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a1madrid
03-29-22, 11:24
This might be the stupidest thing I’ve asked on a gun forum, but here I go. So I’m going to to be getting some chronograph data on one of my rifles with a can on it soon since I’m curious the muzzle velocity boost I’m getting with my can. I just remembered that I do not have a suppressor wrap yet and I do plan on getting one in the future. With those high temperature wraps, could that affect the temperature/heat dissipation of how fast the actual internal body of the suppressor cools off? And if so do you think that would affect muzzle velocity? Reason why I ask is because I’m supposed to go chronograph my rifle with my can with my buddy who owns a chronograph in a few days and I do not yet have a suppressor wrap and I was wondering if the muzzle velocities could be affected by that? Stupid question I know lol I’m just OCD about this stuff.


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markm
03-29-22, 11:40
It would be a damned hard sell to get me to believe can temp had an effect on velocity. I'm not even a big subscriber to the free bore boost theorem. Although I could buy into that much quicker than can temperature changing anything.

MistWolf
03-29-22, 12:23
Heat does affect gas pressure.

a1madrid, measure all your unsuppressed velocities first. That way you will keep the handling of a hot suppressor to a minimum. When I take my suppressed ARs to the range, I cool it with water. I've seen guys just dunk theirs in a five gallon bucket. It's not a good idea to let the suppressor get real hot then just quick dunk it. I'll shoot for a bit, then gradually cool it with water. I've done it by wiping it down with a wet rag, but be aware, a wet rag gets really hot and can give you steam burn if you're not careful. I'll keep dunking the rag in water to keep it from burning me.

markm
03-29-22, 13:07
Heat can, for sure change the barrel's characteristics. But a can? Within reasonable operating temps, No way.

a1madrid
03-29-22, 13:13
Heat can, for sure change the barrel's characteristics. But a can? Within reasonable operating temps, No way.

The wrap wouldn’t affect the velocity at all if it’s trapping heat in the can?


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Defaultmp3
03-29-22, 13:39
The wrap wouldn’t affect the velocity at all if it’s trapping heat in the can?Why would heat at the muzzle end have any noticeable effect on the bullet's velocity?

To pull out further, why would it even matter for any normal chronographing? Are you going to be keeping a record of how hot the can is on each shot, even if you didn't have the wrap? Are you going to throw out the first couple of shots because the can was cold and now it's hot, or only shoot one shot per 10 minutes to let the can fully cool down? Will you be doing this multiple times to keep track of changes in ambient temperatures, which will have an impact on both the velocity of the bullet and the aerodynamics of it? Are you going to be accounting for elevation? How good is the ammo you'll be chronoing, and will you be able to even measure any such difference?

Even if you're using handloads, getting data for a specific location, and doing it multiple times in order to get different weather (both temperatures and air pressure), I'd consider this a fairly silly question. If you're just trying to get approximate data for an AR using factory ammo, this is just a straight up a waste of time. Would the extra heat change the velocity? Absolutely, as MistWolf stated, that will cause issues with air pressure within the can, along with the possible issues of retaining more heat that gets pulled down the barrel toward the chamber, the change in airflow due to heat differentials between the air inside the can and air outside, etc. Is that extra heat going to be measureable in any meaningful fashion, given the plethora of other much larger factors that will affect velocity? I'll eat my hat if it does.

markm
03-29-22, 14:21
Why would heat at the muzzle end have any noticeable effect on the bullet's velocity?

Exactly. A wrap will keep the can hotter longer. But I can't see any way there'd be a real measurable difference in velocity of the bullet.

Stickman
03-29-22, 15:24
I think the temps you would need to hit to see a noticeable difference would be unlikely. However, I'm interested in what you come up with, please make sure you update this thread when you figure an answer.

markm
03-29-22, 15:44
The trick would be: How do you get a can hot enough to change the equation on a ambient temp barrel without getting burnt? If you just get the barrel and can hot together, that doesn't isolate the insane theory that I can't even believe I'm notionalizing right now. :jester:

ndmiller
03-29-22, 21:43
Try it and see, although if the can is hot, the barrel is and that itself may skew results. My head hurts.

MistWolf
03-30-22, 03:56
I think we should be discussing how to cool a suppressor during range sessions and not dog pile on a1madrid for asking about heat affecting velocity. Or figuring out a way to test the theory.

MegademiC
03-30-22, 09:21
Theoretically, a cool can will cool the gas reducing freebore boost. A wet can is an extreme version of the same/similar concept.

I would almost guaruntee the difference will not be measureable.

markm
03-30-22, 09:31
Theoretically, a cool can will cool the gas reducing freebore boost. A wet can is an extreme version of the same/similar concept.

I would almost guaruntee the difference will not be measureable.

I don't think one can make ammo consistent enough to measure something this. We have that crazy AND scale that measure to 1/100th grain and can't make ammo that good.