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Saw this on on Nosler forum. Would this harm the barrel? THANKS jerry The temperatures across the US have been getting hot lately and I figured I would post a trick to help you shoot your rifles quicker, while keeping the barrel cool. This tip will probably only help people who shoot precision bolt rifles, as you cannot do it very well with a semi-auto. I have noticed a trend on certain forums to try to create some sort of elaborate device to cool barrels to allow you to fire faster and I’ve found that unnecessary. I along with a buddy have started using a washcloth and a bottle of isopropyl alcohol. To cool the barrel apply a liberal amount of alcohol to the rag, and rub on the barrel until the rag has evaporated. I generally pour more on the rag and go back for a second round of rubbing, but it's certainly up to you. I have found that this will not warp wood stocks, will not harm synthetics, and will cool VERY fast. It cools because it's a liquid, thus the heat dissipation properties are obvious, however it being alcohol when it evaporates it draws heat from the inside of the barrel and brings it out towards the outside for faster dissipation. Another advantage is that it's very cheap, something like 99 cents a bottle at any drug store. A large bottle usually lasts me something like 1-2 months with heavy shootings. This drastically cuts my shooting times in half, epically when the ambient air temps are around 100+. Just something to think about. | ||
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Be careful lighting up if you smoke around that evaporating alcohol. | |||
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I've used a small plastic tube and funnel to pour ice water down the barrel while prairie dog shooting. Run a dry mop thru the barrel afterwords. I wouldn't tell anyone to do it but I have and have suffered no ill effects from it. | |||
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If it's hot, I just take a cooler with ice water and a few rags that stay in the water. When shooting a rifle, I wrap one of the ice cold wet rags around the bbl. Been doing it for years. When done shooting, immediately oil up the bbl after drying it. Never had a problem. No different than hunting in the rain. Ice water ~ $0.50/gallon....Alcohol ~ $0.99/bottle. Ted Kennedy's car has killed more people than my guns | |||
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Stick with the alcohol. I've been doing that since I was a kid and have turned several fellow shooters on to it as well. Works like a charm. The difference with the water is that it doesn't evaporate like the alcohol, which means it wont wick the heat off as quickly and can not only cause you rust problems but also jack with your stock (potentially). My $.02 | |||
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Since you're cooling down the top half of the barrel (where the stock is) and then presumably the entire barrel (past the forearm), do you see any point of impact shift? Theorectically, the top half or the barrel, getting wiped down and cooled by the rubbing alcohol will contract at a faster rate in cooling. You would think that it may "curl" the barrel upward, printing shots higher. Maybe not. | |||
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I started doing that in 1982 when I was shooting Unlimited Pistol; class in IHMSA. I would keep a small spray bottle of rubbing alcohol on the mat with me and spray the barrel down after every 5 rounds. I found it to work pretty well back then. Elite Archery and High Country dealer. | |||
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Got a laugh out of a Western once. A crack shot with a BP, maybe a Sharps, got into a contest shooting clay-pigeons against a mild cartridge lever action. His single shot cannon was getting too hot to use and looked like he might have to forfeit the shoot. A famous character was watching and offered to help. He dunked the barrel in a bucket of water causing much sizzleing and vapour, and the owner nearly pooped himself. However he was assured it wouldn't be harmed. Must have unnerved him though as I think he soon missed a target and lost the shoot. | |||
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I'm the one that posted that over on the Nosler forums and I will continue to assert that this does cause no ill effects to the rifle or stock. The one advantage this has over water is that it evaporates! Thus not rusting your barrel. You can construct some device that pours water down the barrel but I have enough trouble keeping a foaming bore cleaner in my barrel let alone a much free'er moving liquid such as water or alcohol. I just prefer to not have a mess, and if it creates one it evaporates in about 2 minutes. The only advice I can offer is that if you feel this will damage a barrel then ask a buddy to try it, try it on a stainless/synthetic stock, try it on something because I can guarantee you it works. Another benefit I overlooked in my original posting is that it's nice to have alcohol in case you get cut on something at the range. I also posted the same thing over on "Long Range Hunting" which is another forum I frequent, a guy saw the tip and used it in an F-class match and said it worked like a charm, with no change in impact. It's certainly up to you if you don't want to try it but I can state that it has never harmed any of my barrels or any of my buddy's barrels or anyone’s I've ever seen it used on. This would include wood/blued guns, stainless synthetic guns, or any combination you can think of. | |||
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I've read where some high volume bench rest types use a tank of compressed carbon dioxide (CO2) and some tubing to send the gas down the barrel. IIRC it took only a minute or two to cool it back down. Being a gas, there is no residue of any kind to deal with. I'm sure nitrogen would also work. The beauty of the second amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it. -- Thomas Jefferson http://tcbunch.com | |||
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