I saw this posted on another forum about doubles with soft soldered barrels.

" I would not advise shooting the guns for long strings of targets in hot weather either. Getting them too hot to touch from repeated rapid target shooting is risky."

Is that really true? If so, how much shooting is too much?

During the summer I try to get out as much as possible with my Fox Sterlingworth 16 ga. and shoot trap or skeet. I usually shoot about a 4 boxes of shells, and I do have to wear a glove on my left hand because the barrels get hot. Am I risking damage to the gun?

Tim

Welcome fellow Sterli owner. I don't think normal target shooting during hot weather can do much harm, but cleaning bores after might be another matter. When I scrubbed barrels of mine with: copper, lead, plastic wad solvent I made sure not to get any on blue or near rib barrel junctions (there is probably some lead in that solder).
PS. Keeping it out of direct sunlight when possible is healthy for CC.

Solder melts at 360F. Something is 'too hot to touch' at something like 120F. Nasty burns result at or near boiling point of water (212F). I've not heard of anyone actually being burned by hot barrels, but I'd imagine long strings of BP would get things too hot to be comfortable even with gloves.

Summary: I think the shooter would stop before the barrels would unsolder.

Do you think the gun was OK to shoot in hot weather when it's new?
So why wouldn't it be OK to shoot in hot weather today.

You will be fine. Just shot 200 rounds this morning through an old hammergun with no ill effects.

Most guys would not venture out to shoot clays on a day that was so hot as to add many degrees to the heat retained by barrels. Or so I think.
Of course we might be able to work up an equation to prove that loose ribs might be more loosened by the harmonic amplification of ambient air that was 15 degrees above yesterday.:} I will have to consult Al Gore for his input.LOL
Best,
John
PS---I know that the question was a serious one, but I am here recovering from a not so gentle procedure that removes me from the rolls of East Coast Distributors.
I dream !!!!LOL

A companion and I once took turns shooting his 1890 H & H on a clay pigeon grouse butt and shot it until it got so hot it seized and wouldn't open. We'd set it aside for 3 or 4 minutes and it would open, eject the empties, and shoot perfectly until the next "seizure." We put around 750 rounds through it that afternoon, which was not particularly hot, and it never missed a beat. Just had to let it cool down now and then. KBM

Just watch the people shooting the flurry at the UP SxS shoot. As many shells as you can get our in 2-1/2 minutes gets the barrels so hot most wear welder's gloves and I've never heard of a failure.

Don't worry about the sun/WD40, bore cleaner and your case colors. Do worry about worn laqure finish on case colors. Case colors wear away from MILD abrasion. Only something that eats iron oxides will hurt case colors.
bill

Thanks alot for the replies. That is kind of what I thought, I just wanted to be sure. I really like my Fox and I didn't want to do it any harm.

I had a lower rib let go after shooting a flurry on a warm day. I blaming myself for subjecting the 100+ year old gun to undue abuse. I shipped it off to Keith Kearcher for repair, he said there was rust under the rib and would have let go anyway.

Craig

Why do you let it get so hot? All it takes is a little water from your cantine poured over the barrels to cool them nicely and I assure you, from years of experience doing this, no harm will come to the barrels. Routinely doused my Kreighoff when shooting competitively Just pop off the forend first then with the muzzles pointed at the ground pour the water over the outside surfaces starting at the breech area. About a half a bottle of your Perrier drizzled slowly over the surface will suffice if your gun is too snooty for tap water. If you are totally anal, plug the little hole in the bottom rib with a toothpick first. The evaporation of the water from the barrel heat will cool them and insures there is no water left to encourage rust. Remember the reason your barrels are blue is they were boiled in hot water. Besides that you are worrying about the wrong part of the gun with respect to heat. The heat is much more likely to damage the wood in your forend than the soldered ribs.

Warm weather bunker shooters have been known to just take the clubhouse garden hose and run water directly through the bbls. I have seen the rib shot loose on an FN super in South America ostensibly from heat and I have seen the underside of a forearm burnt black on a very high quality double to the point there was smoke. Prudence will allow you to avoid experience with any of that, but when its 90F+ outside and there is much shooting going on it is figuratively possible to melt your fingerprints off, if you are not cautious.

A nice BTFE would correct all those hot barrels. You see why some of us like them?

Keep in mind that the solder joint is subject to a cyclical life. The more times and the deeper the cycles, the sooner it will break. I do not know at what temperature the solder might anneal as opposed to what temperatures would weaken it and shorten the cyclic life.

On the other hand---"Older people shooting doubles in very hot weather MIGHT be a problem"

It begged for some "old" person joke... Just had to say it...