Cooling a barrel

[Dilettante]

Is there any reason not to put a cold pack around the gun barrel while reloading?
This seems like an obvious way to prevent overheating, but it might be bad for the barrel to cool it too much.
What might happen? Has anyone tried it?

 

[lycanthrope]

Dilettante,

I've used a bag full of ice to help cool a barrel when shooting my deer rifle in summer. I just try to make sure the barrel cools relatively evenly and is back to ambient temp before I shoot again. Never had any problems.

 

[Standing Wolf]

I believe I'd be concerned about condensation, especially inside the barrel.

 

[C.R.Sam]

Shoot it again....condensation should flee.

Sam

 

[lycanthrope]

Condensation would be dependent upon humidity and dewpoint, but if you don't cool it much past ambient then you should stay dry.

 

[HSMITH]

Dump water in it, ice it down, whatever you use to cool it is fine as long as you take care of it when shooting. There is a commercial device that uses a bucket with a small battery powered pump that pushes water through the barrel to cool guns quickly. I cannot remember the name though.

You cannot cool a barrel too fast even with ice, and need a squad of ammo handlers to get even a semi-auto pistol hot enough to bother about.

Unless barrel temps get over 400* you have no worries, so spit check it (spit on it, it if boils and dances and does not touch the metal itself you are getting close to being too hot) to see if it is too hot to continue.

 

[lycanthrope]

Most semi-auto pistols don't get that hot, but get a rifle barrel or your T/C Encore hot enough to boil spit and you are definately shortening it's life span.

 

[10-Ring]

When cooling my P7M8 I keep the action open to help promote air flow...and I bring another gun

 

[4v50 Gary]

Rifle mag had an article about barrel cooling and included a blast of C02, rubbing with ice, pouring water. The barrel will be so hot there won't be condensation. Just evaporation. Furthermore, water on exterior won't hurt it anyway. Remember the water cool MGs in WW I & WW II?

 

[Teufelhunden]

Remember the water cool MGs in WW I & WW II?

Just to play the devil's advocate:

Those guns were surrounded with water as they began to heat up, not splashed (or doused) with water when they were already hot. What I'm getting at is that introducing cool water to a hot barrel will make the metal contract at different rates since the outside is cooler and the inside hotter as opposed to a uniformly heating barrel of a water-cooled MG.

Does this have any effect on modern production guns? No idea, I've no empirical evidence either way.

-Teuf

 

[Dilettante]

introducing cool water to a hot barrel will make the metal contract at different rates since the outside is cooler and the inside hotter as opposed to a uniformly heating barrel of a water-cooled MG.

Yes! This is exactly what I was worried about.

 

[Carlos Cabeza]

Remember how they cooled the mortar tubes in "We Were Soldiers"?
The range master might frown on that method though................

 

[lycanthrope]

Metal is an excellent conductor of heat and it will disperse the remaining heat quickly even if you only cool one part. The distance of the radius of most barrels is very small. Half an inch on the outside.

This type of cooling happens in reverse every time you shoot your hunting weapon in subzero temps. For a small moment the inside is very hot and the outside is ambient. No problem.

 

[giese]

Canned air

How about trying one of those canned air products used to dust off electronic equipment. When you tip them upside down and squirt them they eject liquid that is very cool, I am not sure what it is though, tetrafluoroethane or something. It should not contain any particulate matter and should not harm the gun, plus with the long tip you can shoot it right down the barrel, it might even keep your gun more clean and it disapates mucho rapido.

 

[Dilettante]

My experience is that canned air gets used up very quickly. It would be an expensive way of cooling the gun.
I think I'll try the ice pack next time I'm shooting.

 

[caz223]

Easy way to keep a cool gun barrel.
Exchange barrels, or even guns.
The problem with hot-swapping barrels is that, well, they're hot.
Two, even three guns are the answer.
I wouldn't even bother going to the range, unless I packed at least three different bullet launchers.

 

[Okiecruffler]

That's what a .22 is for

Gives you something to do while the big bores cool down.

 

[C.R.Sam]

Some folks doin endurance testing get em pretty hot.
Dunkin em in a bucket of water tween strings seems to do good and little or no harm.

Sam

 

[NewShooter78]

So how many rounds, fired how rapidly will get your gun hot enough to warrant cooling the barrel?

 

[Hutch]

I read an account (or heard it, I disremember) of an IHMSA shooter who would cool his Super Blackhawk between 5-shot strings with a butane cannister (the kind you refill cig lighters with). Push the nozzle against the barrel and let the cold butane (it's all thermodynamics) cool it. I sure wouldn't have the nerve....

 

[Sven]

At some point, aren't you 'heat treating' or 'untreating' the metal with rapid quenching? Read the M14 torture test - they just poured water down the barrel and kept firing.

 

[Dilettante]

What about rubbing alcohol, or some lubricant oil? You could just keep it in the freezer and take it to the range with you.
Would that be overkill?

 

[caz223]

Why go to all that trouble?
Just bring an extra gun or two...

 

[Dilettante]

A fine idea, but I only have one gun of my own. That's not going to change for at least a few months.