me, but it has some pretty good kick. It's definitely hotter than the S&B I have.
Rounds fired...Chamber temp...Bbl temp...Gas block temp...Tube temp
Baseline.........78..................77...................................77
5 rounds bird..88...................100.................................77
""..................94..................110..................................85
""..................103.................130.................................87
10 rounds bird.120.................145.................................112
(the Pro-mags I was using were pretty reliable last time out, but I had a bunch of jams this time. Looks like I need to do a bit more work on them)
10 rounds bird.125.................150.................................120
10 rounds buck.145................192...............155.............130
""..................150.................200................167............140
At this point, it appeared as though the temperature increase of firing a mag was nearly matched by the cooling occuring during reloading said mag, so I loaded 3 10 rounders that were working somewhat reliably, and fired 30 rounds of birdshot as fast as possible.
30 bird............167.................220................195............146
So I learned that even blazing as fast as I can, I don't think I could get any part of the gun to 300 deg. Apparently "too hot to touch" isn't that hot. The gas tube after the last string was hot enough to make you let go instantly. It appears as though Duracoat on a SG (even a S-12) will be no problem whatsoever.
I had assumed the hottest part of the gun would be would be the chamber or just after, but scanning the whole barrel revealed that it was just in front of the gas ports (towards the muzzle end), which occurs right around the midpoint of the barrel. I was a bit surprised by this.
