Barrel Cooling Trick

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Waffen
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Barrel Cooling Trick

Post by Waffen » Tue Aug 08, 2006 4:48 am

Gentlemen,

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 medication 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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Post by Bullseye » Tue Aug 08, 2006 12:05 pm

I've never thought of using this technique before - good idea. Just remember to apply a light coat of oil to your barrel after the shooting session is complete, because the alcohol will degrease the surface finish and leave your firearm vulnerable to moisture intrusion and corrosion.

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Post by jaeger45 » Mon Aug 14, 2006 12:33 am

Me too, Bullseye- shuda thought of that, it's so obvious. In fact, I remember that as a kid, my mom would sometimes do the same thing with me or a sibling who's having a temperature: a sponge bath using a face towel dunked in water with rubbing alcohol poured on it, and it WAS refreshing: body temporature would go down in no time at all.

Now I know what to do next time I use my Remington 700 bull barrel in .223_ hopefully, I won't have to wait so long in-between shots.
A bad shot is often caused by a loose nut behind the buttplate

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Post by Dan in MI » Tue Aug 22, 2006 10:30 am

That's an old handgun silhouette trick. We just kept a spray bottle of alchohol in our shooting box. Hold your gun at arms length muzzle down and spray away until it was dripping.

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Post by J Miller » Tue Aug 22, 2006 2:40 pm

Well, that's a great tip for those whose rifle barrels are exposed. And I'll remember it the next time I get my 94s hot.
But......
What do you do when your in AZ, out in the sun, in the summer, shooting your milsurp with it's wood covered barrel and in one magazine of shooting (10 rounds) the wood is so hot it's sizzeling the oil out of it?
I don't own any NORMAL bolt guns, just two Enfields. And I can tell you, them buggers get HOT. The barrels under the wood are skinny and they get hot fast and radiate heat like crazy.
What to do?

Joe

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Post by toyfj40 » Tue Aug 22, 2006 3:07 pm

J Miller wrote:What to do?
JMBrowning: M1917A1 -or- a MG08/15
Last edited by toyfj40 on Fri Aug 25, 2006 3:45 am, edited 1 time in total.

jaeger45
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Post by jaeger45 » Tue Aug 22, 2006 9:02 pm

What do you do when your in AZ, out in the sun, in the summer, shooting your milsurp with it's wood covered barrel and in one magazine of shooting (10 rounds) the wood is so hot it's sizzeling the oil out of it?

Arizona in summer!!!
Mere mention makes my skin crinkle!!!
I come from a hot country but never experienced anything like that oven-blast heat in Yuma, AZ last Sept. But the dove shoot more than made up for it.
:D
A bad shot is often caused by a loose nut behind the buttplate

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Post by J Miller » Tue Aug 22, 2006 9:59 pm

Toy,
That would sure get the job done, but it's too rich for my blood.

jaeger45,
I've been in IL since '99. I can't wait to get back to AZ. I'll trade the blast furnace for this boiling pot anytime.

Joe

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Shooting in the Heat

Post by arizona-hermit » Thu Aug 30, 2007 10:58 pm

I routinely shoot in the AZ 'heat' for many, many hours at a time. Trick is to make your own shade and shoot something that will not overheat ;-)

One of these days, I will post pictures of my custom TC Encore .300 Win mag that I have yet to get hot, regardless of round count. Course, the barrel is a 'tad large' and it is a single shot (weighing just under 20 pounds), but running 400-500 rounds thru it in about 6 hours of shooting has yet to elevate the temperature of the metal.

Now, my old Mini-14 was a different story. I could not run thru a 50 round drum without having to set that poor thing in the shade for awhile and let it settle down. The barrel on that was a pencil-type though and it could not dissipate heat worth a plug nickel.

Never have any issues with the MKs or the 10/22s and I crank off many hundreds of rounds per hour out of those little beauties. Sure, the barrels get hot, but nothing to be concerned about.

After all, it's a 'dry heat'. ;-)
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain. [1 COR 15:10a - NASB]

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