Barrel cooling interval during ladder test

[trapper10]

How long do you allow the barrel to cool between shots? I know there are variables, but wanted to start the thread....

 

[wvbuckbuster]

Different variables come into play. Outside temperature, thickness of barrel being shot, load as in amount of powder and such. Rule of thumb I let the barrel cool enough to easily lay my hand on it without being any sort of uncomfortable. The thinner the barrel the longer the wait. Just me. Dan.

 

[GregoryB.]

I typically wait about 2 minutes between shots.

 

[ElmerThud]

Depends very much on the ambient air temperature & as said barrel thickness. I wait until the barrel is properly cold & zero per first shot on the cold barrel. I rarely shoot more than 3 rounds from clean, cold barrel. Almost never change scope settings. It's then 100% accurate for hunting

 

[badaxeriverman]

Are you competition shooting or are you just doing ladder testing with hunting ammo? I just normally feel my barrel by touch and if it’s too hot, I give it a few minutes and let it cool down when I’m ladder testing hunting rounds. I’ve had some barrels shoot one whole groups, blood hot. It just depends on the gun and if you have it bedded properly in free floated. In my opinion, if the gun is not bedded properly in the barrel is not free floated as soon as it heats up, you’re gonna be all over the place. IMO seem not to open up as much when the gun is built correctly. My cheap Bear Creek arsenal 243 upper the last time I took it out for ladder testing. I just kept dumping rounds through it five shots at a time and not letting it cool down. Out of the 12 group I tested only one opened up I hair over MOA. Anywhere from .3 to .7. Barrel was hot and it didn’t make any difference. Same with my 300 RUM barrel sitting on an HS precision stock. Blood hot I shot a .3 inch group when water testing and found that it does it consistently with a cold or hot barrel.

If I was a competition shooter, but yes, I would let it cool down in between shots. Just don’t have all day to sit there to let my barrel cool on between shots unless I need to brag on paper to my buddies or win the gold at the Olympic's. The group I shot the other day on the avatar. I have posted. I shot once at 25 yards and then I shot this group. So that was on a cold barrel with a 35 Whelen 7600 pump. It was warm by the time it got to the third and fourth shot because I didn’t wait from 25 yards with a one shot site in and worked my way to 100 yards. I also adjusted my site over a couple clicks and shot two more times to zero the gun and both the shots touched. Guess it just all depends on the gun. When I first started reloading 25 years ago, I would shoot three times and let the gun cool down for 5 to 10 minutes and then shoot another three shot group. I think a clean barrel helps more, or just as much, as a hot barrel. After about a dozen shots or so, I don’t do a deep clean, but I just use the boars snake and run it through once or twice to knock out the excess fowling. Seems to tighten up groups after one or two quick runs with the snake.

 

[frankm]

When we ve shot ladders typically 2 minutes between each shot; on overbore cartridges like 257 Weatherby and other magnums we d wait 3 minutes. Those were with med weight sporter barrels and 10 shot ladders.

 

[Charlie-NY]

Using a battery powered air mattress inflator and a flexible hose, I'll shoot ambient temperature air through the bore for about 1 minute between each shot. However, after 3 shots, I'll let the barrel cool for 5-10 minutes.

 

[JD338]

I've used a damp towel over the barrel to cool it down quickly.

JD338

 

[wvbuckbuster]

Using a battery powered air mattress inflator and a flexible hose, I'll shoot ambient temperature air through the bore for about 1 minute between each shot. However, after 3 shots, I'll let the barrel cool for 5-10 minutes.

I used a setup like yours for good while that works fine then I bought the small fan the magneto speed sells that fits it the chamber area. It does well, not as balky plus the battery lasts descent amount of time. Dan.

 

[Charlie-NY]

I used a setup like yours for good while that works fine then I bought the small fan the magneto speed sells that fits it the chamber area. It does well, not as balky plus the battery lasts descent amount of time. Dan.

I had two different commercially made barrel coolers. They ate batteries and moved very little air compared to the mattress inflater. The mattress inflater cost about $35 on Amazon and you can really feel the air it pushes out the muzzle. The only downside to the rechargeable mattress inflater is that it can fully discharge the internal battery. But, you can plug an external battery into it for extended use. My current inflater is on its third season and still running strong.
Everyone at the club always asks, "what's that buzzing sound I hear". LOL

 

[Dr. Vette]

3 minutes, and I often use the Chamber Chiller between shots.

 

[PJGunner]

Depends very much on the ambient air temperature & as said barrel thickness. I wait until the barrel is properly cold & zero per first shot on the cold barrel. I rarely shoot more than 3 rounds from clean, cold barrel. Almost never change scope settings. It's then 100% accurate for hunting

I guess it would depend on where one lives. First off, when I used to go to the range it was a 52 mile round trip. would try to get there by 7AM when they opened for business. I did most of my load work ups in the summer which meant that at around 7AM it was already 80 degrees or higher. I usually spent the whole day, quitting around 4 to 4:30 PM. By 10 or 11 o'clock it was pushing 100 degrees or better. It made for some interesting shooting, I kid you not. I usually took two or three rifles so as to try and let one cool while I worked with another. Even in the shade once the temps got up past 100, a barrel, even when sitting in the shade would reach a point of being too hot to touch. One just learns to live with it.

Generally, once I have a load, I'll take it out every once in a while to keep up with it and how it behaves. The true test comes just before hunting season. I hope for a chilly to cold day to see if anythings changed. Sometimes there's a minor sight adjustment and sometime the load is just fine and sometimes it just goes to hell and back to the drawing board.

One pf the powders I work with in the .270 Win., .280 Rem. and .300 Win. mag. is Winchester's long gone WMR. (Winchester Magnum Rifle) which they said was developed for the .270 and .300 Win. mag. In those two cartridges and as it turned out the .280 Rem. as well it's a very good powder. But in the 30-06 base case for the .270 and .280 it's a total loss. I've take the three cartridges on hunts where the temps run well below freezing and there was no noticeable change in the point of impact from when I shot at 100 plus degree days. Naturally, YMMV.

I don't know if the damn doctors will ever let me take up shoot again but if they do, I'll do as before. it'l be with something with a little less recoil with the 7x57 being about the most powerful rifle I'll continue to shoot.
Paul B.

 

[RL338]

Using a battery powered air mattress inflator and a flexible hose, I'll shoot ambient temperature air through the bore for about 1 minute between each shot. However, after 3 shots, I'll let the barrel cool for 5-10 minutes.

Same here.

 

[300WSM]

I can't help but laugh a little at some of the responses.

Lord knows I do some quirky things too but some of this IMO...just made me laugh in a non malicious manner.

I've done so much cooling/warm/hot testing and the only time I can say a difference is met is rapid fire in a semi and or automatic. *

* within reason of course.

If you just rack the action repeatedly, bolt, pump then of course that is starting to reach the same type of thing.

But to shoot, and simply taking your time, putting another round in and shooting, until that segment is reached...
There is far more variables going on with you as the shooter, the fouling ( which I found was way more important) and of course pending how far you're doing this the weather.

In my experience different rifles are affected in different round counts.
I have one rifle that will start to walk on me at round 17
Others start a few rounds less...and a couple get better from round 15-30 and then start to go doing their own thing

But hey...to each their own.

90 percent of shooting is half mental as Yogi Berra might say...
In other words if you do something and it gives you confidence that is very valuable. Whether or not it actually helps is another thing but if you think it does and gives you a mental confidence boost then that alone is indeed worth something.

 

[orchemo]

Bought this from Amazon


Added a chamber/bore guide to have it blow right into chamber area



Subsequentially, have painted it red to serve as a chamber flag

Moves a lot of air, is rechargeable and easily last a range session. Cools chamber, barrel and suppressor

 

[Charlie-NY]

Bought this from Amazon
View attachment 24533

Added a chamber/bore guide to have it blow right into chamber area

View attachment 24534

Subsequentially, have painted it red to serve as a chamber flag

Moves a lot of air, is rechargeable and easily last a range session. Cools chamber, barrel and suppressor

Use a flexible hose on that blower and you won't have to pull the bolt every time you want to give the bore a blast of cool air.

 

[TackDriver284]

Everyone has their own preferences, if using small to medium sized cartridges I usually shoot 3 and let it sit a few minutes, if the barrel feels slightly warm, I shoot another three with one minute between shots. After 6 shots, i let it sit about 5 minutes or longer until it cools, sip some coffee while you at it, look at some brass, etc, then go back to your shooting routine. Most of my barrels are thicker than a pencil thin barrel, I would not worry too much about it getting too hot. As for magnum or overbore cartridges, i let it sit longer to cool. I keep the barrel out of the sun when cooling and I like to shoot early mornings than in the middle of the day. On very hot days the barrels takes longer to cool. I have used a mattress pump to cool my barrels, but it would eat up the batteries so fast.

 

[Blkram]

I typically wait about 2 minutes between shots.

This