Cooling hot barrel

[mikegaiz]

Say you are doing load development on a hot day. Will it hurt your barrel if you cool it down evenly with ice, or cold water? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[ridgeway]

I'd let it cool down by itself or put a fan on it. The only issue with ice, the cooling won't be consistent in certain areas.

 

[OIF/OEF]

I have used a wet towel from my ice chest.....man I sure hope I didn't screw anything up. Ive read others doing this also Sir with no adverse effects. Only thing I could possibly imagine is water running down into the trigger somehow and not cleaning it out or a lot of water exposure to bare wood. I probably didn't answer the question and Im sorry but yes I have used a cold wet towel with adverse effects yet.


Very Respectfully

 

[ShootDots]

I live in Houston. It is smokin' hot down here all summer. We used to take a mattress air pump and pump ambient air thru the barrel. It WILL cool your barrel down quickly during the Spring, Fall and Winter. However, it never worked during the summer. It cooled it down faster, however, "faster" is still slow. So when we develop a load down here, you fire no more than 5 shots, give it 15 minutes and shoot again. Your barrel will still get hot, however, it won't raise a welt in this manner. On another note, you still need to test that load anyhow, so we will go on an off-day to the range (600 or 1000) and fire off a "match or 2" as if we were actually in a match. This will tell you if you will blow primers or get a hard bolt lift after about 15- 20 rounds in that level of heat. You do not want to be in the middle of a match to find that your bolt is locking up!

 

[Toolbreaker]

I haven't tried to cool a barrel artificially with ice or water, but one option is to stand the rifle, muzzle up, with the bolt open. It's surprising how quickly it'll cool down this way. Range rules permitting, of course.

 

[rudysts]

A fan works good for me usually takes ten minutes to cool down I usually pull the bolt out so cooler air can blow through the chamber.

 

[5spd]

I made a terry cloth tube that slides over my barrels to the action & keep it pretty wet in the hot temps, been doing that for 40 years with no problems ever.

 

[Sniper338]

Ive thought about it... but continue to pull the bolt out and let it cool on its own. Theres no way to cool it consistantly if you have a stock... thw bottom of the barrel would still be hotter... a fan works good... as for me.. id never put water of any sort on my metal parts... cetakoted or not.. i stand by my "water isnt particularly good all over a rifle" thinking...

Heard of a guy using an aquarium air pump amd a hose and sticking it in the chamber and pushing air through the barrel...

As far as ive seen though... no way to effectively cool down a barrel perfectly even other than letting it cool on its own....

Perfect excuse for another rifle... gotta have one to shoot while my others cooling down... haha

 

[JRS]

A shot of nitrous through the barrel cools it down very quickly

 

[Sniper338]

A shot of nitrous through the barrel cools it down very quickly

Someones a racing fan.. that would work.

 

[MrMajestic]

Or CO2 from a beer drinkers kegalator! ;D

 

[Dgd6mm]

I've used a wet rung out towel a time or two. Rifles still shoot with the same accuracy.

 

[people]

I just use time and a shot every five minutes when doing load development.

Now when just shooting a terry cloth jacket that is wet works great. I have also used the water down the tube.

 

[fredhorace77]

Take a can of compressed air, turn the can upside down and shoot it from the chamber towards the muzzle. You will have a frozen barrel in seconds.

 

[Joe R]

ShootDots said:
I live in Houston. It is smokin' hot down here all summer. We used to take a mattress air pump and pump ambient air thru the barrel. It WILL cool your barrel down quickly during the Spring, Fall and Winter. However, it never worked during the summer. It cooled it down faster, however, "faster" is still slow.

Ditto, for what my friend Ben said.

I use temperature stickers to keep track of the barrel temperature ( http://www.mcmaster.com/#thermometer-strips/=yf4f21 ) I set the rifle on the rack, pointing up and use a aquarium battery operated air pump http://www.amazon.com/Marine-Metal-Bubble-Water-Resistant/dp/B002QFZYLC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1439125440&sr=8-1&keywords=hush+bubbles to push air through the barrel. It works as well as one can expect. Yesterday I was at the range it was 98 degrees in the shade and 112 with the heat index. Here in Houston we know about heat.

Joe

 

[TAJ45]

A serious PD shooter bud of mine, back in the day of 15- 20K rds in 2 wks, anal as heck and a BR competitor, using a half dozen rifles doggin' would use an aquarium pump and water down the bbl, patch it out and gtg with no ill after effects. Just a fwiw.

 

[jlow]

Water down the barrel works great to cool but unless you can completely dry both the barrel and especially the chamber, you got problems. I’ve looked down a barrel with a borescope after running wet and dry patches through and you will be surprised the amount of liquid still in there.

 

[waterfwlr]

I was going to start the same topic yesterday. My 6-284 during load development takes forever. I tried the compressed air. Did nothing. Tried a cold chamois, worked a little but doesn't get the stock covered part. Action open and muzzle up in the shade is about it.

 

[amlevin]

I picked up a battery operated fan from Amazon that runs on two D-Cells. I merely set it up next to the rifle and angle it so it blows diagonally from breech to muzzle across the barrel. Not only does my barrel run a lot cooler, I have no "barrel mirage" or any more need to any Rube Goldberg band across the top of my barrel. By leaving it on continuously the barrel cools between shots and during cease fires or "whiz breaks". Cooling rate is continuous rather than the "shock" of a cold, wet, towel.

On hot days I set it on high and cooler days, low. Battery is still the original after several months of shooting twice per week. Don't want to buy a fan, then find a scrapped out computer fan that's around 4"-6" in dameter and run it off a home-made battery pack or motorcycle battery.

 

[jlow]

What we need is a water jacket like they have on the old Vickers MGs! ;D