Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles rapid barrel cooling

Had a really good year p.d. hunting this summer, main problem with my creedmore on a hot day, could only get 7or 8 rounds off and barrel was really warm.So we took a 5 gallon bucket,3 gallons of cool water in a thermas,a piece of tygon tubing and small funnel, when barrel got hot we put barrel in bucket and poured cool water down barrel, amazing how fast that cooled the barrel, back to shooting p.d.'s i'm just wondering if there's any chance of barrel warpage etc.it's a heavy pac-nor barrel.

I doubt you know what "really warm" is.

Unless that barrel is glowing, not much to worry about with "warping." Keep it below boiling, don't shoot it wet, and you're good.

One of the "D" battery powered minnow bucket aerators... open the rifle's bolt, insert air hose in chamber... easy-peasy

Most don't...we had to set aside a rifle more than once on PD shoots, but the epitome came when we set one aside( a bolt gun mind you...) and it cooked off the round in the chamber!!!


It was of course pointed in a safe direction...but that incident raised the bar for hot barrels!

I just use a camping air mattress pump and fifty cents of surgical tubing.

Tom,

The hottest barrel I've seen on a PD shoot started the walnut forend on fire, on a 100+ degree day. We smelled it before we noticed the smoke.

It was put out by putting the barrel and forend in a big cooler full of ice and water, amid a few canned and bottled drinks. The rifle (a .22-250) went back to shooting exactly like it had before.

That's why walnut should always be free floated......

...to get the proper fuel to air ratio.

I have smoldered a couple wood stocks....

Emery: I have been known to take 12 to 14 Rifles along on a Prairie Dog Hunt.
Barrel gets warmer than just plain warm then it's set aside and the next Rifle comes out.
A close friend of mine ruined an exceptionally accurate Remington 40XB-KS Rifle in 220 Swift by shooting it hot then kept on shooting.
He sent it back to Remington for re-barreling (due to diminishing accuracy) at less than 1,000 rounds (half a seasons shooting!).
The re-barreling shipping and insurance cost him over $400.00 back then.
I've been along when folks have tried cooling barrels (and in fact they did get cooled) with water, wet towels, fans, ice packs etc etc etc and I think my method is better - don't let the barrels get hot.
When one Rifle gets warm then switch Rifles.
Stand the warm Rifle in the shade and leave the bolt (breech) open and facing any incoming breeze and the empty barrel pointed skyward - the chimney effect helps cool the barrel this way.
Personally I would rather NOT stick my accurate Varmint Rifles barrels into water.
Best of luck to you with whichever methods you use in the future.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I think pacing your shots would be more efficient than using ice water every 8 rounds.




Travis

It you touch the barrel and you instinct is to pull your hand away because it’s hot - you are burning throat each time you shoot.

Maybe try taking more rifles pdog shooting and rotate them so you don’t have to worry about it, just don’t lay them in the sun.

We do that routinely but many occasions arise when both ( usually take two apiece..) guns are too hot to touch....

I dont believe you can hurt SS through rapid cooling.

I've tested more than one of the gadgets that push air or C02 through the bore, but they don't work any better (and usually not as quickly) as several simpler solutions.

If the ambient temperature isn't too warm, I set hot-barreled muzzle-up in the shade, with the action open. The convection of the hot air inside the bore sucks cooler air from the breech up through the barrel, without having to use any gadget. When barrels get really hot, pouring cold water on the outside of the barrel works as well as anything I've tried. Tilting the barrel downward water to trickle along its length. The only trick here is to bring plenty of cold water.

The other solution that allows shooting longer before the barrel heats up is to use smaller cartridges, since the majority of barrel heat is the result of burning powder. Probably 90% of my prairie dog shooting is done anymore with the .17 HMR, .17 Hornet and .22 Hornet, either standard or K. Unless the day's over 80 degrees their barrels don't heat up very fast, and the .17 Hornet is good to 300+ yards in normal wind conditions.

Keeping barrels cool is in direct proportion to how many you bring and how much you shoot. Even with 15-20 guns, ice still gets deployed...

Truth John.

Ive got a fluted barrel on a .222 and it takes awhile to heat up, and cools off rapidly.

A .22-250 on a PD shoot in my opinion, is next to useless...they heat up so fast...

I reached that conclusion about the .22-250 long ago, shortly after plastic-tipped bullets appeared--but also dislike it on PD's due to recoil. It's much easier to spot your own shots through the scope with a smaller round, and being able to spot your shots results in more hits.

These days there are far better solutions, but I still see shooters from other parts of the country bringing .22-250's to their first PD shoot--and (usually) learning the same lessons. One I took PD shooting a couple years ago brought ONLY a .22-250, so I brought along several other rifles he could try. The next year he left the .22-250 at home and brought a brand-new .17 Hornet, and had great fun.

A little lesson I pointed out to John a few years back...