Warm weather load development

[284allways]

How do you deal with cooling the bbl in warm -hot weather.
Due to problems with an old load process I now need to develop a load for use this sept for an elk hunt, now that the dog days of summer are here (80 deg F or more each day). I have been waiting 10-15 min between shots to cool the bbl ...its just a long wait. Does pouring water on the bbl work and is it advisable ?

 

[Tjay]

I use a wet cloth that I keep in ice water. I just squeeze the water out and put the damp cloth on the barrel. It is quick and easy. I do this between groups of 3 or 4 not each shot.

 

[Nimrod84]

284allways, I shoot off a bi-pod and after each shot I put the muzzle up with the action open to get a chimney affect going through. It helps cool the barrel faster than keeping it horizontal and I can do this while the rifle is out of the sun. I picked up the technique by an article in Field and Stream by David Petzal.

If you are shooting off of a led sled or another system that locks the rifle down, a number of guys use USB fans and battery packs or those can's of compressed air; an assembled fan is BarrelCool.

My main concerns with water cooling has been water / condensation getting into a wood barrel channel and swelling the wood over time and how does one consistently cool the entire barrel (sections that can't be reached like under hand-guards or hidden by the stock). These are probably baseless concerns, but I normally take other guns to plink with while a rifle or two cools off in the shade.

Edited to add, I'm much more comfortable putting water down a bore and then making sure it is dry between shots (and oiled for storage) than trying to put cold water on the outside; per my above concerns. I use hot soapy water to clean bores that have shot corrosive ammo / black powder.

 

[Elkman]

After every shot I lean the rifle against the house in the shade. I also keep the ammo in the shade, as well. Shooting early in the morning helps keeps things cool. I have been toying with the idea of testing a new load in my .308 and if I do, I will wait until September.

 

[truck driver]

Just got back from the range shooting a 10 shot ladder and I stood the rifle up with the action open to get the chimney affect which cooled the barrel very well every 2 shots. I also had a wet towel handy incase I needed it but the 300wm didn't heat up like the 338wm does.
I also had my .22 target pistol with me and was sighting it in since I changed from a red dot to a 1X pistol scope so I had something else to occupy myself with while it cooled.

 

[hunt127588]

I ordered a battery powered air mattress pump (Intex 06C from Amazon) and will use that combined with vinyl tubing and a Hornady modified case to stick in the chamber. This I’m hoping will cool it down quicker.

 

[SJB358]

Why worry too much about it fellas? If three shots heats the guns up so much that they need to be cooled there are likely bigger issues with bedding. If it’s to save the barrel then that’s different but a few groups with a warm barrel won’t hurt a good barrel.

 

[truck driver]

For me it's trying to repeat that first shot cold barrel or ambient temperature at the time for each shot during load development. I have got a barrel hot a time or two but not hot enough to hurt anything.
I've had barrels and or gun metal get hot enough in the sun that it was uncomfortable to handle when hunting varmints.

 

[ethmoid1999]

I often make my loads in hot weather and shoot at a normal rate. Three shots in three minutes. If I have pressure signs I back off. I test under real world conditions for real world conditions. If the rifle won't shoot under those conditions, it goes away or in the safe. Normally one shot determines your results when hunting. Maybe you are pushing the envelope for velocity. I use a chronograph with a factory load for comparison. I learned this the hard way. I had a good factory load 300 H&H and in cool weather developed a good hand load. I blew a primer under hot weather conditions. Not near the book max. Test the two together and I was way over max. Anyway, just my input. FWIW Can't say you are doing wrong, but i don't trust a hot cool weather load before it hits heat.

 

[Nimrod84]

SJB358,
TD and Ethmoid1999 answered your question better than I could.

I will add that in extreme conditions additional concerns arise. For example my parents live in South West Utah were temps have been topping out at 100-108 F (ambient air) last couple of weeks. My brother lives in AZ where the temps have been routinely over 110 F. At those ambient conditions bullets can and will do weird stuff if the barrel heats up too much. There is evidence that as barrels heat up bullet blowups can occur even while ambient conditions remain the same: http://www.mountainmolds.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=565 and Alexander-M's post at http://forum.accurateshooter.com/thread ... 995/page-2

I've never heard of bullets blowing up in Michigan due to high barrel temps, but in some cases an extra 10-20 degrees be it ambient or barrel temp can make a huge difference.

 

[TackDriver284]

Just ordered an air mattress pump operated with 4 D batteries for 20 bucks on Amazon with free shipping, it comes with the nozzles. I'll whip up something nice with a cheap / small foam ice chest and some rubber hoses. Thinking to make two small holes on the sides of the high side of the ice chest, one for intake and one for exhaust. Stick the suction hose to the exhaust side to the pump and the other hose from the pump that blows air into the chamber . Before getting to the range, fill the ice chest with ice and some Dr. Peppers :idea: and put the lid on. It should blow cool air sucked from the confines of the ice chest to cool the barrels a little quicker during load developments / or after 5 shot strings on a hot day. Just a little invention to keep me from getting bored. :grin:

Currently for the last decade(s) I do take several rifles and let a rifle sit to cool off while I shoot another rifle.

 

[truck driver]

Just ordered an air mattress pump operated with 4 D batteries for 20 bucks on Amazon with free shipping, it comes with the nozzles. I'll whip up something nice with a cheap / small foam ice chest and some rubber hoses. Thinking to make two small holes on the sides of the high side of the ice chest, one for intake and one for exhaust. Stick the suction hose to the exhaust side to the pump and the other hose from the pump that blows air into the chamber . Before getting to the range, fill the ice chest with ice and some Dr. Peppers :idea: and put the lid on. It should blow cool air sucked from the confines of the ice chest to cool the barrels a little quicker during load developments / or after 5 shot strings on a hot day. Just a little invention to keep me from getting bored. :grin:

Currently for the last decade(s) I do take several rifles and let a rifle sit to cool off while I shoot another rifle.

I think you would be better off with just blowing ambient air into the barrel since there is a chance of condensation developing when the cold air meets hot/warm metal. I sure wouldn't want moisture inside the barrel. But the ice will keep the Dr Pepper cold.

 

[Nimrod84]

Truck Driver is correct in that you should run a couple of patches or a dry mop through the bore after using the chilled air. Make sure the bore is dry so that there isn't anything in there to screw up things. Further agreeing with TD, I would get a baseline for how quickly it cools using ambient air; you might find that it cools off as quickly using ambient air than the chilled air + time spent running a few patches through.

I will add that I will shoot and often hunt in high humidity (few downpours even). When I am doing a sight-in or load development on such an outing I run a bore mop or a few patches through after a few shots to make sure I'm not dealing with water / condensation in the barrel. I'll add it is kinda eerie to see steam come off an M1 Garand barrel after 6 shots, makes me feel an extremely small connection to what young men went through in the World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, etc...

Edited to add - you might want to take a look at http://forum.accurateshooter.com/thread ... 077/page-3 - amlevin's and snakepit's posts detail how to hook everything up. Normally the shooters using the ice chests are in the dessert so condensation concerns are minimized and temps are outrageous.

 

[TackDriver284]

Thanks TD and Nimrod for the heads up. I did not think of that. I'll just run ambient air through the barrel, less hassle then running patches through barrels to remove condensation, etc.

 

[noslerpartition]

I use one of these, though I think the air matress compressor sounds more powerful.

I do not like compressed air, since it is really cold.

Working with ambient air seems to.make more sense.

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[Wyo7200]

I got a chamber chiller from a guy for myself and my dad a couple weeks ago. Pricey, but compact enough to take along on prairie dog hunts and cool the barrels down quicker. Do a google search for “chamber chiller” and it’ll come up. Someday I’ll get my 3d printer and will make my own version.




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[TackDriver284]

Air mattress pump running ambient air through the 6.5 x 284 between 5 shot strings, cuts waiting time in half. not bad at all.

 

[truck driver]

Those are so great ideas. If I were going to be testing lots of ammo on one day the blowers would be the ticket but I can't stand to shoot more then 30 rounds out of a magnum off the bench and like the wait in between shots for barrel cool down. Someone shooting light recoiling rifles would benefit from the blowers.
I look at range time as therapy and the longer I stay waiting for barrels to cool the more therapy I get. >)

 

[TackDriver284]

I look at range time as therapy and the longer I stay waiting for barrels to cool the more therapy I get. >)

The longer I wait on that hard bench, the more I can't feel my bum. :mrgreen:

 

[truck driver]

I look at range time as therapy and the longer I stay waiting for barrels to cool the more therapy I get. >)

The longer I wait on that hard bench, the more I can't feel my bum. :mrgreen:

HA!HA!HA! yeah that's why I take a nice soft cushion along plus I scrounge the club range for brass that others let lay.
Picked up some 6.5X55 and lots of once fired 300 Blackout the other day while waiting between shots. The spray and pray crowd love to waste money and leave once fired brass everywhere. Don't know what I'll do with it since I'm not interested in a AR platform rifle but I couldn't let it lay there and go to waste in the weather.
Maybe I'll get a mini bolt action and have it barreled for it.
Should make a dandy stalking rifle for white tail deer.