mirage strap

I have seen 2 types. One is a black elastic band, like on a pair of jockey shorts. Small little chain like a key ring or ceiling fan chain, attaches around the front site and hooks on a screw on the reciever on a target rifle.
You can buy them from Champions Choice for about $10.
The other type are used on scope rifles ie. F Class guns and are an oblique piece of plastic held on with two pieces of Velcro glued to the barrel and mirage band.
 
I've made them out of rigid mylar(best, rain does not mess it up), old used venetian blinds(also not bad if it does not take you over weight) and old shot up IBS or NBRSA targets(high cotton content and extremely light). They allow the heat of the barrel to get out of the way of your sights/scope. I use two small pieces of Velcro to hold the shield to the barrel (one up front and one in the rear) for a fast on/off. Cost, about 10 cents for the Velcro!
 
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The brisket of course, not much good for anything else eh :) I changed the Venison to venetian ... thanks Dan

and.. Never tried one, does it make a significant difference?... Yes really big with a big scope, the target stops "dancing" from the barrel heat. With a 36x scope, you can hardly see the target after 2 - 3 rounds without the shield and with the shield, no problems. The bigger the scope the more you see it - mirage and you only want to see the mirage down range (approx 200 yds short of the target is a good spot to look for it if you are shooting 800-1000 yds), not from your barrel! Without the shield, you are adjusting for something that is not here for your bullet, only your vision. I hope this makes sense.... Mirage makes you think/see the target at a different location from were it really is...

kds
 
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Long Range Canuck said:
Never tried one, does it make a significant differance?
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Yes it makes a difference.... if you have a very accurate rifle.

I did a test many years ago back on the farm in Alberta. I wanted to see how quickly heat waves started off the barrel. One cold winter day I left my heavy rifle set up on the shooting bench in the unheated barn. Temperatures were about 30 below. I had a 32 power scope on it. I had no mirage strap on the barrel.

The next morning I raised the shooting door and concentrated on a 200 yard target. It looked great sharp and clear and no movement what ever of the crosshair on the target. It was dead still.

Then I fired one shot, resettled the crosshairs on the target and sat and looked through the scope. It looked the same as before shooting but suddenly the hairs blipped on the target 1/2 inch and then settled back. It happened again. That was simply a very little bit of heat coming off the barrel distorting the image the scope was looking though.

I fired another shot and observed more "blips" a bit more often.

With a mirage strap deflecting the heat waves to the side of your scope vision this would not happen.

Now one or two "blips" is not hard to read but eventually you read more heat waves from the barrel than from the conditions you are shooting over and it really hurts your accuracy.
 
Dennis - Sure glad to see that you can still remember being out in -30 weather. Thought that all that tropical west coast climate would have fogged the memory by know!!!!!!!Tony
 
XLR8 said:
does it matter what colour the strap is ? I.e is black better than a white strap ?
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Since you are trying to minimize heat waves rising up up through your sight picture, I would suggest white, as it is reflecting more radiation than it is absorbing and its temperature should stay cooler. Black on the otherhand would absorb more radiation (sunlight, barrel heat) and re-radiate it into the sight picture more.

The effect may be small, but I would use white, unless there are other reasons to choose another colour... camo fo example.

NormB
 
Great reading, love this forum. Just saw this on http://world.guns.ru/sniper/sn81-e.htm site and had to get more info.

How about the cloth-wrapped rifles in the movie "Enemy at the Gates", would they do it too?

Which way would be more durable, practical, and look cooler? A proper rifle with a mirage strap certainly looks fancy, but if you've just got a rather plain bolt with a barrel that heats up too fast, would the latter method be more suitable, and more easily improvised?
 
Any light rigid material will work. Some are even using corrugated cardboard. It really doesn't matter. What does is width. At least 2" but 4" is better.

Hot air will wrap around the narrower shields and you get some mirage. From 4" and out, the hot air is out of your field of view.

As to benefit, I have been shooting in the cooler weather and a barrel coming from room temp into this cooler air WILL give off horrendous mirage like a 35C summer day.

Put the shield on and no problems.

Another common option is to build a mirage tube for your scope. Make it out of a translucent plastic wrapping it around your exisiting sun shield. Extend to the an inch before the muzzle.

No issue with affecting your barrel this way.

Jerry
Jerry
 
If one were hypothetically thrifty and crude, would this work?
http://imdb.com/Photos/Ss/0215750/148-24A.jpg
law2.jpg

edit: image not appearing
 
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I (by I, I mean my wife) made one from 1.5" elastic from a fabric store and some stick on velcro stitched in 3 places on the elastic. Placed the other 1/2 of the velcro in 3 places on the barrel and Bob's ur uncle.
 
Luckyorwhat said:
I got the image I ineptly alluded to up, but how did you attach the Velcro to the barrel?
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You peel the backing off and stick it on the barrel :D.

Clean the spots on the barrel with Rubbing Alcohol first to make sure there is no oil, dirt etc.

You can see the velcro on the barrel in the pic:

KB9W0027-800.jpg



Here's one you can see the mirage band on:

KB9W9921%20copy.jpg
 
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No good

Luckyorwhat said:
I got the image I ineptly alluded to up, but how did you attach the Velcro to the barrel?
Click to expand...

Overkill as that much wrapped around your stock and barrel is going to make it impossible to fit on a front rest or use a bipod. Then there is the whole issue of inconsistency in contact which can affect your barrels harmonics.

Just velcro a sheet of something light on the barrel and have at it.

The Mosin Nagant has a full wood stock so the burlap makes no contact with the rifle. Many modern day 'pros' use similar wrappings as they have little interest in sustained fire. Only concerned about concealment. If the barrel gets hot enough that mirage becomes an issue, odds are there are bigger issues at hand.

Jerry
 
In the good ol' days, I would take my warmup HBR target (after using only one side of it, i.e., targets S, 5 and 4) and cut it lengthwise and make a shield out of the unused side (T1, T2 and T3 side) and use scotch tape to hold it on the barrel. Good for the rest of the match :)
 
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