Barrel cooling while load testing.
- Thread starter Borden811
- Start date
Well, I went out to the range again today. I couldn't bring myself to dump water down the barrel. I had planned on it, but I didn't. I did take a cooler of ice water though. Dunked a towel in it, and after evey 3 rounds I wrapped the barrel in the towel, and stood it on it's butt while I walked out and checked the target. By the time I got back, the barrel was cool. I got my shooting done in plenty off time, and even got to whack a few ground grizzlies before it got dark!
RTLOF18918B
New member
+1 on that. Works like a cham for me as I clean and oil after every shoot.
Tony
Tony
The guy that suggested water down the barrel to me built the Olympic 22 RF rifles in 1990, worked R&D for most of the major gun makers, Federal, and invented the 17 HMR.
Until the barrel steel gets to 800*, water down the barrel will not hurt the steel.
Just make sure that you use a tight punch type jag on 4 patches down the barrel, and dry the chamber...this ain't anywhere near rocket science.
Until the barrel steel gets to 800*, water down the barrel will not hurt the steel.
Just make sure that you use a tight punch type jag on 4 patches down the barrel, and dry the chamber...this ain't anywhere near rocket science.
Ackleyman, as a point of reference, what would it take to get the barrel to 800 degrees in something like one of the wssm's? I am thinking that you would have to really be trying to burn up a barrel to get it anywhere close to that.
25 years and pounds ago I was in the service(USMC). I can remember that the M60 barrels would be so hot after 200 rounds that if you touched them your skin would be left on the barrel. I am guessing that that was not even 800 degrees?
EDIT: I did a google search and came up with this:
Doesn’t really matter what the emitter is…stainless steel, cast iron, tungsten in your light bulb, the temps are about the same for a given color. Generally accepted colors/temps are:
C F Color
400 752 Red heat, visible in the dark
474 885 Red heat, visible in the twilight
525 975 Red heat, visible in the daylight
581 1077 Red heat, visible in the sunlight
700 1292 Dark red
800 1472 Dull cherry-red
900 1652 Cherry-red
1000 1832 Bright cherry-red
1100 2012 Orange-red
C= Centigrade
F= Farenheit
Your skin will burn at 130 to 140 degrees. I think we are very safely out of the 800 degree danger zone.
25 years and pounds ago I was in the service(USMC). I can remember that the M60 barrels would be so hot after 200 rounds that if you touched them your skin would be left on the barrel. I am guessing that that was not even 800 degrees?
EDIT: I did a google search and came up with this:
Doesn’t really matter what the emitter is…stainless steel, cast iron, tungsten in your light bulb, the temps are about the same for a given color. Generally accepted colors/temps are:
C F Color
400 752 Red heat, visible in the dark
474 885 Red heat, visible in the twilight
525 975 Red heat, visible in the daylight
581 1077 Red heat, visible in the sunlight
700 1292 Dark red
800 1472 Dull cherry-red
900 1652 Cherry-red
1000 1832 Bright cherry-red
1100 2012 Orange-red
C= Centigrade
F= Farenheit
Your skin will burn at 130 to 140 degrees. I think we are very safely out of the 800 degree danger zone.
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Originally Posted By: OldTurtleSerious load testing is not a process to be done with impatience...While I agree with a wet towel to speed up barrel cooling, I also take a fold up chair and a book, planning on a 'several hours' session...with much leisure thrown in...Fortunately, our shooting benches are covered, so direct sun is usually not a factor..
Your chamber will retain some residual heat and ammunition is best kept in a small cooler to resist temperature change from ambient heat..
I see what your saying but doesnt that throw unreal variable into the game? Is the ammo going to be kept in a cooler in the field? You going to use some sort of cooling device under the same situations?
Id just open the bolt and let it cool more naturally...and just keep the ammo out of direct sunlight...just like I would myself...to get the most realistic set of data..???
Your chamber will retain some residual heat and ammunition is best kept in a small cooler to resist temperature change from ambient heat..
I see what your saying but doesnt that throw unreal variable into the game? Is the ammo going to be kept in a cooler in the field? You going to use some sort of cooling device under the same situations?
Id just open the bolt and let it cool more naturally...and just keep the ammo out of direct sunlight...just like I would myself...to get the most realistic set of data..???
OldTurtle
Moderator - Deceased
Most of my "non-range shooting is on Prarie Dogs, and yes, we keep the ammo in a cooler until it is used...just to prevent wide swings in temperature between the temperature in the morning and what it may be after 10AM... Usually it is kept in the ranch house during the night and transferred to the vehicle when we start out..
I have a series of "neck coolers" that are soaked in water and they cool through evaporation, simply by turning them over...laying one along the barrel brings the temperature down reasonably quickly and they can be rotated in and out of the water easily...
My PD shooting bench is usually covered by a cheap beach umbrella for the same reason that I wear a long sleeved shirt when out in the plains...
I have a series of "neck coolers" that are soaked in water and they cool through evaporation, simply by turning them over...laying one along the barrel brings the temperature down reasonably quickly and they can be rotated in and out of the water easily...
My PD shooting bench is usually covered by a cheap beach umbrella for the same reason that I wear a long sleeved shirt when out in the plains...
I never said it was rocket science, and I never said it wouldn't work. I just personally don't want to dump water down the barrel of my rifle! I asked for a few tips, got some good ones(for the record, I believe the water down the barrel would work exceptionally well, it's just not what I want to do) and modified them to come up with my own idea/tactic that worked fine for me.
Hooked
New member
Originally Posted By: DABA rifle standing on its butt pad with the action open will cool faster than rifle laid flat with action open.
Draws air through it like a chimney.
DAB
This is the method for me.
I suppose you could get a dewer of liquid nitrogen to take along...make sure its good an hot though before ya submerse it
Draws air through it like a chimney.
DAB
This is the method for me.
I suppose you could get a dewer of liquid nitrogen to take along...make sure its good an hot though before ya submerse it
On a dog town when it is 85-90*, barrels will not cool down for hours.
We did the water down the barrel thing for years, with two top engineeers as shooting partners. Our rifles were anything from Howa's to 788's, but mostly custom rifles with Hart and Shilen barrels.
After a couple of years, we started putting on he Max Heavy Contour and Unturned blanks. We usually got 3 chambers on a 28-30" barrel that had 6 Inches of straight on the breach end(max heavy varmint contour), and perhaps the same on an unturned blank....none were ruined by water down the barrel. At that time, I was shooting 24,000-26,000 rounds of centerfire a year, hunting partners about the same...we all used water down the barrel. 223's, 6ppc's, 6 BR's all got 10,000 rounds+ on a barrel with multiple chambers, they were usaully replaced due the fact that copper fouling started accumulating faster and meant more cleaning time and less shooting.
4 dry patches down the barrel after water extened shooting strings vs just letting the fouling accumulate in the barrel if you were just air cooling the barrel.
I am still shooting some of those very same barrels today, and they still shooting groups less than .385.
If you are shooting at the rifle range for fun and hate shooting your barrel red hot or shooting ground squirrels/p. dogs, treat yourself to a standard rifle cradle(tipton, decker) attach a rod caddy that holds two rods(www.sinclairintl.com), one for the cleaning brush and the other with a punch jag on it(for the caliber). With a water bottle with a plastic tube attached to it that feeds water into the back of your rod guide, you will cool your barrel, dry patch the barrel out, dry patch the chamber, and be back to shooting in 3 minutes tops.
Any questions?
We did the water down the barrel thing for years, with two top engineeers as shooting partners. Our rifles were anything from Howa's to 788's, but mostly custom rifles with Hart and Shilen barrels.
After a couple of years, we started putting on he Max Heavy Contour and Unturned blanks. We usually got 3 chambers on a 28-30" barrel that had 6 Inches of straight on the breach end(max heavy varmint contour), and perhaps the same on an unturned blank....none were ruined by water down the barrel. At that time, I was shooting 24,000-26,000 rounds of centerfire a year, hunting partners about the same...we all used water down the barrel. 223's, 6ppc's, 6 BR's all got 10,000 rounds+ on a barrel with multiple chambers, they were usaully replaced due the fact that copper fouling started accumulating faster and meant more cleaning time and less shooting.
4 dry patches down the barrel after water extened shooting strings vs just letting the fouling accumulate in the barrel if you were just air cooling the barrel.
I am still shooting some of those very same barrels today, and they still shooting groups less than .385.
If you are shooting at the rifle range for fun and hate shooting your barrel red hot or shooting ground squirrels/p. dogs, treat yourself to a standard rifle cradle(tipton, decker) attach a rod caddy that holds two rods(www.sinclairintl.com), one for the cleaning brush and the other with a punch jag on it(for the caliber). With a water bottle with a plastic tube attached to it that feeds water into the back of your rod guide, you will cool your barrel, dry patch the barrel out, dry patch the chamber, and be back to shooting in 3 minutes tops.
Any questions?
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Hooked
New member
Nope no questions. Thats proof enough for me that no harm will come of it (pouring water down the barrel).
Definately sounds like talk from experience, and a good method you have come up with to keep the barrel cool/clean, thanks ackleyman.
Apology for the smartazz remark...just that I work a little bit with metals and have been skeptical of barrel cooling methods other than just giving it time.
It`s not like the barrel will be red hot.
Advice taken.
Definately sounds like talk from experience, and a good method you have come up with to keep the barrel cool/clean, thanks ackleyman.
Apology for the smartazz remark...just that I work a little bit with metals and have been skeptical of barrel cooling methods other than just giving it time.
It`s not like the barrel will be red hot.
Advice taken.
SuperSeal110
New member
I've used water during FF sessions. Most of the time I let them air cool out of the sun, or do load work up in early AM, or evening.
