Hot weather and gun temps

**deadctr** · July 27th, 2015, 05:34 AM

Just wondering, now that the hot weather is here, does anyone try to to cool their guns at the range? I know after about 50 or 60 rounds, my barrel is too hot to touch, and pushing it just seems, to me, bad for the gun. S&W M&P9FS, in case that might be a question.

Follow up question; can one overheat the polymer parts of a polymer gun?

**hss.strat** · July 27th, 2015, 06:38 AM

Don't worry about it. The polymer will stand up to more heat than your hand will. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_JuF23qazI I'm not an M&P fan but I'm sure their polymer is just as resilient as the Glock. I'll let my gun cool down once the slide is too hot to comfortably touch. But then it's just a comfort issue, not a concern about the gun itself. I used a soldering iron to stipple my Glock 17. Even at almost 800 degrees Fahrenheit it takes a little pressure and time to melt the polymer.

Now if you're shooting for accuracy (rifle and scope accuracy, not handgun accuracy) heat can be a factor because the metal in the barrel will expand, therefore shifting point of aim ever so slightly. You may notice guys sighting in their hunting rifles will leave their bolts open and take a couple minutes between shots to let the barrel cool down. It's not because the heat hurts the gun, it's just that they want the barrel to be exactly the same with every shot.

**deadctr** · July 27th, 2015, 03:39 PM

Strat,
Thanks and I should've mentioned my question was specific to handguns.

Bolt guns for accuracy, yes. Let them cool between groups, lest they walk.

**harold63** · July 27th, 2015, 09:23 PM

There are parts in some polymer handguns that will fail if they get too hot and you can get one too hot if you try to do one of those '1000 rd in 19 nano seconds', torture tests. Shooting a 1000 rds over a weekend will only hurt your ammo store.

**workingmanjeff** · July 31st, 2015, 10:47 PM

Originally Posted by deadctr

Just wondering, now that the hot weather is here, does anyone try to to cool their guns at the range? I know after about 50 or 60 rounds, my barrel is too hot to touch, and pushing it just seems, to me, bad for the gun. S&W M&P9FS, in case that might be a question.

Follow up question; can one overheat the polymer parts of a polymer gun?

I've shot plenty of pistol matches in the summers with my Smith,Glock,Xdm and never had one melt yet