Muzzle Flash

M

munir

New member
I rented a SIG 226 at the range tonight in .40 cal,
and it was a heck of a lot of fun to shoot- it really
fit my hand
well. My son and I thought it was the coolest
gun we'd rented so far there. Definitely the best feeling
in my hand.

At any rate, I was asking about the 357 SIG
version, and the guy behind the couner warned
me about a lot of muzzle flash. That reminded
me of a question I keep wating to ask here on TFL.
What exactly cuased muzzle flash? Is partly
combusted powder? Would it be better (if possible)
to use less powder, and somehow have it burn
more efficiently? I assume the flash is in some
way "wasted energy", i.e., it's energy that is not
being used to accelerate the bullet.

Thanks,

munir

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ahlan wa sahlan
PCV Yemen 1984-86
 
It can either be burning powder, or it can be incandescent powder gases. Sort of "plasma lite" as it was explained to me once.
 
Some powders produce more flash than others.

------------------
Guns cause crime like spoons cause Rosie O'Donnell to be fat!

I hunt, therefore I am.
 
In order to get the super high bullet velocities you get from 357 sig, etc, the manufacturers use slow burning powders. However, the slow burning powders cause muzzle flash. You will find that with many of the hot loads, you get excessive muzzle flash.
 
IIRC, double-base powders will produce more H2=hydrogen as part of their expanding gas product, compared to single-base. Could be wrong.

What I clearly remember from some chemistry stuff is that some powders' gas loads include gases that are themselves flammable, but which have nothing to burn with until they reach the outside atmosphere.

There are two reliable ways to cut muzzle flash:
1. Put a flash inhibitor into the powder, like calcium carbonate (chalk), @ 1%. This is what gunked up the original-issue M16s (not M16A1s) in Viet Nam.

2. Use a flash hider. This works by breaking up the escaping gas into smaller "squirts" which are separated from each other. This cools the gases (=cures heat incandescence) and also prevents much or all of the "burn-off" of flammable gases and unburned powder.

Now, since most of our handguns have not enough "evil features" to be "assault weapons," sohowcome nobody's plugging flash hiders on the ends of defensive pistols?

Seems like a no-brainer to me--perhaps as important as recoil management, but with none of the downside risks of recoil compensators.

In the meantime, I'd love it if Alliant would (/could?) make their Power Pistol propellant a low-flash product like WW's WAP was...
 
Muzzle Flash?
I like it - I love it - I want more of it!

"Thank you Sir, may I have another?!?!"

biggrin.gif
 
Basically your pushing a 9mm with a .40 cartridge.Your gonna have more muzzle flash.You can try different ammo but it will still be more then the .40.I would stay with the .40.Personally I think the .357 is an answer without a question.Goodluck. SHOKz
 
Actually, there are low flash 357 SIG rounds available. It just has to do with the type of powder and whether flash retardant attributes are applied.

In the reloading arena, both Blue Dot and Power Pistol powders create nice healthy flashes. AA#9 on the other hand produces very little flash.

A lot of people make a big deal about the .40 versus the 357 SIG. But in actuality, if you have one, you have the other with a barrel swap. And there are more and more agencies, such as New Mexico, Texas, Secret Service, etc, who believe based on their evidence, that the 357 SIG is an excellent performer.

My experience is that the slide moves faster than with a .40S&W round, which some people attribute to more recoil. While others swear it has less recoil (obviously somewhat subjective), and the 357 SIG has less torque than the .40. So you can actually get very fast follow-up shots, for a magnum level pistol.

The 357 SIG can also be downloaded to equal high quality 9mm luger rounds. So it is quite flexible. Ramming a 9mm bullet into a 10mm chamber opening sure helps too. And the bottlenecked 357 SIG is also the most ballistically consistent round that Accurate Arms has tested. Ed Sanow just stated that, based on his evidence, the 357 SIG is the most accurate duty cartridge available.

Remember that during the 1900's, bullet technology was pretty basic. Therefore, the biggest, fattest diameter bullets performed the best. BUT, once bullet technology evolved, we found that smaller bullets could now be used. Thus, high speed bottlenecked cartridges are once again gaining some popularity.

Now that I've started a caliber war, I'm outta here :)
 
I shoot ,357 sig 125 gr Speer Gold Dots from a short-barreled Glock. I tested it to see if the rumors of muzzle flash are correct. With the lights out at the range, I fired it. Result: NO muzzle flash. Speer must use flash suppressors or something. All I care is that my carry ammo does not have any flash so I tested it and it does not.
 
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