I was out sighting in a new scope on my muzzle-loader and it hit me that the wet patches I was using to clean the barrel between shots did a pretty good job of keeping the barrel cool. I use a wet patch followed by a dry patch. When I am shooting my centerfire rifles at the range it seems like I am always for the barrels to cool down.

So the idea came to me about using wet patches on my 22-250, 257 Roberts and 6.5 Swede rifles. All have carbon steel barrels.

I was thinking about using an ice cold wet patch, a dry patch and then leave the bolt open for the barrel to dry.

Are there any drawbacks or pitfalls to this approach? It would of course require cleaning and oiling the barrel promptly after the range session.

I can't see any downside to it, except maybe that "clean bore" impact point tends to be a bit different from a slightly fouled barrel.

I tend to always fire a couple of fouling shots before shooting for groups. But if you're cleaning between shots, then you will be firing all rounds to the "clean bore" impact point and should retain normal accuracy.

The only other drawback might be increased barrel wear from the cleaning rod. I'd use a bore guide to minimize it if possible.

Mort
I just lay a cold wet rag on the barrel between groups. This seem to cool the barrel down the fastest and I alternate rifles, that way I don't have to sit around waiting for them to cool down. One is always ready to go.

Maz, TJAY,
Thanks for the responses!

For centerfire rifle I usually use an indoor range about 7 mi. from my house as the closest outdoor range is about 40mi from my house. The range charges by the hour so I like to get the most shooting into an hour of time.

I normally take two rifles to the range and alternated as TJAY suggested but even then it doesn't take much time for both barrels to get uncomfortably warm to the touch. I also leave the cooling rifle sitting upright with the bolt open so the chimney effect can move air up the barrel. Still they get plenty warm.

We have used isopropyl alcohol as a cooling mechanism on our rifles for a few years now. Buy the 70% stuff at the drug store, get a squirt bottle and run the alcohol down the side of the barrel or in the bore with the rifle held muzzle down allowing the excess to drain into a container to allow you to reuse it (use it only for this purpose once contaminated). Let the barrel dry and it willcool down rapidly through evaporation. I run two dry patches though before the next round of firing. Works great...jsut remember to dry the bore lest your next shot will be inches off. The alcohol will not harm modern stock finishes or synthetic stocks but be sure to oil the bore and outside after use...it strips off oil.

Paul