Stainless vs blued barrel, does heat dissipation matter?

[Relativist]

[mjmagee67]

I could be wrong but I don't see a .22 rimfire generating enough heat to matter. I've shot .22 a lot and don't recall the barrel getting that hot.

[kcheung2]

Perhaps the Papoose barrel is different, but on the 60 & 795 the barrel is so thick that it takes forever to heat up. After 500 rounds it's still cooler than my car exterior on a hot summer day. I don't think heat dissipation is a problem regardless of material.

[chomorro]

I had a blued 10/22 factory barrel that definitely got hot after non stop shooting. Had to let it sit before putting it away.

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[alpha_romeo_XV]

How did you come to the understanding that blued steel dissapates heat better than stainless?
Mass and surface area of the barrel surely more impact than the steel alloy.

[Half Cocked]

How did you come to the understanding that blued steel dissapates heat better than stainless?
Mass and surface area of the barrel surely more impact than the steel alloy.

The thermal conductivity of stainless steel is lower than that of carbon steel. Since we are talking about .22LR the barrel is not going to get hot enough to worry about.

[newbie1234]

…..I’ve always liked the blued barrel because my understanding is they dissipate heat better.....

I am not a mechanical engineer nor gun smith , but I don't think that is a true statement.

BTW, what barrel will dissipate more heat , the Navy grey or the Army green (oops FDE now) ?

[jstert]

i have both a blue barrel/wood stock and a stainless barrel/plastic stock papoose. i dont notice any difference in shooting and love them both. great, politically correct trunk and camp guns.


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[Tehjosheh]

carbon steel usually has a higher thermal conductivity than stainless - though it all depends on the specific alloy used:

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/thermal-conductivity-metals-d_858.html

Higher thermal conductivity means the heat will distribute more evenly and have a more uniform temperature.


Another important property is coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE). CTE is generally higher on stainless steel which means it will expand more at a given temperature compared to carbon steel.

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/linear-expansion-coefficients-d_95.html

Seems like carbon steel performs better thermally but my guess is its corrosion resistance, even when blued, is not as good. However, at the end of the day, the numbers may not result in noticeable differences using 22lr and depending on the distances/rate fired.

[TKM]

You won't live long enough to notice the difference.

[small hole shooter]

Interesting, this.

[Tehjosheh]

there is one other piece that is not considered; machineability.

my understanding is stainless steel is generally easier to machine than carbon steel.

this means, over 18" of barrel length (or however long), that 0.22X" barrel diameter can be held to much tighter tolerances using stainless as opposed to . carbon steel - resulting in a tighter group.

my guess is the tighter tolerances achieved thru stainless machining out perform the thermal drawbacks for 22lr.

now, fully automatic higher caliber - that sounds like a fun experiment/trade study!

[Relativist]

I'd expect that radiative heat transfer would be dominant. Radiative heat transfer depends on the emissivity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emissivity

Here's a table.

https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/emissivity-coefficients-d_447.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_radiation

Luckily I have a FLIR camera for my iPhone, next time I'm at the range I'll take pictures.

[Relativist]

i have both a blue barrel/wood stock and a stainless barrel/plastic stock papoose. i dont notice any difference in shooting and love them both. great, politically correct trunk and camp guns.


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Thanks for the answer. I'm probably going to just buy new. Another thing that was holding me back is the lack of a forward handguard and place to mount a scout scope, but I found a keymod handguard, which solves both.

http://www.rangerpointstore.com/marlin-firearms-henry-repeating-arms-parts/marlin-papoose-keymod-handguard/

[jstert]

Thanks for the answer. I'm probably going to just buy new. Another thing that was holding me back is the lack of a forward handguard and place to mount a scout scope, but I found a keymod handguard, which solves both.



http://www.rangerpointstore.com/marl...mod-handguard/

wow, very interesting papoose mod, thanks for sharing.


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