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 Thoughts on heat sinking a barrel 
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Location: Snohomish Co
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I'm just doing some thinking..... Psl's are notorious for barrels heating up too fast

I bought a PSL parts kit when they were cheap and planned on a heavy barrel milled PSL... But i'm rethinking some stuff

Now what if i was to take a stock PSL barrel, machine up fluted aluminum heat sinks to float on the barrel with some high temp heat sink paste? (i've seen some 700 degree stuff online) It kinda seems like the best of all worlds, light, but also increased thermal conductivity and heat dissipation. I should also probably look at windowing the front handguard until it almost falls apart for breathing.


Wed Jun 08, 2022 8:07 pm
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I don't think it will be very effective unless you add active cooling such as a fan.


Wed Jun 08, 2022 8:10 pm
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Doing a little more looking, i see the JP thermal dissipater is already on the market for ar's, although i dont hear a mention of any thing bridging the gap between aluminum and steel, so i'm not sure how it reacts to the different expansion rates.


Wed Jun 08, 2022 8:22 pm
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However, if this is too much for you, then keep a few of these in your range bag:
https://www.amazon.com/Compressed-Duste ... 1838&psc=1
Just put it upside down when you spray your barrel.



BTW, this works great for freezing warts! I’ve done it on myself and on my dogs.

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Wed Jun 08, 2022 9:00 pm
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Location: Skagit County, in the woods
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shaggy wrote:
I'm just doing some thinking..... Psl's are notorious for barrels heating up too fast

I bought a PSL parts kit when they were cheap and planned on a heavy barrel milled PSL... But i'm rethinking some stuff

Now what if i was to take a stock PSL barrel, machine up fluted aluminum heat sinks to float on the barrel with some high temp heat sink paste? (i've seen some 700 degree stuff online) It kinda seems like the best of all worlds, light, but also increased thermal conductivity and heat dissipation. I should also probably look at windowing the front handguard until it almost falls apart for breathing.


That could definitely be effective, if done right. The challenge will be matching the heat sink to the barrel contour; you need very close contact, even with heat sink paste, for it to be effective.

And yes, while moving air like a fan or wind will carry off a lot more heat, a good heat sink can still be very effective in still air.

A note on heat sink design - you don't need, or necessarily want, huge long fins on a heat sink. A lot of common heat sinks are poorly designed, so I suggest studying good heat sink design before diving into this too far. There are some well established formulas for the relationships between the height, width, and spacing of the fins to make your heat sink efficient.


Wed Jun 08, 2022 10:57 pm
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surevaliance wrote:

However, if this is too much for you, then keep a few of these in your range bag:
https://www.amazon.com/Compressed-Duste ... 1838&psc=1
Just put it upside down when you spray your barrel.

BTW, this works great for freezing warts! I’ve done it on myself and on my dogs.


Just FYI, you can buy either "duster" cans like that, or freeze spray; they are essentially the same thing, with the difference being whether the pickup tube ends at the top or bottom of the can. If you turn either one over, they act like the other one.

I have seen water cooled barrels on varmint hunting rifles; usually with a small pump and hoses running into a bucket of ice water next to the shooter. I've never shot that many prairie dogs in one sitting to need it, but the idea is sound.


Wed Jun 08, 2022 11:00 pm
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