Gunsmithing Does Cerakote insulate barrels?
- Thread starter jrm850
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Re: Does Cerakote insulate barrels?
Not gonna touch to find out but my guess would be no difference.
Not gonna touch to find out but my guess would be no difference.
Re: Does Cerakote insulate barrels?
I think it does, and I don't like cerakoting barrels for cartridges that burn over 40ish grains of powder.
My bare 308 vs my partners cerakoted 308...same load, same barrel contour, shooting at same rate: mine would feel hot before his. Mine would cool down, his would still feel warm.
Just the fact mine would feel hot before his tells me the cerakote was acting as an insulator. Imagine that, ceramic insulates.
I think it does, and I don't like cerakoting barrels for cartridges that burn over 40ish grains of powder.
My bare 308 vs my partners cerakoted 308...same load, same barrel contour, shooting at same rate: mine would feel hot before his. Mine would cool down, his would still feel warm.
Just the fact mine would feel hot before his tells me the cerakote was acting as an insulator. Imagine that, ceramic insulates.
Re: Does Cerakote insulate barrels?
I use DuraCoat on most of my rifles, not that it makes any difference. When I shoot P-dogs in AZ, the sun heats up my black barrels, and the tan ones seem to shed heat faster than the Rem. factory black barrels. More reflective I would presume. If I could shoot in the shade, I would expect the opposite may be true because of the coating.
I use DuraCoat on most of my rifles, not that it makes any difference. When I shoot P-dogs in AZ, the sun heats up my black barrels, and the tan ones seem to shed heat faster than the Rem. factory black barrels. More reflective I would presume. If I could shoot in the shade, I would expect the opposite may be true because of the coating.
Re: Does Cerakote insulate barrels?
I appreciate the empirical head to head observation. I saw that NIC sells cerakote or a form of cerakote on their main web page as thermal barrier so I suspected that this would be the case. I think I will just try to come up with a pattern that covers maybe 20% of the barrel just to break up the outline a bit.
Many Thanks.
I appreciate the empirical head to head observation. I saw that NIC sells cerakote or a form of cerakote on their main web page as thermal barrier so I suspected that this would be the case. I think I will just try to come up with a pattern that covers maybe 20% of the barrel just to break up the outline a bit.
Many Thanks.
Re: Does Cerakote insulate barrels?
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jrm850</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I appreciate the empirical head to head observation. I saw that NIC sells cerakote or a form of cerakote on their main web page as thermal barrier so I suspected that this would be the case. I think I will just try to come up with a pattern that covers maybe 20% of the barrel just to break up the outline a bit.
Many Thanks. </div></div>
It is my understanding that at least one group at navy crane, in determining what coating to use, excluded cerakote for this very reason, opting to use kg gunkote instead as it did not retain heat.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jrm850</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I appreciate the empirical head to head observation. I saw that NIC sells cerakote or a form of cerakote on their main web page as thermal barrier so I suspected that this would be the case. I think I will just try to come up with a pattern that covers maybe 20% of the barrel just to break up the outline a bit.
Many Thanks. </div></div>
It is my understanding that at least one group at navy crane, in determining what coating to use, excluded cerakote for this very reason, opting to use kg gunkote instead as it did not retain heat.
Re: Does Cerakote insulate barrels?
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: turbo54</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Imagine that, ceramic insulates. </div></div>
Ah, not always:
Aluminum oxide is about 75% as good as steel at conducting heat, and silicon carbide is ~1.5x better. I don't know what specific ceramic puts the "cera" into Cerakote, so it's tough to predict its exact thermal properties.
Regardless, the extremely poor conduction of heat from any surface to still air is going to dominate the thermal performance of any barrel, especially in light of the extremely small thickness of an applied coating. If we were building a fancy heatsink with forced-air cooling, it'd be a different situation.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 19Scout77</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Ask your headers... </div></div>
Totally different situation (at least for bolt guns fired at what most of us would consider to be a reasonable rate of fire). Headers run so hot that the primary cooling mechanism is not conduction to the surrounding air, but rather radiation (the latter mechanism being proportional to the fourth power of the difference in temperature between an object and its surroundings).
Obviously, for firearms subjected to rapid fire (such as full-auto weapons), this cooling mechanism becomes of interest - I certainly would not be applying any sort of IR-reflective coating to the barrel of a belt-fed machine gun.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: turbo54</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Imagine that, ceramic insulates. </div></div>
Ah, not always:
Aluminum oxide is about 75% as good as steel at conducting heat, and silicon carbide is ~1.5x better. I don't know what specific ceramic puts the "cera" into Cerakote, so it's tough to predict its exact thermal properties.
Regardless, the extremely poor conduction of heat from any surface to still air is going to dominate the thermal performance of any barrel, especially in light of the extremely small thickness of an applied coating. If we were building a fancy heatsink with forced-air cooling, it'd be a different situation.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 19Scout77</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Ask your headers... </div></div>
Totally different situation (at least for bolt guns fired at what most of us would consider to be a reasonable rate of fire). Headers run so hot that the primary cooling mechanism is not conduction to the surrounding air, but rather radiation (the latter mechanism being proportional to the fourth power of the difference in temperature between an object and its surroundings).
Obviously, for firearms subjected to rapid fire (such as full-auto weapons), this cooling mechanism becomes of interest - I certainly would not be applying any sort of IR-reflective coating to the barrel of a belt-fed machine gun.
