Half baked barrel cooling idea

[Layton]

Here's my attempt at a barrel cooler for the range. lol. Used these for years keeping bait alive and figured I try it on my barrel in between strings. Just put that surgical hose in the chamber and pump cool through the barrel. Doesn't put out much pressure but provides a steady flow. Runs on 2 D batteries. Gonna try next time out. Wonder if it will do any good? Sorry if this is redundant.

L

 

[Sigma05]

Simple idea. I like it. Believe it or not it will be more effective then you think.


"Ex Umbris Venimus"

 

[Travis224]

Thats a good idea, tho i wonder that the bottom of the barrel will be hotter than the top and cause a funny thing with groups, just a thought...if nothing happens, great, if it does something weird, that might be something to look at. Post how it works, im really curious and will try it if it does work.

 

[Layton]

LOL, and if you really wanted to get fancy with some cold air sit it down in a small lunch box type ice chest with some dry ice. Way too much time on my hands with this rain. lol. sry.
L

 

[Ring]

take a can of canned air and turn it upside down and shoot that down, its around -80f

 

[slm9s]

When I was working up loads for a 338wm BAR right before elk season, I used my camping air mattress pump with a foot of surgical tubing to cool the barrel to get more groups shot before the sun went down. Got some chuckles from other shooters, but it worked.

 

[ranger1183]

Here's my attempt at a barrel cooler for the range. lol. Used these for years keeping bait alive and figured I try it on my barrel in between strings. Just put that surgical hose in the chamber and pump cool through the barrel. Doesn't put out much pressure but provides a steady flow. Runs on 2 D batteries. Gonna try next time out. Wonder if it will do any good? Sorry if this is redundant.

L

oh crap! You're talking about pumping air (not water) through your barrel. Ignore what I said earlier.

 

[Woodsman777]

For several years I have used a battery powered air matress inflator and tyvek tubing.
It cools a too hot to touch barrel to room temp in about 3 minutes
It uses 4 D size batteries,I think it was about $12-$15

 

[Maelstrom]

Just make sure the tube can handle the heat of the barrel. Last thing you want is to melt the tube in the barrel. I do like the idea. How is the pump powered?

 

[Layton]

Pump costs $12 and runs on 2 D cell batteries.

L

 

[2Shots]

I tried the wet towel trick this weekend while shooting in 90+ degree heat, it worked pretty well. and since most of keep a towel and bottle of water handy anyway it was not a lot of extra stuff, I'd say it cut the cooling time in half between strings. I turned it a couple of times, I really don't want to deal with water running everywhere inside and out of my gun.

 

[FNARSHOOTER]

Great Benchrest tip but hardly useful for Tactical or even Match type shooting. Train like you fight and visa versa

 

[khw9mm]

Great Benchrest tip but hardly useful for Tactical or even Match type shooting. Train like you fight and visa versa

Definitely a good idea but I agree with the above. ^^

 

[Layton]

I don't disagree but I shoot ALOT and most of the time it's not a match nor training for one. It's usually sitting with a bunch of guys shooting clay pigeons and steel at 600yds+ so anything to kill time in between strings. I also play around with different powders just for fun so this may help there as well. In this Texas heat nothing cools quickly by itself.

L

 

[gaphighpower]

Not a big fan of introducing water or moisture.

Do you have any paintball buds, or access to CO2 tanks? If you want to put a bit more $$ and effort into it.

This is what I use on prairie dog hunts.

Cools FAST and doesn't leave behind any wet, unless you turn it on full blast and generate frost.

gap

 

[Layton]

No water or moisture introduced that's not already in the air. This is an air pump. Sealed at that. Cheap and easy to carry in a range bag. If it doesn't work, I'll still use it fishing.

 

[Bigalfromfl]

Cool idea! Like it!

 

[Layton]

Cool idea! Like it!

Thanks! Pun intended? lol

 

[Bigalfromfl]

Thanks! Pun intended? lol

Yes, pun intended! LOL

 

[mexicanmatch]

I have a tank that i use for flat tires, I have a quick change head on it and keep 110 lb's of air in it. people took and wonder and some even come over and ask What's that? I have been using it for around 15 years. MM

 

[Maelstrom]

Pump costs $12 and runs on 2 D cell batteries.

L

Where did to buy the pump at? I have been looking for one to try myself since seeing your thread.

 

[Graham]

If you need to cool your barrel in order for the rifle to work properly.... Then you need a more practical rifle.

 

[coues7]

I use an air mattress pump. The only thing is the small tubing creates a lot is back pressure. That makes thinks really loud and I'm not sure how much volume I'm moving.

 

[Graham]

I use an air mattress pump. The only thing is the small tubing creates a lot is back pressure. That makes thinks really loud and I'm not sure how much volume I'm moving.

There's a hooker joke in there somewhere. Where's VJJ when you need him?!!

 

[Bill Larson]

be VERY...VERY.... careful..... any moisture left in bore will case catastrophic hydraulic pressures......

 

[Mute]

Man...don't people know how to piss on their own barrels anymore?

 

[Layton]

As the title mentioned this was a half a$$ed idea I got cleaning up my tackle box. Didn't work as not enough volume.

BTW Bill this is a sealed air pump that doesn't even push enough air to chill enough to cause condensation so moisture wasn't a concern.

L

 

[Bill Larson]

As the title mentioned this was a half a$$ed idea I got cleaning up my tackle box. Didn't work as not enough volume.

BTW Bill this is a sealed air pump that doesn't even push enough air to chill enough to cause condensation so moisture wasn't a concern.

L

2 weeks ago...true story......while shooting at 1K yds.... a buddies 260 got hot......another offered the use of a can of air spray to kool it...... soon after.....first shot the case ruptured near base...primer was blown out..... i believe the kool air condensed inside the barrel.....

 

[Layton]

See, that was my concern when folks have suggested that. Cooling that quickly and causing condensation. It's really not that important as I don't mind waiting but figured wth I'd give this a try since I had materials on hand and most importantly required no effort. lol.

L

 

[CMH]

If you need to cool your barrel in order for the rifle to work properly.... Then you need a more practical rifle.

What would you say a round count limit should be in say 6 hours through a precision "practical" rifle?

 

[Graham]

What would you say a round count limit should be in say 6 hours through a precision "practical" rifle?

Six hours?!! LOL!

If you're in a six hour firefight without any aviation-based help you have a much more serious problem than the temperature of your barrel.

 

[CMH]

Six hours?!! LOL!

If you're in a six hour firefight without any aviation-based help you have a much more serious problem than the temperature of your barrel.

I have never been in a firefight but I see your point. I also would question using it as a battlefield tool. However, there are other uses for a precision rifle where I could see it coming in handy. For instance in a target rich prairie dog town I have shot in excess of 600 rounds in a 6 hour sitting. In 95+ temps the only way I have found to do this without burning stuff up is to rotate multiple rifles. I could see at least trying this approach in that situation where I might be able to haul less shooting iron with me - especially if I was on foot. It would be foolish to think this was a barrel cooling panacea. However, I can see some potential uses where simply having a more "practical" rifle would not solve one's problem. I realize prairie dog hunting is not the main shooting thrust for many folks on this site, and the potential uses may be limited, but I think they may exist.

Casey

 

[Graham]

Spend six hours in the hot sun and your rifle is going to get hot anyway. My point was that if your rifle won't shoot with a warm barrel from shooting it you have a rifle problem. 20-30 round strings within one to five minutes, in competition, whether precision rifle, F class or NRA high-power, are common. Burning a new custom .223 AR barrel by smoking the handguards is a different issue.

 

[McCrazy]

For the sake of provoking some thought:

Cooling the outside of the barrel (like with a wet rag) wont work to quickly cool the actual bore of the rifle. It will draw heat away from the surface of the barrel but a lot of heat will remain in the bore and most importantly the throat. Most of our rifles have a scope on top of the action and chamber area, with a stock covering the bottom of the area. Therefor access for even placing a wet rag is pretty limited in the areas that need it most.

Seems to me that taking an expended piece of brass and installing a nipple into the primer area, then attaching a tube to the nipple, attach an air pump to the tube, and then place the brass in the chamber would work better. The brass would help seal the chamber end of the barrel off; no water is being used; and the air would blow out of the piece of brass directly into the throat and down the barrel thus cooling in order the metal that really needs to be cooled off instead of the outside of the barrel.

Would not be something I carry to a firefight but if it would aid the cooling of a barrel between strings of fire to prevent cooking a barrel it may help someone.

 

[Pinecone]

The heat will transfer pretty quickly from the inside to the outside. It is called thermal conductivity.

SS barrels will not be as good in this respect as a carbon steel barrel will. SS has lower thermal conductivity.

 

[Milo 2.5]

2 weeks ago...true story......while shooting at 1K yds.... a buddies 260 got hot......another offered the use of a can of air spray to kool it...... soon after.....first shot the case ruptured near base...primer was blown out..... i believe the kool air condensed inside the barrel.....

Did the guy spray it into the barrel, or just coat the outside? I've seen a guy cool the outside, heard of spraying up the tube, or down, but whomever did it walked to a next stage, allowing for thing to settle down.
To me this can't be good, but who can really tell how hot a barrel is, most of us can't stick our hands in boiling water, and is 212 degrees to hot to get a barrel? A friend used to pack a temp gun, our barrels weren't as hot as we expected!

 

[Mike_in_FL]

I asked quite some time ago about using water through the barrel as I had seen an article (Shooting Times maybe,year ago) demonstrating this. The comments from that post essentially said it's safe (for the barrel metal itself) and that others use this method. Let me clarify the method. You funnel water from the chamber down the barrel and out the muzzle. You run a cleaning rod with a patch to make sure the barrel is dry.

I can see where canned air could cause condensation to form in the barrel. I wouldn't introduce anything if I couldn't run at least one patch through afterwards.

 

[Alpine 338]

Graham and Milo make good points.

If the rifle sits in the hot sun for any period of time, the barrel gets just as hot as putting 20-rounds through it on a cool and cloudy day.

I worry about my $3K scope getting too hot more than the barrel.

 

[ratrod54]

I didn't like the idea of moisture either. A guy here on the hide (don't remember his screen name but if I find it I will update) built a contraption that works really well. He was looking to get a patent on the design but not sure if he ever did. It is basically a PVC tube long enough to slide over the barrel, diameter big enough to go over a can if needed. Air is moved by a computer tower fan which is run off of 8 AA batteries. The fan is placed in a PVC drain which reduces from ~4" down to the 2" tube. Pull your bolt and you get air through the bore and air passing down the outside of the barrel. It works well and no need to clean it afterwards. Ill post a pic in a bit, don't have one on my phone.