Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Explanation of Heat & ARs?

I've thought about this in the past and just have to ask if anyone else has thought about it, and if anyone can explain it?

From a cold rifle I fired the first fouling shot. I pulled the case immediately from the brass catcher and it was hot.

Now this is the first gasser I've ever worked with and I'm sure it has something to do w/ the operating system, but I've never seen that in a bolt gun even with a potent or "hot" load.

Does anyone know how or why the first case would be hot from a cold rifle?

The case is ejected from any auto before the steel of the chamber can absorb much (if any) of the heat generated by the burning powder.

If by some means you cou INSTANTLY eject the empty from a bolt rifle, it would also be quite hot. But even the second or so of delay allows a lot of the heat from the thin brass case to be transferred to the chamber.

Typed it too slow.

Thanks JB; that makes a lot of sense.

Unfortunatley I've had that AR on the station next to me with no brass blocker.. That dang thing is HOT.. Wish folks with the AR's and the AK's would think of the folks to the right..

Mule Deer explained it very well. There is simply no way that you can open the bolt fast enough to prevent the heat getting transfered from the case to the receiver walls.

I have several match rifles and one of them is based on an AR-15. I left the gas action alone and even though I single load, the action cycles normaly and the bass that comes out will be HOT. My other match rifles are bolt action and the brass is cool enough to handle when I eject it, regardless of how fast I do it.

That is one of the big things with semi autos or even full autos, to keep them from over heating; the brass case removes a great deal of heat from the system. This was one of the big problems with caseless ammo; there was no vehicle to remove the heat of combustion.

Yep!

I shot a Voere bolt rifle for the caseless ammo for a little bit back in the early 90's. It was chambered for the equivalent of the .223 Remington, but the rifle's action got warm a LOT faster than the action of a typical .223 bolt rifle.
It was also real weird to open the action after taking a shot. Nothing came flying out of the chamber!

Right, and the heat stayed right in the receiver. Did you fry eggs on it or get a temporary tattoo from the receiver?

I've got an Albanian SKS that loves to free throw brass down the back of my shirt collar.

Yeah, it's hot.

Winchester made a 'semi auto single shot' (Model 55?) with bottom ejection in 22LR. That puppy is great for putting hot brass into your shirt sleeve. Can't recall ever noticing the barrel being warm.

Dale

M1A flipped one inside my collar and onto my right collar bone; it stuck. I have a 51mm long scar there now.

+1 to that...

Yeah. I have a 45mm scar on the small of my back from "collecting" a piece of spent brass from the shooter to my left at a carbine class several years ago.

We were shooting prone to check zero. I learned years ago to wear a buttoned-up collared shirt or a mock-T collar shirt at rifle class, to prevent hot brass falling down inside the collar and burning neck/shoulder/back. But I hadn't thought that I would need to cover the junction of my shirt and the back beltline of my pants. That hot chunk of brass found exactly the right spot and burned the bejabbers out of me, dead center on my spine. Glad I didn't think to stand up, or I might have found a totally new and unpleasant personal meaning for the term "flaming hoop".

wow I thought I had the only SKS that did that,mine would drop nearly every hot case on my head ,if I forgot to wear a proper hat

firing it was a P.I.T.A., it pissed me off to the point I sold it

My Chinese SKS throws them into far right field. Didn't know how lucky that was, 'till now.

I was competing in a tactical pistol match with a 9mm Springfield XD. I was running and gunning and the 5th empty case went over the top of my shooting glasses and stuck to the skin just below my eyebrow. I threw off my glasses, plucked the hot case off my eye (along with the skin), continued shooting and won the match. Several guys, including myself were impressed that I kept my concentration. I have a nice scar right above my eyelid now in the shape of a 9mm case Flinch

I used to have a Ruger .44 Mag semi-auto carbine. Stopped to shoot a coyote that was crossing one of our fields one summer day. Rested on the hood of the truck, fired, and the ejected case ricocheted off the antenna and bounced back onto the inside of my left bicep and stuck. When I slapped it off of me, the skin came with it. I still have that scar today.

And BTW: I bang-flopped the coyote. It was around 150 yds out.

This is one reason why a lot of High Power shooters wear hooded sweatshirts--underneath our 15-pound padded leather shooting coat that comes below the waist.

Just the thing for 90 degree heat at Camp Perry (the matches are always in August).

And they wonder why old High Power shooters become trap shooters.