Question about Powders vs Heat

Status
Not open for further replies.
T

tc300mag1

Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2004
Messages
1,913
Location
Wayne, Mi
Ok im going to try to explaine what im thinking and what im running into..

This year ive been using Titegroup in 45acp 9mm 44 and 38's and 45 colt loads now im not talking barn burners super magnums or anything of the sort.. in the 45 colt 44 and 38 just nice plinking load i use 2400 for hotter loads in 44mag and 45 colt.

So not what im seeing even in these loads they seem to heat the barrel up faster to where its hard to handle espically on the Ruger single action in 45 colt . Im used to dealing with heat but this is quite bad and im nto saying box of 50 to get um to where you dont want to grab it im saying 15 rounds or so .. Im not getting as much shooting in as i used to even swapping wheelies/autos it still seems to stay pretty hot.

I dont rember this with 231 or Unique but i was shooting loads from over 2 years ago. As i messed up my back and didnt do lot of loading nor shooting for a few years..

So am i right in thinking that if i go back to them they seem a little slower on the burning chart that heat build up wont be as bad or am i just nuts and dont worry about it ..

Most of all did what i say make any sense to anyone else?



:banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

So what im asking is should i switch back to the other powders?
 
I haven't really tracked a powder/heat relationship. Sounds like one more thing to experiment with. Heat as well as pressure will affect barrel life so it would be a good thing to know. Is there any published information on the burn temperatures of the differant powders?
 
The only temperature estimate I could find a couple of months ago was that the temperature of the burn was around 3500 degrees Fahrenheit, but, sorry, I can't recall the source. It's not likely that powders will vary enough that we'd be able to feel the difference with our hands, however.

What does protect our hands is the poor heat conduction of iron/steel that keeps the heat closest to the bore. If you ever grabbed a sterling silver gravy ladle from a hot gravy boat, you'll recall that siver is a very good conductor. You might remember your mother telling you to clean up the table from where you dropped the ladle... :rolleyes:

There are some folks who take icewater to the range to soak the barrel and claim it doesn't hurt them. I have no opnion on that, but I am considering using a damp towell. WTH - it it doesn't work, I can always sell the rifle, right? :D

Jaywalker
 
Powder Heat?

I would be interested in seeing any research posted here.

I have attended combat shooting matches where competitors brought three identical Hoag accurized .45 pistols.

In shooting police qualification and police championship courses I never considered that I had a weapon heating problem with Bullseye or WW231 powders.

Fitz
 
I have no firm research on this, but my impression is that titegroup burns hotter then other powders also. For various reasons, I have decided that titegroup is not in my future and when I burn up the last 2 lbs I have, that will be it.

To me titegroup is to prone to double charges in big cases. I want to be able to see the powder and visually check for double charges, titegroup and 357mag, you can't see the stuff and be sure.
 
How fast are you shooting? Barrel heating is directly related to the speed you shoot. It has nothing to do with the powder. Send hot gasses down the barrel more often and it'll heat up faster. Granted powders do burn at differnent rates, but rapid shooting will heat a barrel faster than the powder will.
 
I'm not familiar with Titegroup, but I believe barrel heating is related to how heavy in grains the charge is - not how fast the bullet's velocity is. More powder = more heat. If you fire faster, you add more heat to the barrel and frame and give it less time to radiate away.

Jaywalker
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top