Barrel cooling devicea

[Billo]

About 12 months ago at the ramge I noticed a fellow shooter inserting a tube into his action which was attached to a small portable blower, which he then turned on to cool his barrel.

Has anyone played with such a device or made there own?

Do they really work lol

[deye243]

Yep I will find my pics and be back .
It works but now I just don't let my barrel get hot .
Found them but it's a noisy sob you will hear this in the vid .

Screenshot_20241031_133405_Gallery_copy_1280x597.jpg (173.85 KiB) Viewed 873 times

https://youtu.be/fkK_OoKj7C4?si=K2Z3L76B_-RPaArS

[No1_49er]

Are you able to inform us how much the barrel temperature is reduced and over what time period?
I.e., from a designated point (for repeatability) on the barrel, a start temperature, end temperature, time to achieve.
FWIW, I frequently shoot a 60 shot match in under 1 1/2 hours where the barrel gets quite "warm"; but that's competition shooting for ya.

[Bugman]

While I am not a rifle target shooter, I have found that a cooler barrel does sometimes affect the accuracy. That is just my assessment.
BUT, I am not adverse to the gadget being posted. Interesting concept.

[deye243]

Are you able to inform us how much the barrel temperature is reduced and over what time period?
I.e., from a designated point (for repeatability) on the barrel, a start temperature, end temperature, time to achieve.
FWIW, I frequently shoot a 60 shot match in under 1 1/2 hours where the barrel gets quite "warm"; but that's competition shooting for ya.

Nope

[Die Judicii]

I was gonna suggest the Garden Hose and a Pope sprinkler,,,,,,,,,,, but methinks that probly wouldn't be acceptable.

[deye243]

:lol:
I was gonna suggest the Garden Hose and a Pope sprinkler,,,,,,,,,,, but methinks that probly wouldn't be acceptable.

Would be on one on your rifles

[Wapiti]

With the rifles we use, we fire them over a target and see the difference when hot from the sun on a 40' day, cold on a frosty morning and after a string of shots.
They are expected to hold zero and POI at all temps, and if not, they are gone.

There is a myth that you will wear your barrel out faster if you keep shooting it as it gets hotter and hotter. Truth is, the 50-65,000 PSI pressurised and super heated flamefront blasting into the tiny restricted surface of a barrel, and stripping out surface elements isn't any more erosive whether the metal is 15'C or it's 80'C.

However, if the barrel material contains inbuilt stresses that cause it to harmonically vibrate differently (groups open up) or distort in a particular direction (walk it's shots) as it heats up with each shot, it's a quality issue.
Truely stress relieved barrels, or any other metal shapes, will not move when they heat up.
This is a different thing from a "clean bore" shot. Not to be confused with a "cold bore" shot.
A good quality pretzel barrel will shoot as accurately and consistently as a good quality thicker barrel, regardless of temperature. Absolutely proven to me over the years.

If these gizmos have a positive effect on a firearm with these quality issues, great. They are a mask for a problem that doesn't need to be there, stresses from inconsistent manufacturing.
Imagine using a rifle for field or pest shooting that's going to shoot a few boxes of ammo on an outing, and remain spot on pinpoint consistent for obvious reasons, that needs a fishtank pump hose shoved into it between shot strings to stay accurate.

[Larry]

Many a time I have put my 12 rounds down range with just 4-6 sec between each shot (single shot 308). If they weren't going where I wanted them there would be a lot more time between shots. the barrel will be too hot to touch at the end but still on.

[Wapiti]

Good stress-free barrel then mate

[Wapiti]

Many a time I have put my 12 rounds down range with just 4-6 sec between each shot (single shot 308). If they weren't going where I wanted them there would be a lot more time between shots. the barrel will be too hot to touch at the end but still on.

Look at the benchresters in a match, mate. Conditions are just right, flags are down, and they bash 5 shots through her flat out. No heat changes there, good proven gear. And no faster bore wear wear than waiting 5 minutes between shots. It's a myth.

[Larry]

Yes oils aint oils Sol. But the only way to know a good barrel from a not so good barrel is by shooting them. Under strict controlled conditions if possible.

[on_one_wheel]

Wapiti has summed it up extremely well.
It's hard to argue the merits of barrel cooling when considering the facts he's pointed out.

A quick google showed me that the flame front is well in excess of 2000°c so as he said, the difference between ambient temperature and hot is not even noteworthy.

I use to get concerned with temperature but, there's obviously more gains to be had focusing on consistent ammo temperature.

Controlled environment ammo box anyone?

Screenshot_20241102_170522_Chrome.jpg (58.01 KiB) Viewed 659 times

[Fester]

I just use 3 rifles so can avoid excessive heat and let them cool.
I have a varmint that can shoot about 12 shots and have sporters that are warm after 3 or 5 shots.

I know where the cold bore shots go and when heat starts to open up the groups.
Barrels wear out quickly enough without shooting them till they glow.

[Billo]

Wapiti has summed it up extremely well.
It's hard to argue the merits of barrel cooling when considering the facts he's pointed out.

A quick google showed me that the flame front is well in excess of 2000°c so as he said, the difference between ambient temperature and hot is not even noteworthy.

I use to get concerned with temperature but, there's obviously more gains to be had focusing on consistent ammo temperature.

Controlled environment ammo box anyone?

Screenshot_20241102_170522_Chrome.jpg

I do a fair amount of load development for myself and a mate and Barrel cooling time this time of year can be 10min plus to get back to a cold bore, if I could cut that by 30 to 40% then thats 30-40mins less time spent waiting. Use of CNC mono bullets also shows a speed drop off as the barrel heats up.

As t'm doing load development for mostly thermal rifles its all about the first cold bore shot. I hope that explains my interest in barrel cooling devices, btw I ordered and received a small quiet blower fan and USB power bank off Amazon, I just need to get some suitable silicon hose to set up, I'll then see if the experiment works in cutting my cooling time

[Fester]

I also notice a huge difference in warm-up and cool-down times between the hottest summer range days and the cold Winter sessions.

Centerfires sure do seem to prefer the cold.

The explosion sure is hot and fast and we can easily see why the throat burns out.

When I was shooting with older blokes that now just shoot targets but have shot for a long time and had huge collections, most of them just shot the one group of 5 and then let that rifle cool.
It makes sense and far quicker cooling when they don't get to too hot to touch.

When I shoot 10 or 12 shots, I try to slow it down and the varmint barrel in 6.5 CM or the heavier sporter in .223 seem to handle it fine.
My light Tikka mountain rifle is just too light for that and I only ever shoot 3 shot groups.