I was shooting the RUM the other day in 95+ degree heat.it was taking forever to shoot 3 shots.then it would not cool to my likings at all.

what I wound up doing was shooting 1 shot wait 3 minutes and shoot the second,wait 3 minutes and shoot the 3rd taking 6 minutes to shoot a 3 shot group.Then I took the gun in the basement and put it in front of 2 fans and it cooled nicely in about 3-4 minutes.

would anybody be afraid of warping the barrel or something??but this is the only way I have been able to come up with to shoot more than one group a day.

On really hot days, 90+, I have resorted to taking as many as three rifles to the range. Shoot pretty much as you, w/ 2-3 min. between shots then switch rifles. The rifle usually cools enough in 15 min. to shoot again. The range I shoot at is covered which helps a lot. Some guys have reported using damp towels, even shooting compressed air thru the bore between shots. I haven't tried that but it has some merit. I've also thought about getting a smaller battery operated fan to set on the bench & have it blowing on the bbl. while I shoot.

there are compressed air cylinders on the market for this purpose, one was featured in shooting times and the article was by rick jamison.

howsome ever........i don't remember the product name. maybe someone else can help.

I use damp towels when it's that hot, but I also take extra rifles. If water-cooling isn't for you, try racking the rifles muzzle up or down (just not horizontal) with the action open. The hot air rises, drawing cooler air in from the bottom, and it can't do that as easily without an up and down flow of air.

Jaywalker

A couple years ago there was an article in one of the rags about p/doggers using CO two on a hose to chill them down with.
Sounded good to me and was thinking about getting my bottle out. Then checked the price of a refill and decided three dollar gas was a bargain.

Keyboards locked up tonight, lost all the numbers and symbols.

Do believe since I haven't read any more about it. Those that used it, wrecked some barrels so they don't hype it up anylonger. I'd like to know for sure, as I've looked for more about it and not found anything.

Does anyone know what happened, and by whom? OR am I the only one that read it??

George

Wetting a rag with Isopropyl Alcohol is the answer. This will evaporate much quicker than water and will not rust barrels, or cause dammage to wood stocks. A fellow member of the boards showed me this and it works VERY well.

That's a BIG problem. I use a little 12V air compressor powered by a small battery, but it's not very effective (just better than nothing)

quote:

would anybody be afraid of warping the barrel or something??but this is the only way I have been able to come up with to shoot more than one group a day.

No, by all means let it cool between shots! You can let it heat up to the point that it burns your hand to touch it. This will NOT (permanently) warp the barrel, but it will sure give you a lot fewer shots before it has to be replaced if you shoot it too fast in hot weather!!

I know what the heat will do,what I was asking is if the rapid cooling would warp anything.

quote:

Originally posted by mr.big:
I know what the heat will do,what I was asking is if the rapid cooling would warp anything.

No. You won't get the barrel hot enough, or, cool it down fast enough to do that.

We live on a ranch and I have a range next to my shop building. So I use compressed air to cool the barrel on my rifles. It does no damage to the barrel to cool it down with air. I primarily shoot sporters so I cool the barrel after each 3 shots. When I am doing load development, it really speeds up the process to use the cooling procedure. Up till a month ago I just used a brass tipped nozzle and held it in place. This worked fine. Then a friend gave me some used plastic tubing that is issued to-in home oxygen patients. I cut it to a length a couple of inches shorter than the barrel and put it on the brass nozzle. Now I slide the tubing into the barrel from the chamber and move it back and forth through the barrel. Although I am not sure exactly why, this process actually speeds up the cooling even more. From a hot barrel to cool is 2 to 3 minutes. The pressure seems to make no difference. It appears to be volume that helps.

If I had to drive to a range where I didn't have the convenience of my shop air compressor, I would use a 12 VDC unit. We have a small 5th wheel RV that we took to Alaska several years ago. Prior to making the trip I purchased a high output 12 volt unit so that I could air up truck / RV tires if I was in the outback (which we were a lot). It was considerably more expensive than the small ones that are used on cars, but I am confident that it would accomplish the same cooling process. So would the small ones, just not quite as fast.

Many of my range expeditions entail the firing of hundreds of rounds. In Nevada's summer heat, I'd never get all the shooting accomplished if I had to wait for barrels to cool.

I tried pumping chilled air through the barrels with an aquarium air pump hooked to an DC-to-AC inverter in my shooting van. The air was routed through copper tubing in a cooler-chest full of ice to pre-cool it...not enough air volume and too slow.

I now carry a one-gallon jug of ice-water with a plastic tube attached for insertion into the rifle's chamber. Fifteen seconds of water-flow gives a very cool barrel, and then the bore is dried with compressed air from an "air pig" under the bench. About 15 seconds of air yields a dry bore.

The vast majority of my rifle shooting involves experimental cast-bullet loads, and proper "bore conditioning" can be very important with such ammo. The water/air treatment doesn't seem to affect the existing conditioning at all.

I've used this cooling method for several years now, and it has had no bad effects on any of my rifles. It sure as blazes saves a lot of time!

No you won't warp you barrel.

I take at least 3 guns with me and cool down with a damp rag after each shot when it's HOT out and then pull the bolt between guns to let air flow you will get more shots each time using a damp cold rag and less time sitting between guns.

If you only have one gun either throw rocks or buy a sling shot.

Howdy I had one guy suggest a fish live well bubbler made me think of a 12 volt tire pump when I complained about the long waits between shots [its 108 degrees in Alliance Nebraska today humidity is low tho] went out yesterday with my 10-22 and knocked off 64 sun dogs and one stripped ground squirrel. They really came out about 6:30 pm ,It was about 106 degrees . Expanding on the tire pump thing I bet flowing the air over dry ice would really help ,I think thats my next little project , Hell I bet you could sell something like ! Truth be known someone probably already has.

A couple of years ago some of the local BR shooters were using a 12V bilge pump, (available at Wal-Mart in the boating section) an altered boreguide, a cooler full of ice and a solution of Wintergreen to circulate from the cooler, through the barrel, and back into the cooler. This, as with many things in the world of BR, got real popular, real quick, and then dissappeared just as quick. I do think it would be great for the large calibers and cases you were referring to.

I have been using a battery operated bait aerator that I place in a small cooler with the plastic ice. I'm sure there are better ways but at about $9.00 the price was right.