Cooling barrels?

[Rick Richard]

My biggest issue lately has been a very hot Suppressor causing mirage. I only have one suppressor. The second biggest issue is the sweat dripping in my eyes from heat and humidity.
@VinceMule - very impressive company you kept while shooting/hunting. Great ideas shared!

It's amazing how hot a suppressor can get with only a few shots down the tube.

 

[Phil Rizzo]

No. I hunted with Rockwell's Number one engineer on the B1 bomber project. He also invented the 17 HMR, Browing Boss, built the 22 Rimfire Olympic rifles in 1990-1992, and was the lead engineer on the development of the Federal Gold Metal Match ammo, also R&D for Anchutz, Pac Nor, and PMC, and much more.

As we were shooting as fast as we could load and acquire targets on P. dog towns in S. Dakota, ground squirrels, and Jack Rabbits in N. Nevada, we were cooling our barrels from 223-243 AI with wash rags doused with 50/50 Water/Rubbing Alcohol. Finally, on the long ride home, he said, "Keith, there is a lot quicker and better way to cool barrels".

Well, on the next trip, he had a contraption rigged up in the back of a Bore Guide that had an O ring on the nose that would seal off the chamber. He ran room-temperature water down the bore for perhaps 20 seconds, and the barrel was dead cool. He then pushed 4 dry patches down the barrel on a tight punch type of jag, dryed the chamber with a shotgun patch on a 45 caliber pistol rod, and was back to shooting, all in 3 minutes. Not a single drop of water got on the outside of the gun or in the action. The process is a 3 minutes, back to shooting with the same sight settings.

After he had a few trips under his belt, he got in contact with Bill Davis, head of Aberdeen Proving Grounds Who had helped him in the development of the Olympic Ammo design, and Bill told him how they cooled barrels with water down the bore. Then he contacted Gene Harwood, who was a vice president at Shell Motor Oil in Mt. St Helens, and asked his advice. All three agreed that the water down the bore would not hurt any steel as steel would have to get to 800* before the water would warp the steel. My next concern was if microdroplets would damage the bore because water can not be compressed. They all three laughed at me assuring me that gases 1700* and hotter proceed a bullet down the bore, evaporating any micro particles of water.

So, since 1987, I have been cooling my barrels with water down the bore, the finest barrels made, and chrome moly barrels that I pushed an oil patch down at the end of the shooting day. There was also the added benefit of being able to shoot longer shot strings on the p. dogs due to carbon being removed on the 4 dry patches.

Dozens of us use this method now. On my 243 AI's with a 31" unturned blank, I would get three chambers as a rule of thumb, and the 4th chamber would be a 22-24" 6 BR, giving us 10,000 rounds on a barrel blank. Win 760 and later on, AA2700 is still used in the 243 AIs with H335 or AA2230 being used in the 223s and AI's.

Steve and Gene thought there may be a way to market the simple contraption to cool the barrels, but the concept is so unconventional that no one would accept it.

The simple contraption is sold at auto parts stores that screws on the top of a quart of oil. The nose on the piece fits perfectly in the back of a lot of bore guides. Any 1 or 2-liter soda pop bottle has the thread pitch of the quart of oil. The contraption that screws on the top of the quart of oil runs around $3-$4 last time I bought one.

We were all shooting Hart SS rifle barrels at that time along with Krieger, Pac Nor, and Shilen. Gene, was Director of the National Benchrest Shooters Association, and he set a World Record with the 6 BR in 1987 shooting his own 60g Bullets with H335 at 3700 fps on a Heavy varmint rig. Gene as a matter of his profession as a chemical engineer had to think outside the box as a matter of habit. Gene, Steve, and I shot registered Benchrest together, but we gave it all up due to how good the varmint hunting was at the time. Not one of us ever ended up with any kind of issue with these fine Benchrest Stainless steel barrels that were on Stolle Panda or Hall M actions. All of these engineers had bore scopes in 1987. Steve was doing R&D with Pac Nor and we shot quite a number of their barrels, particularly their three groove barrels that are fast and foul little.

We found out early on that barrels do not cool if you stand them up with the bolt open when the air temp is 85+ Degrees. Steve and Gene used to bust a gut laughing at me when I would tell them I was concerned about the water hurting the barrels on those benchrest rigs when I first started using water down the barrel. Later on, my regular P. dog hunting partner was a V.P., head engineer of a major Defense Contractor. The first time he saw me cool my barrel with the water, his immediate response laughing was, "Why has not anyone ever done this before?" Larry and I shot dogs together for 12 years before skin cancer finally took him.

The right fluid sure removes heat a lot faster than this summer air. We've put spray nozzles in front of diesel power unit radiators, and added constantly circulated water through irrigation gear drives to get them down to acceptable temps.
Our 55* groundwater s refreshing to everything when it's a sunny steam pit outside.

 

[K9TXS]

When I'm at the range shooting my 6BR, I use a small microfiber towel draped over over the barrel and it stays wet. I keep a spray bottle next to my setup and spray it every now and then. My 6BR is on a chassis.

When shooting my Contender setups or any other firearm with a wooden stock, I use an IV method. A 19 ounce water bottle with clear tubing and a brass case will deliver water quickly without fear of water getting on the wood forearm. I started using the IV method over 20 years ago when shooting black powder rifles.

It usually takes about 9 ounces to cool the barrel. Next run several patches through the bore until a patch comes out dry. Usually 3 patches will do it. You will also notice you're removing carbon at the same time.

 

[Rodbolt]

 

[VinceMule]

The quart oil bottle extension sold at auto parts looks exactly like your contraption, threads on it fit all 1 and 2 liter bottles, nose fits in the back of many bore guides perfectly, not a drop of water gets on the gun.

 

[choprzrul]

Chamber chiller for internal cooling + external fan on a Dewalt battery works for me....but then I never shoot in the kind of heat most of you do in the summer.

 

[Bravo 4]

I use an air mattress pump.

Same here. Run a 3/8" tube from electric air mattress pump (plug in or battery, I've got both) down the chamber and voila…cool barrel quick!

 

[Bravo 4]

I don't know if barrels can warp

Only seen it on machine guns. And I agree that not letting it get hot is the best answer. However sometimes you gotta run several rounds relatively fast in certain scenarios, some competitions being one example.

 

[Phil Rizzo]

I usually shoot 3 in this summer weather and blow through for a few minutes. When these big ones get warm it takes longer to get back "down" to our lovely air temps, for sure.

Walmart mattress pump and a drinking straw, powered by the battery booster pack I keep in the truck.

 

[bdlesh]

What if you had a cooler with chilled water and a pump to circulate thru the barrel? You could have a tube with an o-ring to insert in the breech and a rubber hose of bore size for the return line.

 

[K9TXS]

What if you had a cooler with chilled water and a pump to circulate thru the barrel? You could have a tube with an o-ring to insert in the breech and a rubber hose of bore size for the return line.

Good idea but not really needed. I run approximately 10 ounces of tap water through the barrel in my I V system and found that was all I needed. Your idea is good, but it's just more stuff to carry to the range.

 

[VinceMule]

I usually shoot 3 in this summer weather and blow through for a few minutes. When these big ones get warm it takes longer to get back "down" to our lovely air temps, for sure.

Walmart mattress pump and a drinking straw, powered by the battery booster pack I keep in the truck.

Phil, great idea! How long does it take? Does it get dead cool?

 

[Phil Rizzo]

The atmospheric temp dictates everything, but it keeps me from running too hot for sure.

 

[DUCKMAN11]

Now yall got me thinking about a mist system. I have a few small bug sprayer pumps that I use to spray apple juice and vinegar on ribs. I bet I can get some air line and rig up something with a water/alcohol mix. Maybe throw a shot of CLR in there for carbon. I bet I could Y in the mist while running the mattress pump. This 25-06 I'm messing with gets hot in a hurry! The 25max that's next will probably be worse