It’s not really mirage, but that’s what shooters call it, and the thread about John Krieger prompted this question.

In that video Krieger pointed out that heat waves rising from a barrel during extended sessions could create their own “mirage” effects that can distort one’s sight picture and literally cause the shooter to aim where the target appears to be rather than where it is.

Many precision shooters, including benchresters, reportedly use some sort of mirage shield attached to the barrel to direct the heat to the side and up rather than allowing it to rise directly in front of the scope. My concern (until I learned how common that was) was what effect attaching such a shield directly to the barrel might have on precision and accuracy. One author writing about military sniping said that even wrapping a barrel with tape could affect the two.

Anyway, even though it seems to be a common practice and with no adverse effects, I’m curious whether any of the members here regularly use mirage shields and if so what your comments are.

The bechrest guys I used to know never shot without them, so any "change" would be constant. In their case you're talking about a big thick heavy bull barrel having a super thin piece of plastic two face taped to it.

Another reason (excuse) to miss!

With the calibers I'm shooting and strings of fire, no need.

When I practice always have my 22LR, gives me something to do while my centerfire barrel(s) are cooling.

Suggest to test the theory about putting something on your barrel yourself. Always good to see this kind of stuff first hand

quote:

Originally posted by offgrid:
Suggest to test the theory about putting something on your barrel yourself. Always good to see this kind of stuff first hand

Yes, but the fundamental flaw that can invalidate any accuracy test is if the shooter isn’t a very good shot.
Good point, though, and at least it would be a test of how much such shields actually reduce total mirage effects as compared without them.


And as I think about it, I wonder if the reported different accuracy and precision results shooters sometimes get depending upon whether they’re shooting from a bench or the prone might be due to differences in how much mirage affects things. Where I usually shoot across flat, bare ground, heat waves are usually very pronounced in the prone, and even in cool weather. When I shoot from an elevated bench they are much less noticeable.

For those who are familiar with heat shields, are most homemade, or are commercial models popular as well? A search did not turn up many commercial types, so I was curious.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:

quote:

Originally posted by offgrid:
Suggest to test the theory about putting something on your barrel yourself. Always good to see this kind of stuff first hand

Yes, but the fundamental flaw that can invalidate any accuracy test is if the shooter isn’t a very good shot.
Good point, though, and at least it would be a test of how much such shields actually reduce total mirage effects as compared without them.

Also referring to putting tape on your barrel and how it effects accuracy.

DIY mirage shield. A slat from aluminum or plastic blinds, velcro'd a couple spots to your barrel.

http://bulletin.accurateshoote...rself-mirage-shield/

My goto distance rifle is a Sako TRG. And like all things Sako there is a factory setup for everything and I have one for the mirage band. Its well thought out. But I am simply not good enough to know if it does anything. I mounted it and didn't notice any particular improvement and so it stays home. FWIW..

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:

quote:

Originally posted by offgrid:
Suggest to test the theory about putting something on your barrel yourself. Always good to see this kind of stuff first hand

Yes, but the fundamental flaw that can invalidate any accuracy test is if the shooter isn’t a very good shot.
Good point, though, and at least it would be a test of how much such shields actually reduce total mirage effects as compared without them.


And as I think about it, I wonder if the reported different accuracy and precision results shooters sometimes get depending upon whether they’re shooting from a bench or the prone might be due to differences in how much mirage affects things. Where I usually shoot across flat, bare ground, heat waves are usually very pronounced in the prone, and even in cool weather. When I shoot from an elevated bench they are much less noticeable.

For those who are familiar with heat shields, are most homemade, or are commercial models popular as well? A search did not turn up many commercial types, so I was curious.

As I stated in the Krieger video thread, F-Class shooters all have mirage shields on their rifles except when the wind is fast enough to eliminate the need and even cause issues with the shield.

Sinclair used to sell one for a few dollars. They are easy to make. About 8 years ago, I started putting some stickers on my shield to differentiate it from all the other plain Jane ones. Of course people started doing the same thing. Then I switched from product placement to personalization. I'm a pretty fair artist capable of drawing pictures and cartoons and such and I concocted one for my rifle, which I transferred to a decal and then onto my mirage shield.

There are now commercial models made of carbon fiber nd thus costing several dollars, but I'm still with my same Sinclair model that I last bought 5 years ago. All my barrels have the Velcro patches at the same location and I can move the shield from one to the next. I am now in the process of colorizing my latest drawing and will be creating a decal of it on the computer soon so as to have even more color on my next mirage shield.

Different games require different equipment; in F-class we will be in one position, hammering 20+ rounds on a very small target far away. No time for cooling and we don't move the rifle. Barrel heat management is a thing in F-Class, especially in summer in south Texas or (gasp) Phoenix at the Nationals in 2020. This is why we have mirage shields during the firing and chamber chillers after firing is complete.

Yes, it makes a difference, especially at 1000 yards; we have enough issue with the real mirage without having to add on barrel heat.

No, they do not induce anything on the barrel. They weight less than an ounce.

Well, it looks like I'm the only one here who uses a mirage shield.

I'm not surprised as I seem to be the only F-class shooter here.

quote:

Originally posted by NikonUser:
Well, it looks like I'm the only one here who uses a mirage shield.

I'm not surprised as I seem to be the only F-class shooter here.

I tried to shoot a 600yd F-Class match, I was sent packing because I didn't have the required passport, a Medicare card.

quote:

Originally posted by offgrid:

quote:

Originally posted by NikonUser:
Well, it looks like I'm the only one here who uses a mirage shield.

I'm not surprised as I seem to be the only F-class shooter here.

I tried to shoot a 600yd F-Class match, I was sent packing because I didn't have the required passport, a Medicare card.

You think you're funny?

Smart donkey.

Actually, I must admit that was pretty funny. I do have a Medicare card, but I've been shooting F-class for about 13 years now. One day, I hope to get a decent score.

I use a heat wrap around the suppressor, but not the entire barrel. Just wrapping the suppressor, makes a big difference over not having anything on it.

I wanted to add just another thought to this thread.

When I look through my scope at the target at 600 or 1000 yards away, I usually run the scope at 40X magnification.

This translates to a field of view (FOV) of right at 0.5 degree. From the front of my scope to the muzzle is about 24 inches and the first 3 are covered by the sunshade. This means that the field of view at its widest over the barrel will be at the muzzle and that translates to 0.21 inches. My mirage shield is 2 inches wide.

The area with the most heat radiating from the barrel will be at the barrel throat and the further out you go toward the muzzle, the less heat radiates from that section of the barrel.

This means that for those who do not want to be bothered with a a mirage shield, simply having the sunshade on your riflescope will go a long way to alleviate the effects of the heat rising from your barrel.

You should ALWAYS have your sunshade on your riflescope. It protects the objective lens from impacting stuff, greatly reduces glare and increases somewhat the contrast of the image in bright sunlight conditions. My riflesopes all wear their sunshades; cheap insurance and better performance.

ETA: Oh and I just printed my latest design, now going on my mirage shields. (Yes, I have a few.)

quote:

Originally posted by ksss:
I use a heat wrap around the suppressor, but not the entire barrel. Just wrapping the suppressor, makes a big difference over not having anything on it.

In my experience, the mirage from an uncovered suppressor is much worse than anything I've experienced from my barrels.

quote:

Originally posted by NikonUser:
You should ALWAYS have your sunshade on your riflescope.

Indeed, and it still annoys me that Leupold never made one to fit the Mark 6 3-18 sight. I managed to make my own for probably less than they would have charged for it, but how can a sight like that not have the option of a sunshade?

I don't know much about Leupold; none of their products interest me as they are all so mundane. Yes, I am a scope snob.

I do see that they have a Alumina 3inch sunshade for the Mark6 HD 3-18X50, I should think they have one for the 44mm model. Is that not what you are looking for?

For a 50mm obhectuve I think a 56 thread will work fine. For a 44mm objective, try a 50mm thread. But if you have it solved now, then disregard.