Shot interval in testing?

[hayseed]

I suspect I've been waiting longer than necessary for the barrel to cool down between shots in load developement. I do want to try to be as easy on the throat as possible.

I'm currently working with a 6BR - barrel is very similar to lt varmit contour.

Curious what you guys are using for shot interval? I'd be especially interested in what dmoran or any others who use an infrared device to monitor barrel temp have figured out...

Thanks

 

[expiper]

one thing that I learned,was taught) bak in the 70's is shoot em fast and dont alow the bbl to get hot before ur done!!! I know that sounds like blasphemy...and lots of keyboard shooters will have all sorts of profound labatory and analytical data....prove it to urself....your bbl is a target size...your cal is 6mm pip squeak...not 300 mama whamma with a ctg case the size of a magic marker!!...shoot 10 times in a row --one shot every 30 sec....at the 10th shot the bbl will be hot to the touch....I dont have optical pyrometers ...oopppsss just grabit with ur hand....now clean the bbl and let it cool ...or on some other occasion....shoot 10 in 45 sec....just as fast as you can re-aim and shoot accurately...you need to be able to shoot fast to be compettive and use up or jump on a condition....and guess what as you are carrying the gun bak to the loading area it will be cool when u pik up the rifle ...then when you are walking bak it will sink out to the skin of the bbl and then you will feel it HOT....this is what taught me to shoot em in a condition rapidly and not let the bbl get all hot and "limp" and start throwing shots because I had diddled around,plinking at the target and gettin the bbl hot before I tried to shoot a group with it...
soooooooo if you are sitting plinking one shot after another after another over a chronograph,doing load development-etc..)I would not shoot more than 20-25 shots without stopping to clean the bbl ...which will cool it off for another 20...as long as you arent trying to stop an enemy wave or killin snakes the bbl shuld be able to go all day using this procedure....it certainly did for me over the yrs...when I used to sit and put rounds thru my bbls "testing"...hope this helps....Roger

 

[FroggyOne2]

I shoot till done.. actually, I want the barrel a little hot.. when your shooting at 1K with unlimited sighters and 20 rounds for score.. the barrel is going to get hot.. the load chosen has to shoot good when the barrel is hot.. YMMV

 

[dmickey]

The infrared thermometer is not what you should use to determine barrel temperature! It's reading is affected by the reflectiveness of the surface. Sears has a multimeter that uses a thermocoupler to determine temperature. It is not affected by how reflective the surface is. This is what I use. By the way, you should not let the barrel get above 120 degrees. :nono:

 

[mikecr]

Depends on your intended use.
If you plan to hunt with it, and cold barrel accuracy matters, then 1sht/15mins might work, then 1sht/hour. This also depends on the barrel as button rifled don't do so well until temperature stable. This encompasses most BR barrels, so if you have a choice, get cut rifling for this purpose.

If all you do is group shooting, competing, then it depends on the barrel replacement rate you're willing to accept for best grouping of a particular barrel. Some will not group best unless shots are fired -too fast for any serious heat sinking from the throat. Your barrel might group well at 30sec/sht, or 1min/sht. This would greatly extend barrel life, if you can get away with it. But I'm sure BR shooters try to beat the barrel heating/wondering by shooting as fast as possible.

For hunting gun load developments, I start at 1-2min/sht, then 10-15min/sht, then 1-4hrs/sht. Takes months, but my loads hold for many years at pretty much any conditions.

It's one way or another.

 

[hayseed]

Ok fellas, thanks. A range of opinions and outlooks like I expected. Gives me something to chew on.

It is a bench rifle - cut rifled barrel. I have a number of ladder tests I'd like to run and was thinking of that when I asked the question. I was hoping to limit the variables to the powder charge, as much as possible.

I may look into the multimeter with thermocouple mentioned. The ole CatShooter talked me out of buying a gizmo on another thread and I need a fix. Cripes! Hope he doesn't see this one, as I know he doesn't find ladders to be of value.:sneaky:

 

[AckleymanII]

I have used two methods to cool barrels:

1. douse the outside of the barrel with a 50/50 mixture of rubbing alcohol and water. I use a rag and rub the barrel till it is dripping off the bottom of the barrel.

2.I run water down the bore, been doing this since the late 80's using all kinds of barrels. Simply run 4 dry patches down the barrel after about 30 seconds of water has been ran down the bore. Then dry out the chamber, and you are back to shoot'en all within about 3 minutes. Works great on P. dog towns when it is hot with the barrels never cooling down.

 

[PoachersPet]

If you worried about heat in a Pdog town take a tank of CO2 fit a hose in the chamber and let er rip.