Cooling barrel during and after string?

[diego-ted]

At one of the ranges I shoot, sometimes they will have back to back strings with maybe 15 minutes between the string. The last time they did this it was very hot 90* or so and by the end of the second string my barrel was cooking! As a matter of fact that tube never shot the same! I have seen some put a wet towel on the barrel after a string? I was wondering is the rapid cool down had an adverse effect?

How is the best way to approach this?

thx Ted

 

[Steve Blair]

A wet towel will not hurt the barrel. The steel does not become hot enough to cause a problem. I put a towel in the ice chest on hot days. Cools the barrel quickly.

 

[Immike]

I have my rifle holder in a upright, muzzle up setup on my cart for a chimney draft through the bore.

 

[DBailey]

I have my rifle holder in a upright, muzzle up setup on my cart for a chimney draft through the bore.

This works surprisingly quick. If you have the time it's the way to go.
If not, we have been using damp towels for years with good results.

 

[RStewart]

A few folks I know use a little battery powered aereator like you see on a minnow bucket to pump air through the barrel between rounds. Kinda odd the first time you walk by a person's rifle and hearing a buzzing sound.

 

[Immike]

I have my rifle holder in a upright, muzzle up setup on my cart for a chimney draft through the bore.

This works surprisingly quick. If you have the time it's the way to go.
If not, we have been using damp towels for years with good results.

I was paying close attention today since this question came up. The upright was taught to me by a old highpower shooter. And it works well with 20-30 min between firings. It's always on the job and my rifle was cold each relay. The wet towel dates way back to buffalo hunting and civil war battle. Hannah White (getting a stand) is a great read of a civil war sniper that made a living in the buffalo trade. They would cool the rifles with towels while another was doing it's job. It was a shoot the leader hunt and you didn't let up with the shots or they were leaving the area.

 

[DRNewcomb]

A few folks I know use a little battery powered aereator like you see on a minnow bucket to pump air through the barrel between rounds. Kinda odd the first time you walk by a person's rifle and hearing a buzzing sound.

We were shooting an oddball squadding at the last F-class match and I ended up shooting back-to-back strings. I asked for a few minutes to let my rifle cool off and one of the other shooters produced this aerator pump gizmo and shoved the tube into the chamber of my rifle. I thanked him but noticed that I could not feel any particular air flow coming out the muzzle. These things are designed to pump a small air flow through an aerator block under water. Fairly high pressure at a low flow rate. More placebo than anything else.

If you want to use air flow to cool the barrel, what you need is high flow at low pressure. Get some sort off funnel and attach a small computer cooling fan to it.

 

[RStewart]

A few folks I know use a little battery powered aereator like you see on a minnow bucket to pump air through the barrel between rounds. Kinda odd the first time you walk by a person's rifle and hearing a buzzing sound.

We were shooting an oddball squadding at the last F-class match and I ended up shooting back-to-back strings. I asked for a few minutes to let my rifle cool off and one of the other shooters produced this aerator pump gizmo and shoved the tube into the chamber of my rifle. I thanked him but noticed that I could not feel any particular air flow coming out the muzzle. These things are designed to pump a small air flow through an aerator block under water. Fairly high pressure at a low flow rate. More placebo than anything else.

If you want to use air flow to cool the barrel, what you need is high flow at low pressure. Get some sort off funnel and attach a small computer cooling fan to it.

what you describe using may very well be what they used. I used the minnow aereator description because thats what it reminded me of. And you could definitely feel air coming out the barrel.

 

[dmickey]

Don't forget the Winterbreeze contraption.

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

A few folks I know use a little battery powered aereator like you see on a minnow bucket to pump air through the barrel between rounds. Kinda odd the first time you walk by a person's rifle and hearing a buzzing sound.

We were shooting an oddball squadding at the last F-class match and I ended up shooting back-to-back strings. I asked for a few minutes to let my rifle cool off and one of the other shooters produced this aerator pump gizmo and shoved the tube into the chamber of my rifle. I thanked him but noticed that I could not feel any particular air flow coming out the muzzle. These things are designed to pump a small air flow through an aerator block under water. Fairly high pressure at a low flow rate. More placebo than anything else.

If you want to use air flow to cool the barrel, what you need is high flow at low pressure. Get some sort off funnel and attach a small computer cooling fan to it.

what you describe using may very well be what they used. I used the minnow aereator description because thats what it reminded me of. And you could definitely feel air coming out the barrel.

I use a Mr. Bubbles minnow aerator which I bought at Wal-Mart for $7 a few years back. You need to make sure that it fits tightly in the bore. I remove the bolt and tape the hose to the end of a bore guide rod and push the guide into position. You can definitely feel the air coming out of the barrel. Strangely enough, so far this year, I haven't had to use it. This past weekend, the temperature was in the high 70s, low 80s during the match. In July. In Houston. Maybe it will be warmer at the next match.