cooling a barrel down

[powder burner]

I had a discussion with a friend about shooting varmint rifles. We came to start talking about how you can cool a barrel faster. I am in the opinion that just letting it cool on its own is the best idea.

his idea was that maybe after it gets warmed up, a cool blast of compressed air would cool it down faster. (inside barrel)

I figure that it would be not so good, liking it to pouring cold water in a hot frying pan and warping/damaging something.

What do you think would happen?

 

[Levi Garrett]

I would not mess with a hot barrel, let it cool on its own.

 

[Salty]

I'm not sure that it would hurt anything, but the idea would probably work better by blowing air around the ouside of the barrel once its hot. --> more surface area to disapate heat

 

[cycbb486]

I have read

on other forums where compressed air blown thru the barrel is done to help cool them down in the heat of the summer. Another trick is water pumped thru the barrel. Basically using a bore guide with O rings in the chamber and a small sort of pump to circulate the water until it cools down. Another trick is laying a towel over the barrel and laying bags of ice on top to help cool them down. Compressed Co2 has also been used to cool barrels down. These tricks are used in the US at matches when it is hot out and they want to be sure the barrel is cool before shooting the next group or score. Just go to the range and shoot a 5 shot group with a couple of sighters when it is 90 above out, sun shining. It takes forever for the barrel to cool. I usually leave the truck going with the air on and lay it in front of the vents to help cool it down. There were no complaints of it hurting the barrel.

 

[303carbine]

The buffalo hunters used water down the barrel...then there is the machine guns that had water jackets.So who knows for sure till you fire the 22-250 for 50 rounds then dunk it in the rain barrel and see what happens.
Send me your sks rifle and I will try the test out on them....

 

[powder burner]

as long as it is your .22-250 in the rain barrel, 303 carbine.

 

[bisonhd]

I've seen some guys use a battery operated fish tank pump with a length of vinyl tubing to blow air down a barrel. Seemed to work pretty good.

 

[cosmic]

Standing the rifle vertically with the action open will create a "stack effect" through the bore. The barrel will cool down about twice as fast as it would just resting on the bench. It works for me...
On the other hand, I cant imagine that compressed air would cause damaging thermal stresses - the heat transfer coefficient is rather low (~1/50) compared to water cooling

 

[Blackthorne]

I would think that the two things to avoid would be drastic cooling (e.g. dipping a barrel of really cold water) and uneven cooling.

The Browning machine guns that have water around the barrel ALWAYS have water around the barrel. It provides gradual even cooling as heat is built up, in heat sink fashion.

I have seen AR "tourture" videos where they guy shoots 300-400 rounds and toses the thing into a puddle of sandy water with no ill affects from a functional standpoint. I have no idea if it affected accuracy.

 

[Mystic Precision]

I wrap my barrels with cold wet cloths. Works great and does not disturb bore condition. I have had no issue with barrel warping or accuracy loss. But then I never shoot a barrel hot enough to burn you on contact. Hot to the touch/hold for about 5 secs before being too warm is max.

By the time I get back from the backstop, barrel is cool enough to shoot. One of the reasons my stocks have the forend cut away so much.

I don't like putting anything down the bore especially water as this will need to be removed before firing. All this is likely to disturb the bore condition leading to fouling shots to get shooting again. That just adds more heat to the barrel before you can go play.

Jerry

 

[gth]

If you get the barrel hot enough you are afraid a dip in cold water will warp it........ its likely the barrel is toast anyways.

4-5 shots on a hot day I have used wet towels to cool the barrel, cant see why I would stop.

 

[sunray]

A barrel won't get hot enough by firing the firearm to damage it with compressed air or water. Both can create conditions suitable for rust forming though. Compressed air can create condensation in the barrel. Depending on the weather, of course. Water will get into the barrel channel and possibly cause rusting on the underside of the barrel, etc.
Let it cool by itself and have a second rifle with you.

 

[redmist25]

A fellow silhouette shooter used methal Hydrate. Pours it in through a bore guide and it cools quite fast leaving no residue or any potential for corrosion. He has been doing it for years with no ill effect.