Barrel temp management

[waspocrew]

I enjoy shooting, but I have better things to do than spending a ton of time at the range watching my barrel temp.

Here's a 10 shot group out of my 22 Creedmoor. Again, maybe 20-30 seconds between shots and the time it took to load my 5 round magazine again.

 

[Ckleeves]

I shoot a 5 shot group without breaking position. Not crazy fast but maybe 10-15 seconds between shots. If a barrel can't handle a fast 5 shot string it belongs in the trash anyway. Then cool to close to ambient temp and do it again.

 

[southpa]

I shoot a 5 shot group without breaking position. Not crazy fast but maybe 10-15 seconds between shots. If a barrel can't handle a fast 5 shot string it belongs in the trash anyway. Then cool to close to ambient temp and do it again.

Guess I'm lucky I've never needed a 5 shot string while hunting...maybe i should throw all my barrels in the trash....

 

[Ckleeves]

Guess I'm lucky I've never needed a 5 shot string while hunting...maybe i should throw all my barrels in the trash....

I would at least try it before trashing them. But seriously a properly stress relieved barrel isn't going to walk with 5 shots as fast as you can cycle the bolt.

F-Class guys rip 22 shots in about 7 minutes all the time. PRS guys do 10 shot strings as fast as they can cycle the bolt and find the target. Hunters who out of everyone have the most responsibility at stake with their shots do cool down times and more then likely put the least shots down range. Something is wrong with that picture.

 

[southpa]

I would at least try it before trashing them. But seriously a properly stress relieved barrel isn't going to walk with 5 shots as fast as you can cycle the bolt.

F-Class guys rip 22 shots in about 7 minutes all the time. PRS guys do 10 shot strings as fast as they can cycle the bolt and find the target. Hunters who out of everyone have the most responsibility at stake with their shots do cool down times and more then likely put the least shots down range. Something is wrong with that picture.

Well im a hunter commenting on my methods for developing loads for a hunting rifle on a hunting forum. Not a single reason known to man to rip 22 shots in 7 minutes or 10 shot strings as fast as I can just for the sake of making it acceptable to a guy in a PRS comp or an F-class shooter. If thats you than more power tk ya. But I can't relate to the idea that because I don't do that and the fact that I'm methodical and consistent when it comes to developement somehow makes you think there's something wrong with the picture. There are probly millions of freezers out there filled with meat by people who don't have any logical reason to rip 22 shots in 7 minutes or shoot 10 shot groups because we prefer to let our barrel cool between shots during load development...seems more like some moral superiority idea than anything....just saying....

Plus could you imagine what 22 shots in 7 minutes of a healthy dose of 570 would do to the throat of my 28 noz?

 

[MaineLRH]

I shoot a few rounds, then a few more, and watch the stringing start, and then get mad and try and wait for the barrel to cool down but like a drunken sailer spending money i send another five bucks down rage, then I get mad I wasted ammo, then I walk away and come on forums like this one or check my email until I can't fry an egg on the barrel, then I shoot more, then I feel up my barrel like it's my prom date to see how hot it is, then shoot more, then a few more instead of waiting and then get mad I waisted ammo again, then wonder why I'm not getting the groups I want, repeat till the ammo is gone, then drive home vowing to myself that next time I'm going to show a little patience and restraint and shoot small groups.

 

[Koda_]

When shooting strings with the chronograph for velocity or shooting for load development or maybe just target practice, what are you guys doing for barrel heat?

What do you consider too hot that it will start affecting your groups or velocity?

I know there are a lot of variables: Ambient temp, load you're shooting, etc but what is your procedure or thought process?

I hear some guys will only shoot two rounds at a time then wait until another two, some guys will shoot three then wait. How long are you guys waiting and how many

3-5 rounds (depending on barrel thickness and caliber) then let cool. If it feels hotter than warm let it cool. Ive been meaning to try a stick on temp label sticker but havent.

Rub ice on the barrel works, so does a wet towel. Recently I made one of these DIY barrel coolers, the little blower motor off Amazon is "cool" on its own.

 

[ARlife4me]

I'll be very unlikeld by by comment by the way I go about it, but here it goes.

More than 95% of my shooting is AR's and whether it's load developments or sighting in ill shoot the same way......rapid succession, but controlled. 10-30 rounds at a quick succession. Being as it's used for pigs i need to know what it'll do. I haven't chronographed anything yet which doesn't bother me as i read brass. Been working for 41 years.

Now for ba's
I don't shoot them much although I've built 2 new ones and 3rd on the way. When i get my neck pain under control I'll be a happy camper!

 

[Ruger4570]

I usually have a cotton rag and damped it , run over barrel to help cool.with 100 degree heat in Texas you need it

 

[Koda_]

FWIW on POI "walking". In my experience with a pencil thin barrel in big game calibers the first two shots are next to each other but always the third shot would be high and right.
My heavier profile barrels group the same POI up to 5 shots, no walking. The barrel is hot by then so I stop at 5rds at most as I see no reason to heat the barrel more eroding the throat faster. Never shoot a hot barrel.

 

[The Oregonian]

I would at least try it before trashing them. But seriously a properly stress relieved barrel isn't going to walk with 5 shots as fast as you can cycle the bolt.

F-Class guys rip 22 shots in about 7 minutes all the time. PRS guys do 10 shot strings as fast as they can cycle the bolt and find the target. Hunters who out of everyone have the most responsibility at stake with their shots do cool down times and more then likely put the least shots down range. Something is wrong with that picture.

I was talking to a guy who owned and ran a great range near Nashville. I was a member when I lived there and we talked fairly often when I was at the range. One thing he mentioned to me about the difference in load development and knowing your rifle and how it relates to letting the barrel cool down.

As a competition shooter, he said his primary concern was knowing how his gun and his barrel perform while warm/hot, whereas hunters care about how a barrel performs primary while cold. He shot and knew how his barrel performed when it got hot. As far practicing for hunting, yeah, you should know how your barrel performs if you have to take 3-4 shots without much cooling off but that wont be needed if you do your job with a cold barrel.

 

[FEENIX]

I typically bring multiple guns to the range so I can shoot one, set it aside. Shoot another, set it aside. Etc, etc.....
Generally works pretty good.

This! I usually do my load development in late September/early October for my fall hunt, so a string of 3 is OK (slightly warm). I let ambient temperature do the cooling (I never invested in any barrel cooling equipment), but I still pace myself. I always bring .22 LRs as the cheapest entertainment while waiting.

 

[mnoland30]

I only shoot in the fall and winter. I go early, when the temperature is below 30°. Even my 5-1/2 lb. rifle doesn't string at those temperatures.

For hunting, the shot that counts is the first one. Muzzleloaders tend to shoot a little different after fouling, so I always want to know where my first shot will go out of an almost clean barrel. Of course, I also want to know where the second shot will go.

 

[ShtrRdy]

I think there's a mixture of rifle types being used in these comments. Most of my shooting through the year is with a heavy barrel used to shoot accurately and at long range targets. My hunting rifle uses a thinner barrel which I do wait between shots and limit the number of shots.